In 1965, Intel co-founder Gordon Moore boldly declared that computer chips would double in effectiveness every two years for the conceivable future. His prediction—which has proven more than true—is just one example of the rapid development of technology in the last five decades that has improved our lives immeasurably.

But technology is not only what powers shiny gadgets whose inner workings are beyond our comprehension. It is, more broadly, all the ways in which we as a society can harness the potential that exists in the world. And so this issue celebrates technology in all its forms, from mathematics that predict the future to a water purifier made of spare toilet parts.

Sometimes, the best technology has to offer is a speedy processor. Other times, ones and zeroes are less effective than a hammer. Everything we need lies somewhere in the vast spectrum between high tech and low tech. It’s there for the taking.

High Tech / Low Tech Features

The New Nostradamus
Michael A. M. Lerner talks with the man who is putting the "science" back in political science.

If It Ain’t Broke...
GOOD explores seven practices that haven't changed much over time for one simple reason: they got it right on the first try.

Get a Life
Morgan Clendaniel ambles around the ghost town that is Second Life in search of the digital frontier (and a cheap penis).

Low-Tech Laboratory
A group of renegade engineers at MIT is creating elegantly simple solutions to global problems.

You’ve Got Mail!
Sam Schwartz hitches a ride on a government mule to traverse the United States Postal Service's most dangerous route.