History of Technology

Politische Soziologie technischer Prüfungen. Das Beispiel Straßenverkehrssicherheit <2012>

by Joerg Potthast

discussion paper

Draws on two conceptual streams (sociology of critique; sociology of science and technology) to develop a subpolitical... more Draws on two conceptual streams (sociology of critique; sociology of science and technology) to develop a subpolitical understand of "testing"; accounts for the history of car safety between late 1960s and 2006.

Cultural Meanings of Wood Gas as Automobile Fuel in Sweden 1930-1945

by Helena Ekerholm

Published in: (ed.) Nina Möllers & Karin Zachmann, Past and Present Energy Societies: How Energy Connects Politics, Technologies and Cultures, Transcript Verlag 2012.

The Development of Contemporary Dairy Culture: Appropriation of American Bodies for Industry and the National Defense

by Victor Galli

Senior thesis for the Science, Technology & Society program in the Department of the History & Sociology of Science.

El hierro en la Edad Media: desarrollo social y tecnología productiva

by Marta Sancho Planas

The widespread use of iron as a material usage in the Middle Ages, can be considered a technical innovation that had... more The widespread use of iron as a material usage in the Middle Ages, can be considered a technical innovation that had an strong impact on the development of medieval society. This generalization came conditioned by the introduction of widespread hydropower in the steelmaking process that allowed a considerable increase in production and improved product quality. This article explores the social conditions that made possible such innovations in the High Middle Ages, and the influence thereof on the development of medieval society in the following centuries. We established the various stages of iron production, technical difficulties and the solutions were applied and the changes that we see throughout the medieval period.

Swalwell The Early Micro User FINAL

by Melanie Swalwell

El reloj y el tiempo en la Castilla bajomedieval a través de la literatura

by Víctor Pérez Álvarez

Published in: M. I. Del Val Valdivieso, P. Martínez Sopena (coords.): "Homenaje al Profesor Julio Valdeón", Valladolid, Junta de Castilla y León, Universidad de Valladolid, 2009, pp. 493-502

Time conciusness and time measuring can be traced in literature better than in many administrative documents. In this... more Time conciusness and time measuring can be traced in literature better than in many administrative documents. In this paper the author analizes the implantation of the mechanical clock in the society of the Kingdom of Castile in the XVth century through two well known literary sources.

'Too far ahead of its time': Barclays, Burroughs and real-time banking

by Ian Martin

Forthcoming in IEEE Annals of the History of Computing 34(2).

The historiography of computing has until now considered real-time computing in banking as predicated on the... more The historiography of computing has until now considered real-time computing in banking as predicated on the possibilities of networked ATMs in the 1970s. This article reveals a different story. It exposes the failed bid by Barclays and Burroughs to make real time a reality for British banking in the 1960s.

Structuring information work: Ferranti and Martins Bank, 1952-1968

by Ian Martin

Forthcoming in Information and Culture 47(3)

The adoption of large-scale computers by the British retail banks in the 1960s required a first-time dislocation of... more The adoption of large-scale computers by the British retail banks in the 1960s required a first-time dislocation of customer accounting from its confines in the branches--where it had been dealt with by paper-based and mechanized information systems-- to a new collective space: the bank computer center. While historians have rightly stressed the continuities between centralized office work, punch-card tabulation, and computerization, the shift from decentralized to centralized information work by means of a computer has received little attention. In this article I examine the case of Ferranti and Martins Bank and employ elements of Anthony Giddens’s structuration theory to highlight the difficulties of transposing old information practices directly onto new computerized information work.

In search of optimality: A systems technologist goes east [from New Zealand!]

by Peter Mellalieu

Mellalieu, P. J. (1983). In search of optimality: A systems technologist goes east. Overseas study report. Wellington, New Zealand: Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR).

In 1983, the author undertook a period of post-doctoral study based in the operations research departments at... more In 1983, the author undertook a period of post-doctoral study based in the operations research departments at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Lancaster University, England. The objectives of the overseas study were to report on practical developments in using systems technologies applied to planning activities. Of special concern was the application of such techniques to strategic planning and R&D planning. The report details the itinerary of the tour, observations, and recommendations.

The important developments observed were:

In business situations there is a strong emphasis in providing computer-based end-user oriented systems often using graphics and microcomputers

Artificial intelligence approaches, especially expert systems have already begun to be used by industrial practitioners.

In the United States, research into the planning and operation of flexible manufacturing systems (such as networks of robots) is a topic of high concern amongst operations researchers.

Strategic management is developing a strong discipline in its own right, with traditional operations research techniques being viewed as one of many available analytical tools.

The availability of both software and hardware computer technologies far exceeds the capacity of even large organisations to identify where the technology could be applied, what benefits might occur and how to adopt the technology.

The report recommends that New Zealand’s principle industrial and scientific organisation (DSIR) should play a major role in encouraging the construction of a ‘knowledge infrastructure’ that facilitates effective communication of technological know-how between national knowledge centers. The first generation of such an infrastructure are now emerging, but in a fragmented fashion. DSIR’s attention should focus on the strategic specification of the knowledge infrastructure needed by New Zealand in 1990. This specification will then identify pilot projects that should be commissioned over the next five years to provide the necessary base of experience for the detailed systems design. The report details specific proposals for achieving the recommendations.

Food, Drugs, and TV: The Social Study of Corporate Science

by David Schleifer

Coauthored with Bart Penders, published in Bulletin of Science, Technology and Society 31 (6), 431-434.

The vast, heterogeneous, and consequential world of cor-
porate science demands and invites empirical inquiry. The vast, heterogeneous, and consequential world of cor-
porate science demands and invites empirical inquiry.

Turkic kümüš ‘silver’ and the lambdaism vs sigmatism debate

by Guillaume Jacques

Antonov, Anton & Jacques, Guillaume 2012. Turkic kümüš ‘silver’ and the lambdaism vs sigmatism debate. Turkic Languages 15, 151–170.

Affording terrorism: Idealists and materialities in the emergence of modern terrorism

by Mats Fridlund

Submitted manuscript to be published in: Terrorism and Affordance, eds. Max Taylor & P.M. Currie (London: Continuum, fc2012).

http://wwwwww.continuumbooks.com/books/detail.aspx?BookId=162678&SubjectId=1023&Subject2Id=1597

In this groundbreaking work (Terrorism and affordance), leading scholars and experts set out to explore the utility of the concept of affordance in the study and understanding of terrorism and political violence. Essays discuss such topics as affordance in relation to counterterrorism, technology, cyber-jihad, ideology, and political ecologies. By importing the concept of affordance and a new set of research to the study of terrorism, the authors offer an innovative and original work that challenges and adds to various aspects of situational crime prevention and counterterrorism.

The writing of this article has partly been funded through the research project ”Spreading terror: Technology and... more The writing of this article has partly been funded through the research project ”Spreading terror: Technology and materiality in the transnational emergence of terrorism, 1866-1898” (2010-1860) funded by the Swedish Research Council (VR) and the University of Gothenburg.

Det nya gränsöverskridande våldet: Terroristen och den tidiga globaliseringen

by Mats Fridlund

Published in: Individer i rörelse: Kulturhistoria i 1880-talets Sverige, red. Birgitta Svensson & Anna Wallette (Göteborg: Makadam, 2012), 194-230.

Forskningen har delvis bedrivits inom det av Vetenskapsrådet finansierade projektet "Terrorns spridning: Teknik och materialitet i terrorismens transnationella tillblivelse, 1866–1898" (2010-1860)

I antologins inledningskapitlet skriver Birgitta Svensson och Anna Wallette: "Individen och staden spelade stor... more I antologins inledningskapitlet skriver Birgitta Svensson och Anna Wallette: "Individen och staden spelade stor roll i diskussioner kring vilken väg man ville att samhället skulle ta. Skulle man följa exemplet från ryska nihilister och spränga fram en ny samhällsordning med våld? Industrin och teknikens framsteg, inte minst dynamitens landvinningar, utmanade politiken. I ”Det nya gränsöverskridande våldet: Terroristen och den tidiga globaliseringen” berättar teknik- och vetenskapshistorikern Mats Fridlund hur den revolutionära terrorismen fick genomslag då den presenterade sig själv som intellektuellt motiverad. Den var resonabel, då den var mer rättvist och effektiv än tidigare former av våld, och rationell då den var grundad i den moderna vetenskapen och tekniken. Den andra industriella revolutionen med dess tekniska nyheter var ett villkor för sådan terrorism. Den myllrande staden var en förutsättning för att attentatsmännen och -kvinnorna skulle lyckas i sina uppsåt. Det nya våldet passade inte för en okontrollerbar massa, och de nya attentatsmänniskorna skulle inte få förbli i ett namnlöst kollektiv. Porträtt av dem spreds i tidningar, vilket ledde till att även terrorister blev celebriteter. Men de var ändå våldsverkare som måste motarbetas för att samhället ska vara stabilt och tryggt. I en modern tid individualiserar man sina medborgare och gör således individen identifierbar. Tidens nya institutioner vidareutvecklade metoder för att uppnå detta mål."

La planta solar de desalación de agua de Las Salinas (1872). Literatura y memoria de una experiencia pionera

by Nelson Arellano Escudero

Quaderns d’història de l’enginyeria", 2011, vol. XII, p. 229-251.

THE SOLAR PLANT FOR WATER DESALINIZATION AT
LAS SALINAS (1872). LITERATURE AND MEMORY OF A
PIONEERING... more THE SOLAR PLANT FOR WATER DESALINIZATION AT
LAS SALINAS (1872). LITERATURE AND MEMORY OF A
PIONEERING EXPERIENCE

During the last quarter of the nineteenth century, the first solar plant for producing still water on an industrial scale was built. Although this plant remained in operation for some forty years, we have little knowledge about it, despite the existence of records which might shed light on the background.

Nevertheless, this plant has been adopted as an antecedent of the technology of distilling water by solar power, even though data from the plant provides little material for any critical analysis. It should be pointed out that the History of the Technology pays scant attention either to solar energy in general or to the distillation of water by solar power in particular. 1872 is regarded as the year when the Las Salinas plant in the Atacama Desert entered into operation.

Finally, the literature shows that interest in this type of technology has varied over through time, while for almost one hundred and forty years no rigorous research has been conducted into the ingenuity employed in this plant.

‘Spectacle and witnessing: constructing readings of Parsons’ marine turbine’, Technology & Culture 52 (2011): 287-309.

by Don Leggett

Radio: the life story of a technology

by Brian Regal

ICOHTEC Travel Grants to Mancheter Symposium 2013

by Timo Myllyntaus

Guidelines

The ICOHTEC Board will make available a limited number of grants for graduates, post-graduates... more Guidelines

The ICOHTEC Board will make available a limited number of grants for graduates, post-graduates and young researchers who are giving a paper at the 2013 ICOHTEC Symposium Knowledge at Work in Manchester, UK, 22-28 July 2013. Special preference will be given to students and young researchers from developing countries as well as Eastern and Central European countries in transition who are not able to receive sufficient financial support from their home countries or sponsors in other countries.

These travel grants are not intended to provide the full costs associated with attending the symposium; they are meant as an encouragement, not a full subsidy.

Eligibility: ICOHTEC Travel Grants will be awarded to students or young researchers, travel costs and accommodation costs of whom have not been covered by some sponsors.

The Travel Grant of 350 euro is to be used to cover bus/train/ ship /flight tickets, lodging and/or registration fee. Reimbursement will be made after presenting paper or poster and proving the student’s or young researcher status by an appropriate document (Student’s ID or super¬visor’s/professor’s letter).

Application forms should be sent to the President as email attachments or by ordinary mail. Applica¬tions for support must include personal contact information, an estimate on travel, registration and accommodation costs, title of the paper/poster to be presented and a short CV. An application form may be downloaded from the ICOHTEC web site at:
http://www.icohtec.org/resources-prizes.html.

Deadline: Applications with appendices should be submitted by 15 November, 2012. Submissions via email are requested and preferred. Grants will be announced in January, 2013.

James Williams
President
101 Lake Winnemissett Drive
Deland FL 32724 USA
techjunc@gmail.com

"Britannia Rules the Wireless Waves": the British Admiralty and wireless, 1899-1914

by Elizabeth Bruton

To be presented at "Fighting Technologies: Military Confrontations with Telecommunications Systems, 1876-1918" session at the Three Societies conference, Philadelphia, July 2012.

In July 1899 three Royal Navy ships tested Marconi wireless sets during naval manoeuvres and later that year Marconi... more In July 1899 three Royal Navy ships tested Marconi wireless sets during naval manoeuvres and later that year Marconi wireless sets originally intended for the British Army were instead used by the Royal Navy during the Boer War.  In 1901 the Admiralty signed a contract with the Marconi Company, one of the newly-established company's earliest and most important contracts.  Henceforth the Admiralty continued to invest in wireless, both with land-based stations and on-board wireless sets.  This process of installation and adoption would continue up to and through World War One.  On the surface, the Admiralty's adoption of wireless telegraphy fits into the standard historiography of commercial development and early success of the Marconi Company.  However, I will utilise previously unexplored primary source material to demonstrate a simmering and ongoing tension between commercial interests (represented by the Marconi Company) and state interests (represented by the Admiralty).

Parallel to the Admiralty's public dealings with the Marconi Company, it arranged a series of secret interdepartmental conferences to discuss the validity of the company's patents and to argue for stringent domestic wireless controls in order to address concerns about privacy, secrecy, and interference.  Increased regulation took the form of national legislation, the 1904 Wireless Telegraphy Act, and international agreements, the 1906 Radiotelegraphic Congress in Berlin.  It would be this regulation, in parallel with related military demands, rather than commercial concerns that would control and shape the early development of wireless and lay the foundation for its later successes in World War One and beyond.

"Politique de la grandeur" versus "Made in Germany". Politische Kulturgeschichte der Technik am Beispiel der PAL-SECAM Kontroverse

by Andreas Fickers

PhD Dissertation RWTH Aachen 2002; published as Vol. 78 of the Pariser Historische Studien, Oldenbourg Verlag (München 2007).

The Techno-politics of Colour: Britain and the European Struggle for a Colour Television Standard

by Andreas Fickers