Technological progress is important and affects the growth of our economy. Throughout history there have been sociologists, anthropologists and researchers who have attempted to develop methods for measuring technological progress. These important people who formulated brilliant theories are Gerhard Lenski, Leslie White and Alvin Toffler. Technological development keeps our economy moving, which has a fundamental impact on improving living standards around the world. These men theorize that information, energy control, and future shocks are how technology advances our economy. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essayGerhard Lenski was born in 1924 and died in 2015; he lived to be 90 years old. He was a sociologist and spent much of his career as a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Lenski believed that the answer to human progress was information. Lenski's four stages of technological progress are: food security, horticulture, agriculture and manufacturing. Lenski's first stage is at the hunter-gatherer level, where humans work to reduce food insecurity and the next level is where humans gather food from growing plants. In the third stage social orders come into play due to a surplus of food. When agriculture is organized, society is now equipped with social classes, inequality, and a complex division of labor due to advances in arts and crafts, architecture, and engineering. The last phase of Lenski's technological perspective is where humans begin to see food-based economies replaced by manufacturing, which in turn leads to the industrial revolution with machines and factories. According to Lenski, the more humans understand how to use the Earth's natural resources, the more they can advance in society. Leslie White was an anthropologist, born in 1900 and passed away in 1975. White believed that the control of energy was the key to cultural purpose, while Lenski believed that it was information. According to White, there are five stages in human progress, not four. The first phase states that human muscle power comes from energy while the second phase states that humans acquire energy from domesticated animals. For example, we use animals such as livestock for food energy, hunting, transportation, and for battle. The next phase involves the agricultural revolution, which is simply an extension of the previous phase. Phase four includes power and energy from Earth's natural resources, such as coal, oil, and natural gas. This phase is similar to Lenski's industrial revolution, mentioned in phase four. White's last phase states that humans accumulate energy from nuclear energy, while Lenski believed that nuclear energy was too dangerous for humans. As a side note, Leslie White is famous for his formula: P = E*T. "E" stands for the energy consumed, "T" is the measure of the technical factors that arise from the energy and P is the final calculation. In summary, White believed that culture evolves as the measurement of work energy and efficiency increases over time. White linked cultural progress with an equation of energy and efficiency and Lenski linked it with information and knowledge. The final theorist to compare is Alvin Toffler. He was born in 1928 and died in 2016; he was a journalist, social critic and futurist. Toffler is most famous for his term, future shock, which means “too many changes in one.