The truth machine : a social history of the lie detector / Geoffrey C. Bunn.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bunn, G. C. (Geoffrey C.)

Series:

Johns Hopkins Studies in the History of Technology

Johns Hopkins studies in the history of technology

Johns Hopkins Studies in the History of Technology.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Lie detectors and detection--History.

Lie detectors and detection.

Lie detectors and detection--United States--History.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (257 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Baltimore : Johns Hopkins University Press, 2012.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

He examines how the machine emerged as a technology of truth, transporting readers back to the obscure origins of criminology itself, ultimately concluding that the lie detector owes as much to popular culture as it does to factual science.

Contents:

Cover; Contents; Introduction: Plotting the Hyperbola of Deception; Chapter 1 "A thieves' quarter, a devil's den": The Birth of Criminal Man; Chapter 2 "A vast plain under a flaming sky": The Emergence of Criminology; Chapter 3 "Supposing that Truth is a woman-what then?": The Enigma of Female Criminality; Chapter 4 "Fearful errors lurk in our nuptial couches": The Critique of Criminal Anthropology; Chapter 5 "To Classify and Analyze Emotional Persons": The Mistake of the Machines; Chapter 6 "Some of the darndest lies you ever heard": Who Invented the Lie Detector?

Chapter 7 "A trick of burlesque employed . . . against dishonesty": The Quest for Euphoric SecurityChapter 8 "A bally hoo side show at the fair": The Spectacular Power of Expertise; Conclusion: The Hazards of the Will to Truth; Acknowledgments; Notes; Essay on Sources; Index; A; B; C; D; E; F; G; H; I; J; K; L; M; N; O; P; Q; R; S; T; V; W; Z

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781421406510

1421406519

OCLC:

823655162