Taking Stock of la longue durée: ICOHTEC 2006, Leicester, England, 15-20 August 2006

The thirty-third annual symposium of the International Committee for the History of Technology (ICOHTEC), hosted at the University of Leicester, brought together scholars from a number of countries and research fields. Held 15–20 August 2006, the conference ("Transforming Economies and Civilization: The Role of Technology") treated participants to nineteen sessions covering various technological developments over la longue durée. Presentations at the symposium focused on themes that ranged from the social history of military technology to the question of technological determinism, and from technology transfer to the environmental impact of technological change.

This year's conference was organized by Alex Keller of the University of Leicester and his administrative committee: Marilyn Palmer, Sally Horrocks, Fred Hartley, and Shueib Ali. The event was housed in the quaint Stanton Hall residence, which fostered a collegial atmosphere replete with thought-provoking discussions. While some of the topics were new, others were well-established ICOHTEC fixtures, such as technology and the arts, technology and the environment, and globalization. The Kranzberg Lecture was given by Arthur I. Miller, emeritus professor of history and philosophy of science in the Department of Science and Technology Studies at University College, London. Miller presented an insightful paper on the role of technology in the creative lives of Picasso and Einstein.

Continuing an ICOHTEC tradition established roughly a decade ago, the symposium included a section on gunpowder, addressing its production as well as its military and civilian uses. In addition to celebrating her edited publication Gunpowder, Explosives and the State: A Technological History (2006), Brenda Buchanan (U.K.) reported on the use of gunpowder in the often extravagantly dangerous world of entertainment-oriented pyrotechnics. While John Edmonds (U.K.) examined the medieval production of saltpeter, a component of gunpowder, Lila Rakoczy (U.K.) "exploded the myth" of gunpowder's supposed ubiquitous use in the destruction of castle defenses during the English Civil War. Finally, Yoel Bergman (Israel) outlined the modern history of Poudre B, the first reliable smokeless powder.

This year, the program included a day-long panel dedicated to the social history of military technology, which featured twelve wide-ranging papers. Barton C. Hacker (U.S.), who organized and chaired the panel, opened with a discussion of the influence of firearms technology on the pursuit of military slaves. Other participants discussed naval (Steve Walton, U.S.), medical (Jeffrey C. Larrabee, U.S.), and aeronautical (Jeremy R. Kinney, U.S.) initiatives within militaries. Margaret Vining (U.S.) highlighted the role of female actors in the history of military technology, examining how Sophonisba Preston Brekinridge helped address the material needs of the British military during the First World War. David Zimmerman (Canada) outlined the work of scientific translators in facilitating cooperation among scientists, engineers, and the armed forces. Lisa L. Ossian (U.S.) highlighted how the technology of the Second World War, as mimicked by toy manufacturers, militarized children's play, while Dorotea Gucciardo (Canada) explained how civilians perceived both technology and the war effort by examining the inventive ideas they submitted to the Canadian government.

Several panels dealt broadly with sound, technology, and culture. Current ICOHTEC president Hans-Joachim Braun (Germany) led the section with an assessment of the state of current scholarship in sound studies, concluding that students of sound are in need of an appropriate vocabulary to communicate musical meaning. Outi Ampuja (Finland) analyzed the politicization of the "modern soundscape" in Helsinki through the lens of noise pollution in the second half of the twentieth century. John Cloud of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (U.S.) outlined the discovery of the Deep Sound Channel and its brief consideration as a means for sonar communication. Susan Horning of the Cleveland Institute of Art (U.S.) assessed the presence of women among professional sound engineers, whose field has traditionally been dominated by men.

Elise Laiho-Suominen and Riikka Terho, both of Finland, organized a panel on women and technology that focused on how goods such as the automobile came to be more prevalent in the day-to-day lives of women. Another...