"The fifteen papers comprising this volume examine the economic aspects of the transportation of agricultural and manufactured products both out of and into the seventeen western states, with particular attention to the effects on interregional competition and on the states' development. While the transportation of agricultural products and inputs is a central concern throughout the book, the topics covered of necessity range over the entire spectrum of transportation issues"--Jacket excerpt.

The term "technological fix" should mean a fix provided by technology--a solution for all of our problems, from medicine and food production to the environment and business. Instead, technological fix has come to mean a cheap, quick fix using inappropriate technology that usually creates more problems than it solves. This collection sets out the distinction between a technological fix and a true technological solution. Bringing together scholars from a variety of disciplines, the essays trace the technological fix as it has appeared throughout the twentieth century. Addressing such "fixes" as artificial hearts, industrial agriculture and climate engineering, these essays examine our need to turn to technology for solutions to all of our problems.