Risk

Arwen P. Mohun is a professor of history at the University of Delaware. She is author of Steam Laundries: Gender, Technology, and Work in the United States and Great Britain, 1880-1940 and coeditor of Gender and Technology: A Reader, both published by Johns Hopkins.

• AcknowledgmentsIntroductionPart I: Risks from Nature1. Fire Is Everybody's Problem2. The Uncertainties of Disease3. Doing Something about the Weather4. Animal Risk for a Modern AgePart II: Industrializing Risk5. Railroads, or Why Risk in a System Is Different6. The Professionalization of Safety7. The Safety-First MovementPart III: Risk in a Consumer Society8. Negotiating Automobile Risk9. What's a Gun Good For?10. Risk as Entertainment: Amusement Parks11. Consumer Product SafetyConclusionNotesEssay on SourcesIndex

A thought-provoking study of danger and how people have managed it in American from preindustrial and industrial times up until today. -- Steven Goddard History Wire - Where the Past Comes Alive Risk is a fascinating exploration of culture, history, and mankind's tenuous grasp on saving itself from accidents. Midwest Book Review Writing in a lucid style, Mohun gives an impressive overview of the American transition from vernacular to expert-centered or state-driven risk regimes. -- Claas Kirchhelle British Journal for the History of Science Mohun's claims are persuasively argued, well documented, rooted in the everyday experiences of knowledgeable historical contemporaries, and animated by the broad political, social, and cultural changes that define modernization. -- David Blanke American Historical Review Mohun's comprehensive approach registers a major contribution that takes safety history a big step forward. -- Donald W. Rogers Journal of American History