Finn Brunton

Finn Brunton Portrait

Position Title
Professor

1246C, Social Sciences and Humanities
1 Shields Avenue, Davis CA 95616
Office Hours
2-3PM Tuesday, 11-12PM Thursday: Cruess Hall courtyard (if weather is good); or Cruess Hall common space (if it's raining). Sign up for an appointment above.
Bio

About

(Portrait by my sister Tessa Brunton)

You can find all of my papers and articles for download here.

Research Focus

History of science and technology: computing (pre- and post-electronic), networking, early programming, early artificial intelligence, cybernetics, cryptography, surveillance; cryptocurrencies, blockchains, transaction and payment systems, alternative and experimental currencies; failed technologies, vaporware, theories of hype, dead media, abandoned infrastructure.

Utopian technological subcultures: transhumanists, cosmists, cryonics, Extropians, rationalists; communist and capitalist utopian technologies of the 1880s-1940s; history of capitalism.

Ancient technologies: knots and knotting, cordage and textiles, mnemonics, early metallurgy, foraging, load carriage. 

Currently (2025) at work on a book about "bro science."

Publications

Digital Cash: The Unknown History of the Anarchists, Utopians, and Technologists Who Created Cryptocurrency. Princeton University Press, 2019

Communication. With Mercedes Bunz and Paula Bialski. University of Minnesota / Meson Press, 2019

Obfuscation: A User’s Guide for Privacy and Protest. With Helen Nissenbaum. MIT Press, 2015

Spam: A Shadow History of the Internet. MIT Press, April 2013