Howard Scott (engineer): Difference between revisions
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{{for|other people with the name Howard Scott|Howard Scott (disambiguation)}} |
{{for|other people with the name Howard Scott|Howard Scott (disambiguation)}} |
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'''Howard Scott''' ([[April 1]], [[1890]]–[[January 1]], [[1970]]) is best known for founding the [[Technical Alliance]] and also [[Technocracy Incorporated]] both of which he directed. Scott was an American engineer noted for his efforts in the application of the [[thermodynamics]] and [[vector analysis]] of American mathematical physicist [[Willard Gibbs]] to the realm of economic and other social phenomenon. His 1932 essay on the subject of the energetic regulation of economy was ''Thermodynamic Interpretation of Social Phenomena.''<ref>http://www.technocracy.org/Archives/Scott%27s%20Thermodynamics-r.htm</ref> |
'''Howard Scott''' ([[April 1]], [[1890]]–[[January 1]], [[1970]]) is best known for founding the [[Technical Alliance]] and also [[Technocracy Incorporated]] both of which he directed. Scott was an American engineer noted for his efforts in the application of the [[thermodynamics]] and [[vector analysis]] of American mathematical physicist [[Willard Gibbs]] to the realm of economic and other social phenomenon. His 1932 essay on the subject of the energetic regulation of economy was ''Thermodynamic Interpretation of Social Phenomena.''<ref>http://www.technocracy.org/Archives/Scott%27s%20Thermodynamics-r.htm</ref> |
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==Early career== |
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A 1932 [[Time magazine]] article explains that Howard Scott worked in various construction camps, and in 1918 was working in a cement pouring gang at [[Muscle Shoals]]. He also ran a small business called Duron Chemical Company which made paint and floor polish at [[Pompton Lakes, New Jersey]]. Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center was a customer. Scott's job was to deliver his goods and show his customers how to use the floor polishing material.<ref>[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,744852,00.html Technocrat]</ref> |
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== Howard Scott and Technocracy Inc. == |
== Howard Scott and Technocracy Inc. == |
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Revision as of 21:00, 5 November 2009
Howard Scott (April 1, 1890–January 1, 1970) is best known for founding the Technical Alliance and also Technocracy Incorporated both of which he directed. Scott was an American engineer noted for his efforts in the application of the thermodynamics and vector analysis of American mathematical physicist Willard Gibbs to the realm of economic and other social phenomenon. His 1932 essay on the subject of the energetic regulation of economy was Thermodynamic Interpretation of Social Phenomena.[1]
Early career
A 1932 Time magazine article explains that Howard Scott worked in various construction camps, and in 1918 was working in a cement pouring gang at Muscle Shoals. He also ran a small business called Duron Chemical Company which made paint and floor polish at Pompton Lakes, New Jersey. Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center was a customer. Scott's job was to deliver his goods and show his customers how to use the floor polishing material.[2]
Howard Scott and Technocracy Inc.
At the end of World War I, Howard Scott along with other prominent scientists and engineers such as Charles P. Steinmetz, and later Thorstein Veblen, formed the Technical Alliance to look at economic and social trends in North America. To do this the Alliance conducted the Energy Survey of North America. After completing this survey, it was found that there were wide scale inefficiencies in the current operation of North America from an engineering perspective that led to social problems and the wastage of natural resources in what they were to call the Price System.
Howard Scott then dissolved the Technical Alliance and formulated along with M. King Hubbert and others, the Technocracy Technate scientific social design, published as the Technocracy Study Course. Scott became the first Director-In-Chief of Technocracy Incorporated in 1933, a position he held until his death.
M. King Hubbert is said to have discovered Technocracy through a talk given by Howard Scott at Columbia University. [1]
Scott cited Willard Gibbs as the intellectual scientific forefather of the concepts of Technocracy. Specifically, Gibbs' work in thermodynamics and linear vector analysis which led to the concepts of Energy Accounting[3], an alternative economic system proposed by Technocracy Incorporated, which was to be used in the context of a Non-market economics system.[4] Scott, using Gibbs' linear vector analysis, developed a calculus and modulus of design that enabled him to propose optimized solutions for industrial functions. Scott conceived of fully automated factories, integrated transportation systems, communications and electrical transmission networks, and product life-cycle planning, all in the 1920s, within the context of energy accounting, instead of what his group termed a Price system or monetary basis[5].
Citation
``The injection of monetary concepts into all discussions of national wealth and income wholly confuses the people as to the actual issues at stake, and furthermore serve as a handy screen behind which, with a little word juggling, the business-political operators of the Price System can continue their profitable activities without being too greatly embarrassed by outside interference. It is high time that the significance of national wealth and income be understood by every citizen on the North American Continent. --HOWARD SCOTT
See also
- Technocracy (bureaucratic)
- M. King Hubbert
- Technical Alliance
- Technocracy Incorporated
- Willard Gibbs
- Energy Survey of North America
- Monad (Technocracy)
- Post scarcity
- Technocracy technate design and thermodynamics
- Thermoeconomics
- Thorstein Veblen
- Technate
- Urbanates
- Frederick Soddy
- Energy Balance
- Econophysics
- Tectology
- Technocracy movement
- Energy Accounting
External links
- An Authentic American Radical
- Who was Howard Scott?
- Howard Scott on IWW
- Scott, Howard. (1933). Thermodynamic Interpretation of Social Phenomena
- An interview with and short video featuring Scott
- History and Purpose of Technocracy - Howard Scott
- Economy and Thermodynamics: Borisas Cimbleris (1998)
- The Technocrats 1919-1967: A Case Study Of Conflict In A Social Movement, David Adair
References
- ^ http://www.technocracy.org/Archives/Scott%27s%20Thermodynamics-r.htm
- ^ Technocrat
- ^ The Energy Certificate essay by Fezer. An article on energy accounting as proposed by Technocracy Inc. http://www.technocracy.org/Archives/The%20Energy%20Certificate-r.htm Article on alternative system to money 'energy accounting'
- ^ http://telstar.ote.cmu.edu/environ/m3/s3/05account.shtml Environmental Decision making, Science and Technology
- ^ Cutler J. Cleveland, "Biophysical economics", Encyclopedia of Earth, Last updated: September 14, 2006.