The book’s first section, “Regional History through the Mid-Twentieth Century,” recounts the conquest of the rugged Ozarks terrain (by railroad, automobile, and hydroelectricity) and the development of “big machine” industry. The second section, “From the Later Twentieth Century to the Present,” explores communication technologies in radio and television (which made Springfield, for a time, the epicenter of country music broadcasting in America); other themes include urban Springfield’s transition from an industrial to a service economy and the transformation of the “lake country” landscape through tourism. The third section, “The Twenty-First Century and Beyond,” celebrates the region’s successful wedding of technology and entrepreneurship, ensuring the Ozarks a place in the emerging global economy; also featured is “A Forum on the Future,” in which scientists, academicians, healthcare practitioners, men and women of business, and citizens of diverse backgrounds make their predictions—and say what they are doing, now, to ensure a hopeful future for Springfield and the Ozarks.
TechnOzarks is the latest publication of the Ozarks Studies Institute, an initiative of the Missouri State University Libraries.