The Lecture
Lord Broers begins his argument that technology will determine the future of the human race by looking back four thousand years to the successful development of stone age technology and the impact it had on humankind.
He then moves forward to the present day to lament the lack of understanding of technology and failure to appreciate its importance that has led the general public to regard the safety bicycle as Britain’s greatest invention.
![Clusterbombs [Image: televiseus under CC-BY-NC-SA licence]](/openlearn/files/ole/imported/14074/clusterbomb_catland.jpg)
televiseus via Flickr
'...except for weaponry...' Clusterbombs [Image: televiseus under CC-BY-NC-SA licence]
Communication technology is just one of the areas he draws upon to demonstrate the impact of technology on modern society, arguing that ‘most new technologies, with the exception of those associated with weaponry, have had hugely beneficial effects for most people’ and that their influences will ‘increase as time passes’.
Our Experts' Responses
Leaping forward into the dark
Tom Hewitt
Are human needs shaping technology, or are a few enjoying technology for its own sake? Tom Hewitt respons to Lord Broer's first Reith Lecture. Read more : Leaping forward into the dark
Technology needs to respond to people
OU
Technology that doesn't find popular support will struggle. Joyce Fortune responds to Lord Broers' first Reith Lecture. Read more : Technology needs to respond to people
When technology is spurned, there is no development
OU
The UK needs to get reacquainted with the idea of technology, says Nick Braithwaite in response to Lord Broers' first Reith Lecture. Read more : When technology is spurned, there is no development
Are two cultures a bad thing?
Derek Matravers
Derek's response to the first lecture of the 2005 series of Reith lectures Read more : Are two cultures a bad thing?
You can listen to the lecture in full, or read a transcript, on the BBC Radio 4 website
First broadcast: Wednesday 6 Apr 2005 on BBC Radio 4
Reith 2005: The Triumph of Technology in more depth:
Reith Lectures 2005: Alec Broers
BBC
Get to know the lecturer Alec Broers. Read more : Reith Lectures 2005: Alec Broers
OU on the BBC: Reith 2005: The Triumph of Technology - Innovation and management
BBC
Innovation has gone global - but universities need to keep up, says Lord Broers in the third of the Reith Lectures. Read more : OU on the BBC: Reith 2005: The Triumph of Technology - Innovation and management
OU on the BBC: Reith 2005: The Triumph of Technology - Nanotechnology and nanoscience
BBC
Lord Broers suggests that the future of technology lies in a very, very small direction indeed. Read more : OU on the BBC: Reith 2005: The Triumph of Technology - Nanotechnology and nanoscience
OU on the BBC: Reith 2005: The Triumph of Technology - Risk and responsibility
BBC
Lord Broers delivers the last of his series of five Reith Lectures Read more : OU on the BBC: Reith 2005: The Triumph of Technology - Risk and responsibility
OU on the BBC: Reith 2005: The Triumph of Technology - Working Together: The need for collaboration
BBC
Lord Broers takes on the subject of collaboration for his second lecture - but what do our team make of his views? Read more : OU on the BBC: Reith 2005: The Triumph of Technology - Working Together: The need for collaboration
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