History of Technology Research Papers (original) (raw)

- by Filipe Castro
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- Maritime Archaeology, History of Technology, Seafaring

Winter tourism developed an enormous transformative power. The example of Austria's westernmost province of Vorarlberg is used in this article to highlight the changing role of ski lifts from three different perspectives: Firstly , an analysis of funding schemes for ski lifts reveals their economic vulnerability , which snowfall patterns augmented. Secondly, ski-lift entrepreneurs aimed to lower risks of insolvency by accelerating the uphill and downhill flows of people and by manipulating snow and topography. This, thirdly, was made possible by driving back private property rights in favor of the winter-tourism industry. Combining these three perspectives provides a deeper understanding of the transformation of landscapes in alpine regions between 1930 and 1970.

- by Robert Groß
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- History of Technology, Environmental History, History of Tourism

The Pacific War permanently transformed the political ecology of excrement in the Greater Tokyo area. Since the Edo period (1603–1868), a network of commercial night soil collectors had operated in the city, emptying its latrines for use as fertilizer. Although increasingly subject to strain in the interwar period, the system adapted enough to obviate significant municipal investment in sewer construction. Wartime mobilization and fuel shortages, however, pushed these night soil distribution networks to the breaking point, leading to an ''attack by excrement.'' The municipal government responded to the crisis by mobilizing residents' associations and suburban commuter trains, sidelining commercial collectors in the process. The immediate postwar period further destabilized the old political ecology: a black market in excrement briefly flourished, only to subside with the rapid proliferation of commercial fertilizer. Finally, Occupation government personnel, upon encountering the chaotic postwar night soil trade, expressed contempt for what they viewed as a backward, inherently unhygienic custom. The Tokyo metropolitan government internalized this

- by Paul Kreitman
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- Japanese Studies, Urban History, History of Technology, Environmental History
- by Arwen Mohun
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- Design History, History of Technology, Risk and History

This paper revises current understandings of the connections between electrical and psychic forms of communication in the early twentieth century. It builds on and moves beyond scholarly studies that explore the metaphorical and analogical uses of electrical communication in understanding telepathy, spiritualism and other psychic phenomena. I argue that in British and American cultures of wireless telegraphy, electrical experimentation, psychical research and spiritualism, there were sincere attempts to extend electrical-psychic analogies into technological thinking and realisation. Inspired by debates about telepathy, brain waves and other psychic effects, members of these cultures imagined and constructed electrical communication technologies that would address a range of psychic puzzles. Although the technological solutions to psychic puzzles ultimately proved inconclusive, they provide historians with striking insights into the role of ‘irrational’ topics in shaping imagined and actual technological development.

- by Emma Griffin
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- Technology, British History, History of Technology, Modern British History

A common ground is emerging for social and cultural studies of design. Design history is exploring the socially constructed and networked nature of our material surroundings; at the same time, STS is investigating design as the interface between humans and technology. This common ground is particularly interesting where it intersects with the rapidly growing fields of environmental history and environmental humanities. Today, environmental concerns, especially issues of sustainability, are essential parameters in all design practices. However, this ‘green revolution’ is a glaringly white spot on the design historical map, still awaiting its scholarly historicization. Historical understanding of, and critical reflection on, the rise of sustainability as the primordial trope in design discourse is essential to building a solid knowledge base and to underpin present and future decision-making. This article will argue for the urgency of charting this terrain, and call for design history, design studies, STS and environmental history to join forces in the pioneering efforts at studying histories of sustainable design.

Excavations were carried out in 1999 on the location of Stela 2 at the ancient site of Aksum in northern Ethiopia.
These excavations have permitted the documentation of the foundation of this stela, which was transported to Rome in 1937. Preparations were also made for the stela’s return to the site in 2005 and its re-erection in 2008 at the exact location where it stood in the 3rd or 4th century AD.
The excavations also made it possible to re-examine our perception of the three giant stelae on the site, from their conception and erection to their destruction.

- by Bertrand Poissonnier
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- Archaeology, Ethiopian Studies, History of Technology, Africa

In molti contesti preistorici e protostorici italiani sono largamente rinvenuti resti strutturali in terra e conglomerati architettonici combusti o parzialmente cementati. La loro caratterizzazione tecnologica è un passo importante per ottenere dati rigurdanti la paleoeconomia, lo sfruttamento delle risorse e l’esistenza di tradizioni costruttive su scala locale o regionale. L’integrazione al protocollo di analisi tecnologica di osservazioni effettuate ad occhio nudo o con microscopio ottico su sezioni levigate può aiutare ad una migliore comprensione dei resti in una fase intermedia dello studio, successiva alla loro caratterizzazione morfologica ed al riconoscimento di classi di impasto, ma preliminare all’approfondimento dello studio per mezzo di analisi specialistiche. La realizzazione su alcuni campioni di una sezione rettificata e polita (sezione levigata) permette infatti di descrivere con maggiore completezza l’organizzazione e la natura dei componenti, nonché le alterazioni subite dal materiale, ad esempio in caso di esposizione al calore. Si tratta dunque di associare le caratteristiche osservate ai meccanismi di deformazione della materia e a gesti specifici, che una volta messi in sequenza potranno permettere di ricostruire materie prime utilizzate, tecniche e catene operative. Qualche osservazione rilevante può riguardare anche le dinamiche di funzionamento delle strutture o il loro ingresso nel record archeologico. Sono qua presentati alcuni casi studio e chiavi di lettura preliminari, da completare ed affinare con l’avanzamento delle ricerche. Le prime applicazioni di tale tecnica hanno fornito risultati incoraggianti, soprattutto per il rapporto positivo tra massa di dati prodotta e costo finanziario ridotto.

- by Daniel A Barber
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- Architecture, History of Technology, Climatology, Ecological Design

Teaching the research paper has been considered a “present controversy” for over fifty years (Saalbach, 1963). Some scholars believe that it prepares students for “generalized academic writing” (Reiff and Bawarshi, 2011; Sutton, 1997; Schwegeler and Shamoon, 1982). However, others have referred to the research paper as a “fossilized,” “pseudo-academic,” “mutt genre” (Nowacek, 2011; Wardle, 2007; Carroll, 1999; Larsen, 1982). This chapter argues that radical openness and information overload--two major features of new media composing environments--compromise the relevance of the traditional research paper. First, the research paper has been praised and blamed for its (in)ability to help students learn the importance of writing from sources (Brent 2013, Rooney 2000). However, the parameters of most research assignments are incapable of matching the scale of data available at any given time. For instance, typical constraints like “use 5-7 sources” for a first-year college writing course seems ridiculous when it takes seconds to retrieve thousands, if not millions, of possible sources. Next, open-access publishing and collaborative authorship have transformed the way that research is conducted and recognized across disciplines. Although teaching students how to crowdsource research makes the most sense in a data deluge, the research paper privileges single authorship. Moreover, the problems of authorship and source attribution implicate the research paper in certain kinds of fraud. For instance, plagiarism and term paper mills are a “built-in” problem of research papers (Howell, 1977). In sum, this chapter focuses on what the term "research" means in a context of too much information. It concludes by offering a brief discussion of literature relevant to this topic.

- by Alexandria Lockett
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- Information Systems, Informatics, Research Methodology, History of Technology

PhotoResearcher No. 37 is the first publication in recent times to investigate the rich material-scientific-political uses of three-colour photography at the turn of the last century. It maps the shifting expressions of its technologies, tracing the various expeditions during which it was deployed, the neighbouring disciplines it serviced,
and problematizing its imperial entanglements. It does so on a larger scale than what is often afforded this medium, connecting countries through three-colour practices.

Machines as mechanisms making easy human life, in their most primitive forms, go back to the ancient ages. It is possible to say that they are older than theoretical knowledge, because one received support from these devices in his struggle with nature. These devices had been developed in hands of Roman engineers after Alexandrian times. We met new machines that have been never appeared previously in Medieval Islam. The book of Ingenious Machines by Al-Jazarî was a turning point in the history of machine. Other machine works also had been written after Al-Jazarî like that of Taqi al-Dîn. The subject of this text is the process of development of machines in Islamic and Ottoman civilizations. Key Words: History of machine, History of technology. Yunanca "mekhane" sözcüğünün Latinceye "machine" olarak geçmesinden türemiş makine sözcüğünün, esasında İbraniceden Yunancaya geçtiği tahmin edilmektedir. Eski Yunanlılar İbraniceye ve bu dille kaleme alınan yazıtlara aşina olduklarından, onlardan sıklıkla terim ve sözcük ödünç almışlardı. İbranice "Mekhona" sözcüğünü "mekhane" olarak aktarmış olmaları muhtemeldir.

- by Melek Dosay Gökdoğan
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- History of Technology
- by M. Chris Manning
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- Engineering, Architecture, Material Culture Studies, History of Technology

Scholars of the twentieth century, with rare exception, were less than generous in their conception of objects (cf. Latour 2005, 72-73; Olsen 2010, 1-3). Whether out of anxiety or indifference, under the inexorable onslaught of automobiles, high-rise buildings, paved surfaces, motorized drills, refrigerators, portable radios, Rubik’s cubes, spray cleaners, and whatever else that happened to flood onto the scene, humans concerned with the human condition managed to insulate human being and thus sever a partial and limited image of society from nonhuman objects including animal and vegetal others, which were all maintained at a distance behind an insurmountable wall of incommensurability (Latour 1993). Of course, this firm separation had deeper roots. Through its various extensions the Cartesian project, which held objects to be passive and inert as opposed to the dynamic and creative human subject, proved to be tenacious (Olsen et al. 2012). And yet, with the century having run its course, whether or not scholars are willing to concede this legacy is now of less concern than how it is that coal-fired power plants, permafrost, abandoned uranium mines, smart phones, hurricanes, or pacemakers have refused to comply with their expectations.

- by Ana Millán Gasca
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- History of Technology

Children and the media - kids and Technology combo
Today, technology for kids is a source of learning and entertainment, and in a pinch when parents have to get dinner made or take a few minutes to answer emails, a terrific babysitter.
For school-age kids, technology can be a double-edged sword. There are countless benefits that can be garnered from using technology: Computers can be used to do research, play online math games, and improve language skills. Television (and DVDs) can offer educational programming such as documentaries and other educational materials. And even video games can encourage developmental skills such as hand-eye coordination (and some motion-controlled active games on the Wii or Xbox with Kinect can promote physical activity such as dancing). But all these electronic devices can also have some distinct disadvantages as well. Here are some reasons why technology should be limited for kids and how to do it.
Reasons for Limiting Kids’ Exposure to Technology

- by John E Horsfield
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- Computer Science, History of Technology, Limits of Computation, Children's Media
- by Susan Murray
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- Media History, Visual Culture, History of Technology, Television History

Introductory chapter to edited research volume on the history of surveillance.

Este ensayo presenta una discusión y análisis sobre el caso Cybersyn, desde una perspectiva de arqueología de medios, poniendo particular atención en los desarrollos teóricos y metodológicos planteados por los académicos Friedrich Kittler y Wolfgang Ernst. En consecuencia, la discusión se centrará en aspectos no-visuales del proyecto en cuestión, dejando de lado las miradas «iconográficas» que hasta ahora han abordado este caso, primeramente, desde las fotografías que documentan su sala de operaciones. De modo alternativo, propongo mover nuestra atención hacia la red de télex y el sistema de procesamiento que sostuvieron a Cybersyn, para buscar en ellos, en los sistemas de símbolos que por allí circularon, la materialización del saber técnico que caracterizaría al caso, esbozando así, potencialmente, su alcance cultural.

- by Diego Gómez-Venegas
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- Media Studies, Media Archaeology, History of Technology, Media Theory

Gender and technology might seem unrelated on first sight because technology is often considered a neutral other that does not have anything to do with gender. Yet, taking a closer look at the language we use to talk about technology, at the images we rely on to represent technology, its uses and users, it becomes clear that gender stereotypes are more present than ever in the context of technology. Rather than subverting traditional gender roles, technology often reinforces and re-inscribes stereotypical behavior and ideas. Analyzing Apple iPad/iPhone advertisements, this paper will uncover some of the gender biases present in popular techno-narratives.

- by Alexander Darius Ornella
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- Religion, Sociology of Religion, Gender Studies, Sex and Gender
- by Stefan Huebner
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- History, History of Science and Technology, Asian Studies, Japanese Studies
- by Pamela O Long
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- History of Technology, Annales

Kniha byla vydána roku 1968 v Českých Budějovicích / The book was published in 1968 in České Budějovice.

This is an introduction to the forthcoming special issue, "Artificial Intelligence and its Discontents."

- by Shunryu Garvey
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- History of Science and Technology, Sociology, Psychology, Computer Science

This article surveys American eye prosthetics during the World Wars beginning with the shortage of glass eyes during the First World War. It also looks at attempts to address prosthetic eye needs in the Second World War through the acrylic eye program, the use of contact lenses, and a group of Americans seeking to show their patriotism by donating their own eyeballs to blinded veterans.

The article surveys the findings and debates about “technological unemployment” carried out in the 1920's and 1930's in the United States. The huge productivity increases of the 1920's had sizable labour‐displacing effects, which were not matched by the job‐creating trends of prosperity. Unemployment was therefore a sizable and observable phenomenon as early as the late 1920's, while manufacturing employment shrank. After 1929, it was found that the Depression had hit production and investment hard, but productivity per man‐hour continued to increase. This meant that, because of the increases in population of working age and because of technological progress, in the late 1930's it would have been necessary to outgrow the levels of investment and production of 1929 in order to bring unemployment down to the 1929 rate. Even the recovery of 1937 remained much below those levels: the cause was seen in the behavior of large, concentrated industrial firms that administered prices and only applied technological advances in order to reduce costs. Their limited spending did not foster enough demand to move the economy out of the slump. The recovery was eventually brought about not by spontaneous, market-driven economic behavior, but by the deus-ex-machina of war-induced Government spending.

- by Ester Fano
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- Economics, History of Technology

This article examines a series of proposals for improving silver refining methods presented to the municipal council of Potosí (in current-day Bolivia) in the late sixteenth century as a means of nuancing current understandings of the Iberian state’s pursuit of “useful” knowledge. Historians have argued that the sixteenth century saw the fostering of an empirical culture, one based on experiential and collaborative practices, in the Iberian world. They have stressed that as artisanal experts and royal officials developed a mutually beneficial relationship, this empirical culture became institutionalized in administrative bodies for the pursuit of useful knowledge. This article focuses on the textual production that resulted from the relationship between artisanal experts and royal officials. It probes the motivations of local officials in generating a textual record of artisanal knowledge. Historians have tended to interpret and actors at the time often stated an interest in inscribing, artisanal knowledge as expertise and experience. However, this article demonstrates that what often motivated municipal officials’ inscription of such knowledge was an emphasis on administrative knowledge as rule-following, in particular, a desire to demonstrate one’s competency as an administrator. This conclusion suggests historians should expand their conception of “useful” to better reflect how early modern actors in the Iberian world viewed their pursuit of scientific and technical knowledge. It also indicates the importance of paying attention to the process of bureaucratic knowledge production when interpreting the written traces of the scientific and technical culture of the early modern Iberian world.

This is the summary of my dissertation (Medeltidens åerbruk), published in 1985, and the public defense of the dissertation was in January 1986. The goal was to give a detailed description of agriculture, see diagram 6, page 155. This then led to the interpretation about technical complex, which I later further developed. This interpretation is thus based on an inductive approach rather than a deductive – though I of course was steered by general ideas of an economic base and small scale technology as decisive. The cover is one of my favorite pictures, showing plowing in the fall after harvest when animals graze the meadows - it is from 1437, Tensta, Uppland and shows Adam / Cain working.

A study, based in part on patents, of the evolution of racing and sports car chassis-frames in, roughly, the 1940-1980 period, with a special focus on Aston Martin and some of its contemporaries (eg Mercedes-Benz, Cooper, Lotus, etc.).

- by Ralph Gallagher
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- History of Technology, Automobile Engineering
- by Antonio Santamaria
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- Economic History, Industrial History, Colonial America, History of Technology
- by Tiina Männistö-Funk
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- History of Technology, Gender and Technology, Finnish History