“Developing to Scale is a highly readable, well-researched account that does a masterful job at untangling the different visions and interests involved in defining appropriate technology. This proves critical to understanding many seeming contradictions in American Cold War development practice. Although the book is dense with bureaucratic and policy history, the author enlivens these elements of the story with illustrative detail and engaging prose. . . . A valuable contribution to the history of global health, the history of capitalism, and the history of American foreign policy.”

Annals of Science

“Developing to Scale’s careful tracing of the history of a concept—and its real-world implications—makes it a highly teachable text that would fit nicely into courses on global health, history of technology, or development studies.”

Technology and Culture

“Recommended.”

Choice

“The concept of ‘appropriate technology,’ Janus-faced, has been used both to inspire and to prevent technological assistance to people in resource-poor communities. Morefield’s Developing to Scale provides a fascinating and surprising global history of the origins of the idea and its far-reaching influence on international health and development worldwide. Who should decide what technology is right for whom? What social systems do technologies require to succeed? These questions remain vitally important today.”

David S. Jones, Harvard University

“With engaging prose and illuminating detail, Developing to Scale provides a crucial history of appropriate technology in international aid. Anyone nursing a clever fix to improve the world should first read this book.”   

Peter Redfield, University of Southern California

“The first comprehensive history of advocacy for ‘appropriate technology’ for global health, Developing to Scale provides a fresh analytical route into understanding the enduring enthusiasm for cheap technological fixes for fundamental problems of global health inequalities. With an extraordinary combination of scholarly rigor and narrative lucidity, the book works across scales to provide a careful account of key individuals, groups, and encounters, while also illuminating anew the broader social and technological field of global health in an era of emerging postcolonial aspirations and complexly intertwining neoliberal endeavors.”

Anne Pollock, King’s College London