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  • Imperial Technoscience: Transnational Histories of MRI in the United States, Britain, and India by Amit Prasad
  • John P. DiMoia (bio)
Imperial Technoscience: Transnational Histories of MRI in the United States, Britain, and India. By Amit Prasad. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2014. Pp. xi+ 232. $37.

The trope of the West, in this case the United States and Britain, as representing the “center” of scientific knowledge production has been critiqued often in recent work in the history of science and technology. In contrast to approaches that favor fields such as either natural history or agriculture as the basis for such a critique, Amit Prasad’s Imperial Technoscience takes up the seemingly unpromising prospect of the MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), a sophisticated form of visualization technology generally believed to have been developed at several metropolitan sites. Setting this challenge for himself, Prasad proceeds to consider “three cultures of MRI” (p. 99) through a comparative series of distinct national contexts, with the individual case studies following an opening frame in which he problematizes the existing understanding of MRI’s origins. The result, culminating in the two richest chapters, 4 and 5, is an enticing mini-study in the manner of Andrew Pickering, one in which the metropole’s assumed position as the “center” is portrayed as deeply entangled within problematic narratives of big science and technology.

Prasad begins by describing his choice of subject matter, knowing that it will appear unproblematic to many, and then justifies his choice of “transnational technoscience” (p. 4) as a vehicle through which to probe and ultimately contest stories of origins. In chapters 1 and 2, he lays out his frame, even invoking Thomas Friedman’s “the world is flat” (p. 1) in his introduction as part of a playful take on the narratives used to tell stories about science and technology and their respective roles in shaping our world. From there, chapter 1 offers a retelling of the story of the origins of MRI, while chapter 2 continues with the growth of the field into an emergent form of big science. In both cases, Prasad’s take is consciously set against a linear account of technological development, as he seeks to introduce complexity and contingency to augment the existing story.

Where the text gains its real momentum is in chapters 3 and 4, with the [End Page 562] former covering the rapid growth of the MRI market in the American context, despite an initial lack of enthusiasm in the 1970s. By the late 1980s and early 1990s, the use of MRI in clinical settings had increased dramatically, with a significant number of these devices now in the United States. The historical legacy of embracing high-tech means of visualization within biomedicine, coupled with the opportunities MRI offered for diagnosis and research, make the American adoption of MRI not very surprising. During this discussion, Prasad makes pointed references to “outsourcing,” allowing for the incorporation of India into the story, although only peripherally at first. This dualistic framing, Prasad suggests, will begin to come undone in chapter 4.

Chapter 4 then looks at the early context for NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) research in India, dating this development to the second half of the 1940s. The interest in doing so is not to envision a radical retelling of the story whereby India represents an unseen or “lost” point of origin. Rather, Prasad seeks to emphasize how in a world increasingly dominated by the forces of big science, researchers typically have a limited range of choices. Those who pursue radical alternatives know “there is a good chance they will not be successful” (p. 97) and so the pragmatic strategy generally consists of following another’s research agenda, in effect placing the researcher with fewer resources—whether material resources or human networks—in a perpetual bind where they are always seen as “catching up.” With a simple point that effectively sums up his narrative, Prasad argues that this constellation of forces explains the tropes of “lag” and “lack,” labels frequently applied to India, and to non-Western science in general. He concludes in the following two chapters.

John P. DiMoia

John P. DiMoia is with the Department of History, National...

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