TECHNOLOGY ON THE OLD FRONTIER: MINING IN OLD ONTARIO. Newell, Dianne. Vancouver, University of British Columbia Press, c1986.220pp, cloth, $24.00, ISBN 0-7748-0240-5. CIP Post-Secondary Reviewed by R. Rennie Volume 15 Number 1 1987 January A glance at the title might give the impression that this book is of narrow appeal. However, I think it is in such writings that the new social approach to history is going to find a foundation to build upon. "What if?" and "How come?" Where did our scattered mining settlements come from and why did some flourish and others not? There are reasons, and the author has sought to show how the interweaving of demands, technology, and awareness of both has created settlements in the mining areas. One of the interesting aspects of the story is how an advance in technology might or might not be a) discovered, b) applied, c) financed, and d) kept in use. Another is the description of the "jerker" system for pumping oil wells, still in use near Oil Springs. The author has achieved her purpose, in her words: to examine technological change as a sequence of events and to apply this procedure to the broad, complex industry that was taking place in three highly varied social and physical environments and immensely different locales on the frontier. I confess my bias to things geological and historical and say that I found this book of interest. However, I do not think very many high school students would. It is at a high reading level and the author (since this is based on a PhD dissertation) does not dress up the story beyond the documented facts. R. Rennie, Daniel Mclntyre C.I., Winnipeg, Man.