LFU:online

Independent development of research questions and exploration of new themes; confidence when presenting the results; practice in writing an academic paper; basic knowledge of the historical relationship between technology and society

Technology and technological systems (Thomas Hughes) surround us. Human activities that can efficiently be carried out without the use of tools decrease in number. Man indeed seems to be homo faber – a tool-maker and a tool-user. This course examines the history of technology since the eighteenth century and seeks to establish whether and how technological ‘progress’ impacted on its carrier societies. Does technology drive history (Smith/Marx)? Or is technology after all merely a product of socio-cultural and socio-economic circumstances and demands? These are two of the key questions that will guide us in our analysis of invention and innovation from the eighteenth right up to the twenty-first century.

Preparation of a suitable topic by participant; presentation in the course; group discussion

Attendance, active contribution, preparation of texts, oral presentation and written paper

EDGERTON, David, ‘From Innovation to Use: Ten Eclectic Theses on the Historiography of Technology’, in: History and Technology, 16, 1999, S. 111-136.

HEILBRONER, Robert L., ‘Do Machines Make History?’, in: SMITH, Merrit Roe/MARX, Leo (eds.), Does Technology Drive History? The Dilemma of Technological Determinism, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press 1996, S. 53-66.

MOKYR, Joel, ‘Technological Inertia in Economic History’, in: The Journal of Economic History, 52 (2), 1992, S. 325-338.

SCRANTON, Philip, ‘Determinism and Indeterminacy in the History of Technology’, in: Technology and Culture, 36 (2), 1995, S. S31-S53.