In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

  • Thirty-Eighth Symposium of the International Committee for the History of Technology“Consumer Choice and Technology,” Glasgow, UK, 2–7 August 2011
  • Yoel Bergman (bio)

ICOHTEC’s thirty-eighth conference was hosted for the first time in Scotland, in the city of Glasgow, renowned for its universities, museums, and remarkable contributions to world technological heritage. Conference members met on the impressive premises of the University of Glasgow (fig. 1) where the local organizing committee, chaired by Ray Stokes, worked diligently for the meeting’s successful outcome.

In twenty-five panels, veterans and newcomers presented their papers, many based on specific historic-technological cases examined through a wide social context. Organized by individuals or the program committee, the panels were usually held in several sessions, each with three speakers and lasting ninety minutes. Participants explored “Consumer Choice and Technology” in various ways, including consumer-driven innovations, gender and consumption, marketing and culture of consumption, power and producer–consumer relationships, technology and the household, museum consumers, technology’s past monuments, and consumption of information technologies, food, and health.

The theme also appeared in panels that over the years have become focal points for new and ongoing research, such as social history of military technology, playing with technology, fuel and energy, music and sound and the history of technology, civil engineering, climate control, engineering development, history and education, and technology education. The panel [End Page 177] on a new British Science Museum exhibition of artifacts belonging to the eminent Scottish engineer James Watt fit well in the conference’s venue. The exhibition is based on 6,500 items that have been preserved intact in Watt’s workshop, closed since his death in 1819.


Click for larger view
View full resolution
Fig. 1.

The main building at Glasgow University, Gilmorehill Campus. (Photo: James Williams.)

The conference was made possible with the kind support of the Lind Foundation, the Centre for Business History in Scotland at the University of Glasgow, the University of Strathclyde Glasgow and the University of the West of Scotland, the National Museums Scotland, the City of Glasgow, the Glasgow City Council, the Ballast Trust, the Foundation for the History of Technology, and ICOHTEC. During the conference ICOHTEC was cordially hosted in Glasgow’s elegant city hall.

Hans-Joachim Braun (Germany), former ICOHTEC president and an enthusiast for the arts, gave the traditional Kranzberg Lecture (fig. 2). He examined the complex question of creativity as manifested in technology and arts, ending with the conclusion (and hope) that the riddle of creativity will not be solved by the many savants who treat the question.

As in previous conferences, members gathered for the general assembly. They were first briefed by president James Williams (United States) and secretary general Timo Myllyntaus (Finland). Journal editor Mark Clark (United States) described changes in ICON, the organization’s annual publication. Past hard-copy volumes, holding invaluable papers by both members and nonmembers, are now planned to be made net-accessible in subscribed [End Page 178] libraries. Wolfhard Weber (Germany), involved with many volumes, called for a step-by-step process to safeguard the intellectual rights of ICOHTEC. Upgrades to the website and new links in the social network were discussed by energetic webmaster Slawomir Lotysz (Poland). Treasurer Patrice Bret (France) described a new and easier membership payment process for students, due in part to an increasing number of student applications. Keeping members posted during the year on academic events, on new literature, and on ICOHTEC in general is the task of newsletter editor Stefan Poser (Germany). Prepared and sent monthly, his letters are being enjoyed lately by wider circles of readers, who find the data helpful in their academic pursuits. The assembly approved three new members for the executive committee: Maria Elvira Callapez (Portugal), Masaaki Okada (Japan), and Klaus Staubermann (United Kingdom). All are longtime contributors to the annual conferences.


Click for larger view
View full resolution
Fig. 2.

Professor Hans-Joachim Braun giving the Kranzberg Lecture. (Photo: Slawomir Lotysz.)

Since 2008 ICOHTEC has awarded young scholars a yearly prize for the best recently published book, and two roundtable sessions were held with the winners of 2010 and 2011. Anne-Katrin Ebert (Germany) compared the use of the...

pdf

Share