We learned that [the four Laws of Media] applied to more than what is conventionally called media: they were applicable to the products of all human endeavour, and also to the endeavour itself. One colleague at the university tried them on remedies for cancer, and found they worked. With another, my father tried business procedures; with another, Newton's laws of motion. They worked! The floodgates burst. (E. McLuhan, 1988, p. ix)
An edition of Laws of media: the new science
(1988)
Laws of media
the new science
by Marshall McLuhan
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Laws of Media; The New Science started as an anticipated 2nd edition to Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man. In this book the "Laws" are four principles discussed in Understanding Media, used here as a set of four questions to query any artifact created by humans, including theory, procedures, and style. These can also be viewed as four perspectives or dimensions of such an artifact. The four dimensions are referenced in the book as the "tetrad." About eighty pages of the book are devoted to examples of artifacts tested as tetrads. The examples—laid out, per Eric, as poetic stanzas, without further elaboration—can confuse the reader's newly minted understanding of the tetrad; however, one does not need to understand the examples to gain insights from the book, a collaboration between Marshall McLuhan and his son, Eric McLuhan. --F.A. Moore
Publisher
University of Toronto Press
Pages
252
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Previews available in: English
Subjects
Communication, Semiotics, tetrad, figure and ground, artifacts [artefacts], metaphor, electric informationTimes
20th century, The FutureShowing 4 featured editions. View all 4 editions?
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Laws of Media: The New Science
September 16, 1992, University of Toronto Press
Paperback
in English
0802077153 9780802077158
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Laws of media: the new science
1988, University of Toronto Press
in English
0802057829 9780802057822
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WorldCat
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3
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Laws of media: the new science
Publish date unknown, University of Toronto Press
0802057829 9780802057822
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Book Details
Published in
Toronto, Buffalo
Edition Notes
Includes bibliographical references.
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Excerpts
added by FAMoore.
This broader application and, importantly, testing of the tetrad, I believe is the real cause of passion and excitement in the McLuhans writing and sharing this book.
A New Science replaces the current Old Science of media and artefacts, which is too narrow and too rigid, having drawn its techniques from the abstract Method used since the Renaissance. It is a science of content and of messages only. The study of human media and technologies must begin with their humanity and remain steeped in the study of the senses. (McLuhan & McLuhan, 1988, pp. 3–4)
added by FAMoore.
To fully understand what the McLuhans mean by "media" and by "content" and by "message," read Marshall McLuhan's (1962/2013) Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man.
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| December 6, 2022 | Edited by FAMoore | Corrected misspelling in my prior note, added "Semiotics" back to keywords list, as it is part of the catalog data, along with "Communication." |
| December 6, 2022 | Edited by FAMoore | Added Description of work, two excerpts with notes, and setting. Modified keywords deleting: semiotics, media law and legislation; adding: , tetrad, figure and ground, artifacts [artefacts], metaphor, electric information. The McLuhan's consider four natural laws of media. Their "media" is everything that affects humans, from books, to planes, to gardening. |
| December 6, 2022 | Edited by FAMoore | Edited without comment. |
| December 25, 2021 | Edited by ImportBot | import existing book |
| December 9, 2009 | Created by WorkBot | add works page |