A friend loaned me this book last summer. I had not heard of it before, but enjoyed it. The author tracks the history of the appropriate or intermediate technology movement, which grew out of EF Schumacher's book, Small is Beautiful. After reading it, I mentionned it to several people I know who work in this field and they all raved about it. For instance, this is the only book Amy Smith uses in her D-Lab course at MIT.
The author knows the field well, and I liked that he doesn't sugar coat the many challenges that have faced technology development and transfer in the developing world. Since this book, other authors such as William Easterly and Dambissa Moyo have added additional critiques of aid, but less has been written on technology development and design for these markets. The notable exception is Paul Polak's book Out of Poverty. It appears that those who are doing it (Amy Smith, Ashok Gadgil, Tim Prestero) are too busy to write a book about it. But you can catch them on TED videos and occasional interviews.
Smillie has a new book out on BRAC called Freedom From Want. Part of the reason I am writing this short review is that I was surprised that there was no review for this earlier book of his.
Bottom line, a good background book for those interested in technology development as a tool of international development. It might prevent you from making the same mistakes as others before you, as well as give you an idea of who has been doing what in the field. Combined with Polak's book, you would have a good start!
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