School of Social and Political Science

Background

I'm a sociologist of science and technology, and my research aims to throw new light on their role in shaping the modern world. I work on topics such as AI, digital advertising, automated financial trading and (in earlier projects) how financial-market participants use mathematical models and how nuclear weapons systems are designed.  

My book with Koray Caliskan, Inside Digital Advertising: Platforms, Power, and Material Politics (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2026) is open access, and can be downloaded from Polity's website.

Earlier books include: 

• Trading at the Speed of Light: How Ultrafast Algorithms Are Transforming Financial Markets (Princeton University Press, 2021, also available as audiobook).
• An Engine, Not a Camera: How Financial Models Shape Markets (MIT Press, 2006).
• Inventing Accuracy: A Historical Sociology of Nuclear Missile Guidance (MIT Press, 1990).

Watch Donald talking about trading at Edinburgh's celebrated Library of Mistakes:

CV and publications

Full CV and Publications List

Selected recent articles

AI's Scale, Donald MacKenzie, London Review of Books, February 2026 [final draft +​​ links to main sources used].

The Future of Search, Donald MacKenzie, London Review of Books, November 2025 [final draft +​​ links to main sources used].

Ecologization, Part 1: Towards Assets-Actifs and Care Practices, Michel Callon, Koray Caliskan, Donald MacKenzie, Economy and Society, May 2025.

Ecologization, Part 2: Practices, Strategies and Devices for Managing Assets-Actifs, Michel Callon, Koray Caliskan, Donald MacKenzie, Economy and Society, June 2025.

Hey Big Spender: What Your Smartphone Knows About You, Donald MacKenzie, London Review of Books, August 2024 [final draft +​​ links to main sources used]

Intermediaries, Mediators and Digital Advertising's Tensions, Addie McGowan, Donald MacKenzie and Koray Caliskan, Journal of Cultural Economy, July 2024.

The Longest Second: Header Bidding and the Material Politics of Online Advertising, Donald MacKenzie, Koray Caliskan and Charlotte Rommerskirchen, Economy and Society, 2023. 

A Puff of Carbon Dioxide [digital advertising's carbon emissions], Donald MacKenzie, London Review of Books, January 2023 [final draft +​​ links to main sources used].

Blink, Bid, Buy: Digital Advertising and Online News, Donald MacKenzie, draft article for London Review of Books, May 2022.

Spoofing: Law, Materiality and Boundary Work In Futures Trading, Donald MacKenzie, Economy and Society, January 2022.

Cookies, Pixels and Fingerprints, Donald MacKenzie, April 2021.  Draft article for the London Review of Books.

Qualifications

• BSc (University of Edinburgh)
• PhD (University of Edinburgh)