The Lisbon Meeting, 11–14 October 2008

The forty-ninth meeting and second of two celebrations commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the Society for the History of Technology took place at the VIP Executive Art’s Hotel in the Parque das Nações neighborhood of Lisbon on 11–14 October 2008. Members of the program committee were Martina Hessler (chair), Paul Ceruzzi, and Tiago Saraiva. Serving on the local arrangements committee were Maria Paula Diogo (chair), Ana Cardoso de Matos (vice chair), Tiago Saraiva (vice chair), Maria Fernanda Rollo, Álvaro Silva, and Maria de Fátima de Haan. Stephen H. Cutcliffe (co-chair), Robert C. Post (co-chair), Steven Usselman, Amy Bix, Maria Paula Diogo, Ana Cardoso de Matos, Tiago Saraiva, Deborah Douglas, Bruce Seely, Ruth Schwartz Cowan, Hans-Joachim Braun, Art Molella, Paul Ceruzzi, Rosalind Williams, and Richard Hirsh served on the fiftieth anniversary planning committee. Special thanks to our local academic sponsors, the Faculty of Science and Technology, New University of Lisbon (FCT-UNL); the Center for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology, New Lisbon University (CHFCT); the Interdisciplinary Center of History, Culture, and Society, University of Évora (CIDEHUS); and the Institute of Social Sciences, University of Lisbon (ICS). Special thanks as well to the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT-MCTES); the Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian (FCG); the Fundação Luso-Americana (FLAD); the Lisbon Convention Bureau; the French Embassy; the Foundation for the History of Technology at Eindhoven; Amorim Investimentos; the Companhia Industrial de Resinas Sintéticas (CIRES); Claus; Merck; Vista Alegre; Energias de Portugal / Inovação (EDP); Millennium BCP; the Alcochete municipal authorities; Emprese Pública de Águas de Lisboa (EPAL); the Museu de Água; the Museu da Ciência; the Eco-Museu do Seixal; the Museu da Luz; Jardim Botânico (MNHN); Empresa de Desenvolvimento e Infra-estruturas do Alqueva (EDIA); the Fundação das Casas de Fronteira e Alorna; the Metropolotano de Lisboa; TRUMAXX; TAP-Air Portugal; the VIP Executive Art’s Hotel; Tivoli Hotel and Resorts; Alfoz Hotel and Restaurant; Estremadura; Intertur; and AVIS. Extra special thanks to SHOT’s Cynthia Bennet, Marta Lourenço of the Museu da Ciência, José Manuel Sousa, Vasco Vilaça, and Maria de Fátima de Haan.

Annual Meeting Sessions

SHOT Public Plenary and Reception—“Arms and the Asian: Innovation and Circulation in Early Modern Asia”

Lecturer: Sanjay Subrahmanyam, UCLA

Bio, Nano, Robo: New Challenges for Historians of Technology

Chair and comment: Porfírio Silva, Lisbon Technical University

Papers: “Writing the History of Nanotechnology? Challenges and Impasses of Contemporary Science and Technology,” Christian Kent, Deutsches Museum; “Genes, Genentech, and the Rise of Commercial Biotechnology,” Sally Smith Hughes, University of California, Berkeley; “Robots and Futuristic Fantasies of Destruction,” Kathleen Richardson, University of Cambridge

Religion in Harmony with Technology

Chair: Tiago Saraiva, ICS, University of Lisbon

Papers: “Popular Religion and Artisanal Practice in Late Imperial China: Sericulture Songs and the Urbanization of Silkworm Temples in Eighteenth- Century Jiangnan,” Philip S. Cho, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science / Chinese Academy of Sciences; “Religious Transformations and the Circulation of Technical Knowledge in Early Modern Europe,” Karel Davids, VU University Amsterda

Analyzing European Infrastructures: Maps, Diagrams, and Databases

Organizer: Hans Buiter, Eindhoven University of Technology

Chair: Luís Nuno Espinha da Silveira, New University of Lisbon

Comment: Johan Schot, Eindhoven University of Technology

Papers: “Railways, Population Change, and Migration in England and Wales: A GIS Approach,” Ian Gregory, Lancaster University; “Mapping Historical Statistics on the Fly: The Historical Information System ‘HGIS Germany’ as a Test Case,” Andreas Kunz, Institute of European History, Mainz; “A Database for European Infrastructures,” Hans Buiter and Vincent Lagendijk, Eindhoven University of Technology

Travel and Tourism: Inventing the Passenger

Chair: Ruth Oldenziel, Eindhoven University of Technology

Comment: Catherine Bertho-Lavenir, Université Sorbonne Nouvelle-Paris III

Papers: “The Making of Passengers in the Russian Empire: Macadam Roads, Coach Companies, and the Middle Class, 1820–1863,” Alexandra Bekasova, Russian Academy of Sciences; “Accessing the ‘Open Road’ in Jim Crow America: African-American Guides to Travel, Motoring, and Tourism,” Kathryn D. Vignone, Cornell University

Touching Space: Images and Artifacts in the History of Space Exploration...