Showing papers in "History and Technology in 1999"
TL;DR: The authors argue that most (Anglo-Saxon) history of technology, including recent sociologically oriented work, is concerned with innovation rather than technology, and that there has been an unfortunate conflation between the two.
Abstract: The paper argues that most (Anglo‐Saxon) historiography of technology, including recent sociologically‐oriented work, is concerned with innovation rather than technology, and that there has been an unfortunate conflation between the two. Distinguishing innovation from use allows an engagement between the history of technology and history more generally, and is essential to the investigation of questions concerned with gender, race, and class in the history of technology. Moreover a focus on use allows us to make better sense of such terms as “technological determinism”. The history of innovation, while interesting and important, cannot address many issues which should be central to the history of technology, and cannot answer many of the questions historians of technology pretend to ask. A history of technology‐in‐use does so and, at the same time, opens up new areas for investigation, including the history of maintenance, repair and remodelling, as well as further developing accounts of innovati...
177 citations
TL;DR: This article examined the historical formation of three kinds of "boundary objects" between science and technology, which facilitated their interactions by making their borders more permeable: instruments as a material boundary object; new institutions, laboratories, and departments.
Abstract: This paper aims to examine historiographical layers in the historical narrative on the relationship between science and technology, a topic which has been exhaustively discussed without consensus by both historians of science and technology I will first examine two extreme positions concerning this issue, and analyze the underlying historiographical standpoints behind them I will then show that drawing implications for the relationship between science and technology from a few case studies is frequently misleading After showing this, I will move to the “macrohistory” of the relationship between science and technology, which reveals a long process in which the barriers between them gradually became porous Here, I will examine the historical formation of three different kinds of “boundary objects” between science and technology, which facilitated their interactions by making their borders more permeable: instruments as a material boundary object; new institutions, laboratories, and departments
15 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, an analysis of the consequences of the insertion of this tool on the functioning and the trajectory of major French firms between 1945 and 1975 is presented. But the authors focus on a particular aspect of the post-World War II rationalization process, namely the creation of the Engineering Department and especially, one of its basic management tools, operation time, i.e., the time required to perform a given production task.
Abstract: One of the most sriking features of the post‐World War II rationalization process in France is the fragmentation of large firms into a series of key “functions” (Production Department, Engineering Department, Personnel Department...)‐ This paper deals with a particular aspect of this process, namely the creation of the Engineering Department and especially, one of its basic management tools, operation time, i.e., the time required to perform a given production task. Our narrative traces the main turning points in the construction of operation time in the 1950s. It will lead to an analysis of the consequences of the insertion of this tool on the functioning and the trajectory of major French firms between 1945 and 1975.
15 citations
TL;DR: The progressive standardization of typing was structured around the “ten finger” technique, the memorization of the keyboard and new positions for the body, which attested to new demands and conditioned the constitution of the profession.
Abstract: Confronting the theories produced by economists on standards, this article adopts an historical approach to explore the ways in which typewriters were progressively standardized along with typing practices. The early history of typing was characterized by a wide variety of technical options and configurations and intense competition between brands and typists. In this context, standardization of the arrangement of letters and signs on the keyboard was only one aspect of human and technological rivalry involving many other factors. The progressive standardization of typing was structured around the “ten finger” technique, the memorization of the keyboard and new positions for the body. It attested to new demands and conditioned the constitution of the profession.
13 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the role of military patronage and procurement in the shaping of silicon technology and the consolidation of the semiconductor industry and argue that the silicon industry's expansion into non-military markets was indissociable from deep changes in manufacturing, organizational structures as well as component and system technologies.
Abstract: Most accounts of the microelectronics revolution have emphasized the role of military patronage and procurement in the shaping of silicon technology and the consolidation of the semiconductor industry. Little attention has been devoted, however, to the silicon industry's shift from military to commercial markets in the early and mid‐1960s. Drawing on an examination of Fairchild Semiconductor, the firm that initiated this shift, this essay argues that the silicon industry's expansion into non‐military markets was indissociable from deep changes in manufacturing, organizational structures as well as component and system technologies. Special attention is devoted to the ways in which Fairchild created a user base for its products in the computer and consumer electronics industries by hiring engineers from these sectors and encouraging them to design components as well as applications for the firm's potential customers. This article also examines how Fairchild introduced mass production techniques fr...
12 citations
TL;DR: The degree to which the pill was tested before it was introduced on to the market is considered and many assumptions that have been made about the use scientists made of women in its development are challenged.
Abstract: Today it is estimated that over 100 million women worldwide have taken oral contraceptives since their first clinical trials in 1956. Despite their popularity, however, contraceptive pills have been under constant scrutiny for their safety since the time of their marketing. This paper considers the degree to which the pill was tested before it was introduced on to the market and challenges many assumptions that have been made about the use scientists made of women in its development. Examining the early testing of the pill, the paper makes clear that the success of the pill and its testing depended on the active co‐operation of the women who swallowed the tablet in its experimental stage. Far from being guinea‐pigs, women were thus active participants in the making of the pill.
10 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present some additional pre-sputnik material from Radio, the Soviet government's monthly magazine for radio amateurs, and from other sources, which has not previously been identified by western scholars.
Abstract: After recapitulating and re‐evaluating the principal early signals that the Soviet Union was planning to launch an artificial earth satellite (Sputnik 1) in 1957, which have long been familiar to space historians, this article presents some additional pre‐sputnik material from Radio, the Soviet government's monthly magazine for radio amateurs, and from other sources, which has not previously been identified by western scholars. The preparations of the Soviet radio amateurs for satellite tracking are also described. The fact that western radio amateurs were no more successful in discovering Soviet intentions, at the time, than the scientists or the intelligence agencies, is documented and discussed. To complete the picture, contemporary assessments of the scientific value of amateur radio observations of the early satellites are surveyed. The article concludes by discussing the surprise aspect of the first sputniks in the light of the fresh information presented, and by noting some still unanswere...
9 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the context in which the explosion occurred, the inquest process, the political pressure which led to the involvement of Faraday and Lyell, their role at the inquest, their subsequent report and the way in which it was dealt with by the Government of Robert Peel.
Abstract: The explosion at Haswell colliery in September 1844 in which ninety five men and boys were killed has attracted considerable historical attention. This is in some measure due to Michael Faraday and Charles Lyell taking part in the inquest and writing a subsequent report on the cause of the explosion and how to prevent such explosions in the future. Using evidence not used before, this paper examines the context in which the explosion occurred, the inquest process, the political pressure which led to the involvement of Faraday and Lyell, their role at the inquest, their subsequent report and the way in which it was dealt with by the Government of Robert Peel.
7 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss the dream of many young Swedish men from the working class to become engineers by way of night classes and correspondence courses, which was a culturally and economically important part of the "Swedish model" of modernisation and technical change.
Abstract: This article will discuss the dream of many young Swedish men from the working class to become engineers by way of night classes and correspondence courses. This was a culturally and economically important part of the “Swedish model” of modernisation and technical change. The article consists of three parts. In the first, the construction of the dream is analysed via ads and folders which from the 1930s to the 1960s and with varying arguments tried to entice young workers to study their way out of their class. In the second, the ideology and reality of the “triumph of ability” via correspondence courses is analysed with the help of Claus Offe's notion of the “performance principle”, and its gendered contents is discussed. In the final part, the dream is set within the social‐democratic vision of social mobility through education as a means to a modern and class‐less society.
6 citations
Journal Article•
TL;DR: Auteur, a l'aide de nombreuses illustrations detaillant les mecanismes des metiers a tisser de l'epoque, reproduit un travail de recherche sur ce commerce and sa technologie particuliere as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: L'industrie du textile et plus particulierement des fabriques de soie en Europe et specialement en Italie. L'auteur, a l'aide de nombreuses illustrations detaillant les mecanismes des metiers a tisser de l'epoque, reproduit un travail de recherche sur ce commerce et sa technologie particuliere.
6 citations
TL;DR: This article examined mechanical drawings made between 1811 and 1835 by Cesar Nicolas Leblanc, draftsman and engraver for the Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers, for publication by the French patent ministry.
Abstract: This paper examines mechanical drawings made between 1811 and 1835 by Cesar Nicolas Leblanc, draftsman and engraver for the Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers, for publication by the French patent ministry. It compares Leblanc's engravings with the original drawings of the same machines, drawings which mechanics and inventors had submitted with their patent applications and upon which Leblanc based his published copies. The paper further compares Leblanc's patent engravings with his engravings of other machines, ones of proven utility. Leblanc developed a visual vocabulary to accompany Conservatoire Director Gerard‐Joseph Christian's philosophy of industrial mechanics, and used it to expose a crucial ambiguity in French patenting practice. Patented machines were unproven machines, Leblanc's patent engravings argued, while his other engravings endorsed machines of known value.
TL;DR: The authors reconsidere l'opinion communement repandue selon laquelle les marines et tout specialement la Royal Navy etaient opposees a l'introduction des nouvelles technologies au 19e siecle.
Abstract: Cet article reconsidere l'opinion communement repandue selon laquelle les marines et tout specialement la Royal Navy etaient opposees a l'introduction des nouvelles technologies au 19e siecle.
TL;DR: The success of the European Space Research Organisation (ESROI) was based largely on the successful use of American management methods as mentioned in this paper, and the success of ESRO's success was largely based on successful use and adaptation of American organisational models.
Abstract: European leaders created the European Space Research Organisation (ESRO) to compete with American scientific capabilities in space. ESRO's success, which contrasted sharply with the concurrent failure of the European Space Vehicle Launcher Development Organisation (ELDO), was based largely on successful use of American management methods. While ESRO's engineers and managers worked with NASA personnel, European companies hired American corporations to aid their efforts. When ESRO ran into financial difficulties in the late 1960s, they responded by adopting American project planning and financial estimation methods. ESRO formed the organisational base of the European Space Agency, and in the Spacelab project, NASA required that ESA employ even more American management processes. American contractors again aided the effort. Through the successive adoption and adaptation of American organisational models, ESRO and ESA successfully transferred American organisational expertise, and bridged the “manage...
TL;DR: Formal engineering education in Finland has a tradition of about 150 years, though the field of engineering is more than 200 years old as mentioned in this paper, and the first Finnish engineers were men of practice, trained by the apprenticeship system and they used the title of the Factory Master.
Abstract: Formal engineering education in Finland has a tradition of about 150 years, though the field of engineering is more than 200 years old. The first Finnish engineers were men of practice, trained by the apprenticeship system and they used the title of the Factory Master. Formal engineering education began in 1849, but Finnish industry did not recruit formally qualified engineers until the beginning of this century. Nor were the first formally educated engineers themselves interested in working in industry. The success of formally qualified engineers in Finnish industry was only later reflected in the increasing value attached to research and new technologies. This view of science as an important force for production was further strengthened when the Helsinki University of Technology established and expanded its own laboratories.
Journal Article•
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors describe the progress of technology in the 18e siecle of the 19th century and fournnit des explications sur la progression moins rapide et meme le declin de certains autres autres pays tels que la Grande-Bretagne.
Abstract: L'article s'interesse ici aux transferts de technologie, au progres technologique et au developpement industriel rapide des pays developpes au debut du 18e siecle et fournit des explications sur la progression moins rapide et meme le declin de certains autres pays tels que la Grande-Bretagne.
Journal Article•
TL;DR: In this paper, auteur dans cet article tente de definir les acteurs des processus techniques au Moyen-Age and les moyens par lesquels s'operaient la transmission des savoirs-faire.
Abstract: L'auteur dans cet article tente de definir les acteurs des processus techniques au Moyen-Age et les moyens par lesquels s'operaient la transmission des savoirs-faire. Pour identifier les processus techniques mis en oeuvre a la fin du Moyen-Age, les historiens beneficient de trois sources, les outils et mecanismes, l'iconographie et les sources ecrites.
Journal Article•
TL;DR: In this article, the auteur dresse un bilan critique and produit une reflexion epistemologique on la situation actuelle de la recherche en Europe apres avoir rapidement evoque les transferts technologiques et lenseignement technique.
Abstract: L'auteur dresse un bilan critique et produit une reflexion epistemologique sur la situation actuelle de la recherche en Europe apres avoir rapidement evoque les transferts technologiques et l'enseignement technique.
Journal Article•
TL;DR: In this article, the authors analyse l'aspect ideologique de la creation d'une communaute d'ingenieurs a la fin du XIX e siecle and au debut du XX e, afin d'etudier la standardisation, lautomatisation et les relations entre les machines and la force du travail.
Abstract: L'A. analyse l'aspect ideologique de la creation d'une communaute d'ingenieurs a la fin du XIX e siecle et au debut du XX e , afin d'etudier la standardisation, l'automatisation et les relations entre les machines et la force du travail
Journal Article•
TL;DR: Les principales sources des travaux de Biringuccio sur les metaux et les procedes utilises en metallurgie en Italie du Nord sont essentiellement liees a ses propres experiences and observations as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Les principales sources des travaux de Biringuccio sur les metaux et les procedes utilises en metallurgie en Italie du Nord sont essentiellement liees a ses propres experiences et observations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discussed the obstacles that prevented the European Space Agency from establishing a sizeable Spacelab utilisation effort, owing to the cost escalation of the development program and to NASA's charging policy for access to the Space Shuttle system.
Abstract: Spacelab is the conventional name given to a manned laboratory to be carried onboard NASA's Space Shuttle, which was built in Europe under the aegis of the European Space Agency (ESA). This paper deals with the initiatives undertaken in Europe to establish a utilisation programme for Spacelab, in particular for its first flight, planned as a joint ESA/NASA demonstration mission. Two main factors will be discussed, which prevented ESA from establishing a sizeable Spacelab utilisation effort. Firstly, owing to the cost escalation of the Spacelab development programme and to NASA's charging policy for access to the Shuttle system, which did not foressee any preferential treatment to European users, most ESA member states were reluctant to commit funds in support of a long term experimental programme with the new space facility. Secondly, in a situation characterized by strict budgetary constraints, the established European space science community strongly opposed the inclusion of the new research fi...