History of Technology

Henrique Oliveira, Department of Global Studies, NOVA Lisbon University
"The making of the world's deepest piers - matrix analysis and model testing for seismic design in the Tagus River Bridge project (1959- 1962)"
Abstract:This paper focuses on the work carried out by Tudor Engineering Company (TEC) and its consultants (led by George Housner), for the seismic design of the foundations for the towers of the Tagus River Bridge (today the April 25 Bridge). Built between 1962 and 1966, the bridge was one of the biggest project’s carried out by the fascist New State regime (1933-1974). It was also a project in which digital computers were used by the National Laboratory for Civil Engineering (NLCE) – the public institution responsible for reviewing public works projects, whose international reputation was based on work using physical models. As such, I devote my attention to TEC and NLEC relations during the seismic design process, highlighting their methodological differences, resulting in instances of cooperation and conflict which, in turn, illustrate the political and economic nature of the history of computing in engineering. By focusing on this aspect of the larger design and review process of the project, I argue that digital computers were instrumental in shielding TEC from NLEC’s oversight, providing them with greater autonomy in the process. This was done in two ways: from a technical perspective, given the laboratory’s lack of capacity to properly evaluate the contractor’s project, and a technological one, considering the limited capabilities of the computer they owned. Thus, I argue that TEC’s autonomy ultimately contributed to differences between the project’s initial and final cost, following the contractor’s presentation of a geological study (halfway through construction) deeming structural reinforcements (for withstanding seismic stress) necessary. Lastly, I finish my paper by contextualizing this specific case in larger issues of the post-war New State political economy, and the transnational history of American engineering business, to reflect on the political and economic nature of the history of computing

SHOT REDUX! 
Join us for the popular review of the annual SHOT meeting, MC'd by our own Ben Gross. SHOT (Society for the History of Technology) held its annual meeting this past July in Viña del Mar, Chile; usually it meets during the fall. Come prepared to tell us what you found interesting, controversial, problematic, eye-opening. 
If you were not able to attend the meeting, this is a great way to learn what went on and to get some of the vibe. 
Hoping to see you soon!
 

[No meeting scheduled. Have a great summer!]

IS THERE A CANON IN THE HISTORY OF TECHNOLOGY II: Identity of the field
At the request of TWG members, we will continue our fall discussion of the idea of a canon in the history of technology. We had a great discussion last September, and people have wanted to follow up. So: does a canon of sorts operate in the history of technology?
At issue, really, is the identity of the field. This includes considering how identity and canon can constrain a field, and how coherent such an identity is or needs to be. As we wrote last fall, "[a] canon can help a field develop a unique and deep identity; a canon can also constrain work and artificially limit a field's boundaries. There may well be something to be said for a certain amount of incoherence in a discipline."
Last fall we moved toward considering canon as having two facets, affecting work that gets published and also work that is chosen for teaching, especially graduate teaching. But we by no means exhausted the discussion. Also of importance are changing valences of the central term "technology", which, as Steven Walton pointed out, increasingly refers to computing and nothing else.
Please join us for a wide-ranging discussion. Bring along any syllabi or reading lists you are willing to describe or share, and think about the works you think important for people in the field to know.

Sean Seyer (Verville Fellow, National Air and Space Museum; Associate Professor of History, University of Kansas), "Battle Lines Drawn: The Postwar Continuation of the Air Trust Narrative"
 
Sean Seyer is an Associate Professor of History at the University of Kansas who specializes in American aviation history and aviation policy. He is the author of Sovereign Skies: The Origins of American Civil Aviation Policy (John Hopkins University Press, 2021) and recipient of the 2023-2024 Verville Fellowship from the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. His current book project looks at how persistent charges of monopoly within the interwar aviation industry shaped US patent and procurement policy.
 
 
 

Roger Hart (NEH Postdoctoral Fellow, Linda Hall Library of Science, Engineering & Technology; Professor of History, Texas Southern University), "China, the U.S., and the Global Race for Quantum Supremacy"
“China’s rise is the story of the century in science,” Nature Index declared in 2018. China is now competitive with the U.S. in many fields, including 5G, high-speed rail, renewable
energy, artificial intelligence, robotics, supercomputing, nanotechnology, space, and quantum technologies. This presentation focuses on the Second Quantum Revolution, arguably the most important revolution of the twenty-first century, and in particular quantum communication, an area in which China is currently ahead. In 2017 Dr. Jianwei PAN 潘建伟 of the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) created the first quantum-encrypted intercontinental video conference using a Chinese satellite called Micius; China currently has the most developed quantum communications network. For the Chinese context, I will analyze the imperative of secure communications, state-sponsored science, state-strengthening, and global circulations of Chinese scientists. For the U.S. context, I will focus on the relation between science and defense, especially the legacy of the Cold War: DARPA and defense funding of science; NSA surveillance (from PRISM to tapping telecommunications cables in Denmark); and free-market ideologies (venture-capital, Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum, and the “valley of death”). My working hypothesis is that U.S. Cold War strengths have become twenty-first century liabilities, with the result that the U.S. will likely cede the economic and technological windfall of quantum communication technologies to China. To summarize in one sentence: my overall project will trace the global circulation of science from European philosophical debates over quantum mechanics to China’s quantum internet; as part of this project, this paper outlines a preliminary explanation for how the U.S. lost its early lead in the development of the quantum internet to China.
 

Timothy Stoneman, Georgia Tech Europe, "American Evangelical Global Imaginations by Radio, 1920-70"

Javier Poveda Figueroa, Independent researcher, "The dispute between Herbert Simon and Hao Wang concerning the future of artificial intelligence during the Cold War"
During the 1960s, political scientist Herbert Simon and philosopher Hao Wang entered into a scientific dispute concerning automatic theorem proving. While Simon defended the concept of heuristics for proving mathematical logic theorems, Wang said that Simon’s approach was insufficient because heuristics had limitations. Instead, Wang suggested using Herbrand’s theorem as an approach to prove them efficiently. Wang was correct because his approach solved all mathematical logic theorems in Bertrand Russell and Alfred North Whitehead’s Principia Mathematica (1910-1913), while Simon’s could just solve 38.
 
Even though Wang obtained better results than Simon’s, the artificial intelligence community ignored his contribution. Why Wang’s approach to proving mathematical logic theorems was not considered by the artificial intelligence community? One of the answers may lie in the tense relations between China and the USA during the Cold War.
 
Using the “entangled history” approach, I suggest that Simon and Wang’s dispute can be framed in the project of modernization of China, and the  ideological dispute between capitalism and socialism blocks during the Cold War.
 

Daniella McCahey, Texas Tech University, "A Model for Extraterrestrial Settlement: Antarctica as an Analogue for Space"
This paper will explore how Antarctica is conceived as an analogue for space environments. It will focus on how, since the 1960s, scientists and engineers consciously design technologies eventually intended for space travel or extra-terrestrial environments, and then test them in the Antarctic. The paper argues that through their travels to Antarctica, these material objects are transformed into ones suitable for ‘other worlds,’ despite any practical limitations. 
 

SHOT MEETING REDUX!
The Society for the History of Technology (SHOT), the most prominent society in history of technology, recently held its annual meeting. Join us for a discussion of the meeting, the themes and papers, and behind the scenes insights. This is a great way to share opinions on what is happening in a fast-growing field, and to learn what went on if you were unable to attend. These Redux discussions are among our most popular .