| 1. Introduction | 1 |
| I. Living Systems, Technology, and the Evolution of Control | |
| 2. Programming and Control: The Essential Life Process | 31 |
| 3. Evolution of Control: Culture and Society | 61 |
| II Industrialization, Processing Speed, and the Crisis of Control | |
| 4. From Tradition to Rationality: Distributing Control | 121 |
| 5. Toward Industrialization: Controlling Energy and Speed | 169 |
| 6. Industrial Revolution and the Crisis of Control | 219 |
| III.Toward an Information Society: From Control Crisis to Control Revolution | |
| 7. Revolution in Control of Mass Production and Distribution | 291 |
| 8. Revolution in Control of Mass Consumption | 344 |
| 9. Revolution in Generalized Control: Data Processing and Bureaucracy | 390 |
| 10. Conclusions: Control as Engine of the Information Society | 426 |
| References | 439 |
| Index | 477 |