I am currently actively researching and developing two book projects, both of which relate to the history of technology.

The first is a study of the history of the concept that technology could cause an apocalyptic collapse of society, pushing the timeline of this history backwards to the 16th century, and de-centering it away from an exclusive emphasis on European and US history by focusing on the role of technological apocalypse in the colonial spaces of 17th century North America and Brazil, 18th century West Africa and the Caribbean, and 19th century South Asia. The working title is Technological Apocalypse in the Early Modern World: Colonial Magic, Disembodied Minds and the Prehistory of AI. (Two early forays into this topic can be read at The Appendix and The Public Domain Review).

My second project is a collaboration on the history of ethics and engineering with Roya Pakzad, provisionally titled The Engineer’s Dilemma.