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Rachel Maines
Technology Historian
Rachel Maines is a visiting scientist in the Cornell University School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Her principal research interests lie in the history of technology, especially issues relating to technology and the body, such as sexuality, medicine, technological risk, and injury epidemiology. She is the author of three books: "The Technology of Orgasm: 'Hysteria,' Vibrators, and Women's Sexual Satisfaction" (1999), "Asbestos and Fire: Technological Tradeoffs and the Body at Risk" (2005), and her most recent, "Hedonizing Technologies: Pathways to Pleasure in Hobbies and Leisure," published by Johns Hopkins University Press in 2009.
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2mins
Historian of technology Rachel Maines explains the most fascinating insight to emerge from her current research.
3mins
The “Hedonizing Technologies” author wouldn’t bet against it. Ironing, she says, is already a sport.
4mins
Activities that were once functional—from gardening to brewing—have become recreational in advanced societies. The author of “Hedonizing Technologies” explains why.
2mins
How common is vibrator use among women, men, and societies worldwide? Has this segment of the market been hurt (or stimulated) by the recession?
6mins
The “Technology of Orgasm” author recounts the outrageous history of female genital “manipulators,” from water-powered turbines to the contraption called the Chattanooga.
7mins
And did the doctors who claimed to “treat” it by inducing orgasm know better? Rachel Maines reveals the truth behind the historical rumors.