Lorraine Daston: Rules (Hardcover, 2023, Princeton University Press)
xiii, 359 sivua : kuvitettu ; 20 cm, 359 pages
English language
Published 2023 by Princeton University Press.
"Rules order almost every aspect of our lives. They set our work hours, dictate how we drive and set the table, tell us whether to offer an extended hand or cheek in greeting, and organize the rites of life, from birth through death. We may chafe under the rules we have, and yearn for ones we don’t, yet no culture could do without them. In Rules, historian Lorraine Daston traces their development in the Western tradition and shows how rules have evolved from ancient to modern times. Drawing on a rich trove of examples, including legal treatises, cookbooks, military manuals, traffic regulations, and game handbooks, Daston demonstrates that while the content of rules is dazzlingly diverse, the forms that they take are surprisingly few and long-lived. Daston uncovers three enduring kinds of rules: the algorithms that calculate and measure, the laws that govern, and the models that teach. She vividly …
"Rules order almost every aspect of our lives. They set our work hours, dictate how we drive and set the table, tell us whether to offer an extended hand or cheek in greeting, and organize the rites of life, from birth through death. We may chafe under the rules we have, and yearn for ones we don’t, yet no culture could do without them. In Rules, historian Lorraine Daston traces their development in the Western tradition and shows how rules have evolved from ancient to modern times. Drawing on a rich trove of examples, including legal treatises, cookbooks, military manuals, traffic regulations, and game handbooks, Daston demonstrates that while the content of rules is dazzlingly diverse, the forms that they take are surprisingly few and long-lived. Daston uncovers three enduring kinds of rules: the algorithms that calculate and measure, the laws that govern, and the models that teach. She vividly illustrates how rules can change—how supple rules stiffen, or vice versa, and how once bothersome regulations become everyday norms. Rules have been devised for almost every imaginable activity and range from meticulous regulations to the laws of nature. Daston probes beneath this variety to investigate when rules work and when they don’t, and why some philosophical problems about rules are as ancient as philosophy itself while others are as modern as calculating machines. Rules offers a wide-angle view on the history of the constraints that guide us—whether we know it or not."
Very interesting details of history of rules and laws, and cured me of the idea that a rule or method is better if it can be applied without judgment and without exceptions.
The middle third of this book is amazing, focusing on the history of algorithms (chapter 4), calculation (chapter 5), and rules and regulations in the age of urban expansion (chapter 6). Daston makes clear how the understanding of what constituted an algorithm, and how much background knowledge one has to bring to the table, changed dramatically over the centuries, as well as how the introduction of calculating machines didn't immediately lead to higher performance without extensive organizational and process reworking. The rest of the book is somewhat hit and miss
The middle third of this book is amazing, focusing on the history of algorithms (chapter 4), calculation (chapter 5), and rules and regulations in the age of urban expansion (chapter 6). Daston makes clear how the understanding of what constituted an algorithm, and how much background knowledge one has to bring to the table, changed dramatically over the centuries, as well as how the introduction of calculating machines didn't immediately lead to higher performance without extensive organizational and process reworking. The rest of the book is somewhat hit and miss
