Book excerpt: The technical problems confronting different societies and periods, and the measures taken to solve them, form the concern of this annual collection of essays. History of Technology, Volume 22 deals with the history of technical discovery and change and explores the relation of technology to other aspects of life - social, cultural and economic - and shows how technological development has shaped, and been shaped by, the society in which it occurred.Published under the auspices of the Institute of Historical Research, University of London