Christopher Hamlin
Department of History

H/STV 487 TECHNOLOGY IN HISTORY SPRING 1997

Christopher Hamlin
Dept. of History
467 Decio 239-5092
309 O'Shaughnessy 239-5017; office hours, Tuesday, 2-4
home 234-1815

Description and Objectives

A thematic survey of the history of technology from the neolithic discovery of agriculture to the information age. Topics include technology in Christian theology, the power revolution of 1200, arms races rom the 15c century onward, the marriage of art and science; the industrial, agricultural, transport, and communications revolutions, the American system of manufactures, the evolution of the engineering profession, and modern efforts to plan the technological future. These topics form the basis for exploring the following themes: How does technology change? How did we get where we are -- do we have the technology we must have, should have, need to have (or deserve to have)? What guides technological creativity? How have social effects of technologies been assessed and dealt with? How have technologies fundamentally changed ordinary life and social organization?

The objectives of this course are three. The first is technological literacy, an appreciation of what some of the great transforming technologies in the history of human civilization, which basically means what they are and what they do. The second is an appreciation of the social and political contexts and effects of these technologies -- in what sorts of circumstances were they created; what were their effects. The third is the acquisition of skill as a "technology critic." There are art, music, and literary critics so why not technology critics? In practice this means learning to assess how a technology changes the lives of those who interact with it, and ultimately what a technology means!

II. Texts:

Arnold Pacey, Technology in World Civilization

Lewis Mumford, Technics and Civilization

Daniel Boorstin, The Americans: The Democratic Experience

Alan Marcus and Howard Segal, Technology in America: A Brief History

T P Hughes, American Genesis: A Century of Innovation and Technological Enthusiasm

III. Expectations and Requirements

This is a combined lecture-discussion class. Attendance and participation is expected. There are two take home quizzes and a final, three paperettes (3 pages maximum), and one medium length term paper (7-15 pages).

A. Paperette #1 A Testament of Ignorance: Pick a simple device or form of technology, something commonplace with which you regularly interact. Try to make an inventory of how much (equally how little) you know of the circumstances of its invention and production, and its effects. The goal of the assignment is to develop an inventory of important questions we can ask of the technologies of the past. You need not be concerned with how well you are able to answer these questions; instead your paper will be judged simply on your ability to identify important questions. By "important" I simply mean questions that are key in understanding how this thing came to be and what it does. These range on one hand from questions of how (why) does it work to questions about where the knowledge of its production resides, the kinds technological systems that it uses and is embedded in. Due 31 January. 10 points

B. Paperette #2 Technology in the Bible: It has often been argued that the Judeo-Christian tradition was a key influence on the development of technology in the western world. Opinions differ widely, however, as to exactly what that influence was and how it was applied. Your mission is to pick from the Bible (within a section that I will assign to you -- e.g., the Gospels, the Epistles, the Pentateuch, etc.) a passage which you think has an important message on how humans are to regard technology and explain what you think that message is and how you extract it from passage (read in context). Your paper will be judged on how closely the passage is related to technology as well as on the plausibility of your exegesis. As you do the paper try to think about how some particular figure at a particular point in history might have enlarged on the passage and seen it as an especially meaningful statement of how things are and should be. Due 14 February (10 points)

C. Paperette #3 Technology and Culture: Pick an article from the journal Technology and Culture from 1986 on. Summarize and critique the article. What sorts of historical problems is the author addressing and ignoring? How (and how well) does the author defend a thesis? In the author's view, and in your own, what significance does the case study have for our understanding of broader issues on the nature of technology and society? Due 26 March (10 points)

D. Research paper. A book-or-article review of a primary source (pre-1945) in the history of technology, placing the work in an historical context. Primary sources include, but are not limited to, reports and hearings of agencies of government, articles in literary, popular, and technical periodicals, autobiographies, biographies, and books promoting, describing, or criticizing a technology. Such works can be found by using an index -- to government documents, to popular periodical literature (Poole's Index or the Reader's Guide) or to technical literature (Engineering Index) -- by browsing on the 4th (and parts of the second) floor of the library, and/or by consulting with the instructor. Pre-approval of the topic (and the primary source) is required by April 18. Papers should be from 7-15 pages, typed double-spaced. Papers, and copies of the primary source (or of key passages), are due May 2. (20 points)

E. Take home quizzes, 12 points each, of several short essay questions. The first will go out Jan 31 for return on Feb 5; the second will go out March 5 for return March 21. The final (21 points) will cover material developed since the second quiz. Questions will be drawn from readings, films, and lectures.

Participation in discussion: I welcome questions and comments and from time to time I will ask you to participate in exercises to elicit them. I will expect you to have read and thought about the readings and to be prepared to comment on them. 5 points

Scores of 90 points or greater will receive an "A"

Wk 1 Jan 15,17 Introduction,

surveys

Wk 2 Jan 20, 22, 24 The Cultural Impact of Technology -- ideas of progress Mumford, c 1-3 presenters and commentators, Boorstin, c 42-4
Wk 3 Jan 27, 29, 31 Technological determinism in world history. Technology east and west Pacey, c 2-5; Film, "Dokwaza the Ironmaster," 31 Jan; "Ignorance" paper due 31 Jan; take home quiz 1 out
Wk 4 Feb 3, 5, 7 Prelude to the industrial revolution: (the state, religion, ideology, knowledge) Pacey, c 6-7; quiz 1 in February 5
Wk 5 Feb 10, 12, 14 the industrial revolution: revolution in power, transport (capital) Mumford, c. 4, sections 1-5; "Bible" paper due, Feb 14
Wk 6 Feb 17, 19, 21 the industrial revolution: crafts and the reorganization of work (textiles)
Wk 7 Feb 24, 26, 28 industrialization as a social problem Mumford c. 4 sections 6-15
Wk 8 Mar 3, 5, 7 the technologies of precision (metallurgy) Film "Ben's Mill" March 5; quiz 2 out
midsemester break
Wk 9 Mar 17, 19, 21 technologies of war: Vauban to Teller Hughes c. 3; quiz 2 due 21 March
Wk 10 Mar 24, 26 America as an engineered product (notions of engineering and invention; emulation) M&S c 1; Hughes c 1, 2; "Technology and Culture" paper due 26 March
Wk 11 Ap, 2, 4 technologies of interdependency (agriculture, transport, standardization) M&S c 2-3, Boorstin, c 9-18, 35-7 Pacey, c 8-9
Wk 12 Ap 7, 9, 11 Institutions for the control of technology (chemical ind; corporations, fordism; universities) M&S c 4, c 6; Hughes c 4, Boorstin c. 21-3, 41, 46-9
Wk 13 Ap 14, 16, 18 technology and American society: cars, trains, planes, computers (lots of Boorstin) Boorstin, c 39-40, 58, Hughes c 6, M&S c 7 to p. 301, Mumford, c 5; film "Modern Times" evening of Ap 17
Wk 14 Ap 21, 23, 25 nuclear power and space Hughes c 7-8, Pacey, c 10-11, Boorstin c 61
Wk 15 Ap 28, 30 the technological future M&S c 8, Mumford c 8