Aramis, or The Love of Technology

Bruno Latour has written a unique and wonderful tale of a technological dream gone wrong. The story of the birth and death of Aramisthe guided-transportation system intended for Parisis told in this thought-provoking and fictional account by several different parties: an engineer and his professor; company executives and elected officials; a sociologist; and finally Aramis itself, who delivers a passionate plea on behalf of technological innovations that risk being abandoned by their makers. As the young engineer and professor follow Aramiss trailconducting interviews, analyzing documents, assessing the evidenceperspectives keep shifting: the truth is revealed as multilayered, unascertainable, comprising an array of possibilities worthy of Rashomon. This charming and profound book, part novel and part sociological study, is Latour at his thought-provoking best.