The technical problems confronting different societies and periods, and the measures taken to solve them form the concern of this annual collection of essays. Volumes contain technical articles ranging widely in subject, time and region, as well as general papers on the history of technology. In addition to dealing with the history of technical discovery and change, History of Technology also explores the relations of technology to other aspects of life -- social, cultural and economic -- and shows how technological development has shaped, and been shaped by, the society in which it occurred.

This is a volume of chapters on the historical study of information, computing, and society written by seven of the most senior, distinguished members of the History of Computing field. These are edited, expanded versions of papers presented in a distinguished lecture series in 2018 at the University of Colorado Boulder - in the shadow of the Flatirons, the front range of the Rocky Mountains. Topics range widely across the history of computing. They include the digitalization of computer and communication technologies, gender history of computing, the history of data science, incentives for innovation in the computing field, labor history of computing, and the process of standardization. Authors were given wide latitude to write on a topic of their own choice, so long as the result is an exemplary article that represents the highest level of scholarship in the field, producing articles that scholars in the field will still look to read twenty years from now. The intention is to publish articles of general interest, well situated in the research literature, well grounded in source material, and well-polished pieces of writing. The volume is primarily of interest to historians of computing, but individual articles will be of interest to scholars in media studies, communication, computer science, cognitive science, general and technology history, and business.

There is no necessary relationship between fame and power, and great influence is often wielded in willful obscurity. So it was with the irascible, indomitable Eugene Fubini. A physics prodigy who fled Italy when the fascists came to power, his searing intelligence and relentless determination lifted him from obscurity to the highest levels of the Pentagon. Indifferent to anything but results, Fubini worked behind the scenes to shape the strategy and substance of his adopted country's post-World War II defense. Along the way he exerted enormous influence over the development of radar, the rise of the military-industrial complex, the Space Race, and many of the other signature events and movements of mid-twentieth-century American geopolitics. But even as his unbending determination to do things his way earned him the admiration of his colleagues, it left him feared and isolated within his own family. "Let Me Explain" is a portrait of a man whose unwillingness and inability to compromise paid enormous rewards, and extracted a heavy emotional price. David G. Fubini is a director of McKinsey & Company, Inc. in Boston, Massachusetts. For more than a decade he was the managing director of the Boston office, and led the firm's activities in New England. Prior to joining McKinsey, David was an initial member of a small group that became the McNeil Consumer Products Company of Johnson & Johnson. David received a degree in business administration with honors from the University of Massachusetts, and a master's degree in business administration, with distinction, from Harvard University. He lives in Brookline, Massachusetts with his wife, Bertha Rivera, and their four children.

This Palgrave Pivot analyzes how six countries in Central America-Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama-connected to and through computer networks such as UUCP, BITNET and the Internet from the 80s to the year 2000. It argues that this story can only be told from a transnational perspective. To connect to computer networks, Central America built a regional integration project with great implications for its development. By revealing the beginnings of the Internet in this part of the world, this study broadens our understanding of the development of computer networks in the global south. It also demonstrates that transnational flows of knowledge, data, and technologies are a constitutive feature of the historical development of the Internet.

This book discusses the role historical events played in determining the pattern of growth of Indian manufacturing. Two important historical events significantly influenced the course of Indian manufacturing from the 15th century AD. The first was the arrival of European merchants via sea route pioneered by Vasco-da-Gamma in 1498 and the other was the dawn of the Mughal Empire in 1526. The book explores how these two events provided the appropriate stimulus for the emergence of traditional flexible manufacturing in India and how they played a vital role in the pattern of growth of the Indian manufacturing: The Mughal Empire created an integrated economy of continental size whereas European trading companies expanded the commercial connectivity of the Indian economy and South East Asia. It further investigates how the circumstances created by the colonial administration, factor endowment and market conditions created the complex forms of manufacturing enterprises that India inherited at the time of independence. It is a valuable resource for students of history, economic history, business history and the history of technology.

The former Jewel in the Crown of the British Empire, India remains, by any measure, a major economic and political actor on the world scene. Without her extensive railway network—completed against all odds by her British colonial masters—it is impossible to imagine what might have become of the diverse lands and peoples of the subcontinent. These railway networks brought them together as a colony; these networks fostered the nationalism that would be Britain's downfall. This rail network both remade the physical landscape and brought social-cultural cohesion to a diverse and wide-ranging populace. It would be common rail travel that Gandhi would employ to reach the masses. From its romantic mystique to its dangerous reality, it is rail travel today that keeps vital social, cultural, economic and political forces moving. India's railroad history serves as a unique lens to her larger story of triumph over adversity. By 1905, India had the world's fourth largest railway network—a position it retains in the early 21st century. The railroads were at the organizational and technological center of many of the inter-related economic, political, social, cultural, and ecological transformations that produced modern India through, and out of, its colonial past. In addition to this vast technical achievement, and (in keeping with the series focus), there is an equally important and wide-sweeping human-interest tale to be told with evocative vignettes of the triumph of the human spirit (one billion strong!) in the face of great adversity.

The annual collections in the History of Technology series look at the history of technological discovery and change, exploring the relationship of technology to other aspects of life and showing how technological development is affected by the society in which it occurred.

This contributed volume provides 11 illustrative case studies of technological transformation in the global pulp and paper industry from the inception of mechanical papermaking in early nineteenth century Europe until its recent developments in today's business environment with rapidly changing market dynamics and consumer behaviour. It deals with the relationships between technology transfer, technology leadership, raw material dependence, and product variety on a global scale. The study itemises the main drivers in technology transfer that affected this process, including the availability of technology, knowledge, investments and raw materials on the one hand, and demand characteristics on the other hand, within regional, national and transnational organisational frameworks. The volume is intended as a basic introduction to the history of papermaking technology, and it is aimed at students and teachers as course material and as a handbook for professionals working in either industry, research centres or universities. It caters to graduate audiences in forestry, business, technical sciences, and history.

Why has "car society" proven so durable, even in the face of mounting environmental and economic crises? In this follow-up to his magisterial Atlantic Automobilism, Gijs Mom traces the global spread of the automobile in the postwar era and investigates why adopting more sustainable forms of mobility has proven so difficult. Drawing on archival research as well as wide-ranging forays into popular culture, Mom reveals here the roots of the exuberance, excess, and danger that define modern automotive culture.

Since ancient times, technological advances have increased man's chances for survival. From the practicality of a Roman aqueduct to the art of the written word, man has always adapted his environment to meet his needs, and to provide himself with sustenance, comfort, comfort, leisure, a higher quality of living, and a thriving culture. This concise reference source takes a closer look at six technological events that significantly impacted the evolution of civilization, from the Palaeolithic age to the height of the Roman Empire. As he touches on the common elements of ancient technology—energy, machines, mining, metallurgy, ceramics, agriculture, engineering, transportation, and communication—Humphrey asks questions central to understanding the impact of ancient tools on the modern world: What prompts change? What cultural traditions inhibit change? What effect do these changes have on their societies and civilization? Humphrey explores technologies as both physical tools and as extensions of the human body, beginning with the invention of the Greek alphabet and including such accomplishments as early Neolithic plant cultivation, the invention of coinage, the building of the Parthenon, and Rome's urban water system. Detailed line drawings of tools and machines make ancient mechanics more easily accessible. Primary documents, glossary, biographies, and a timeline dating from the Palaeolithic age to the Roman Empire round out the work, making this an ideal reference source for understanding the tools of the ancient world.

The book highlights women's contributions to science, which have often been marginalized and overlooked throughout history. The book first provides an overview of the development of the various science professions over time - placed in socioeconomic and cultural contexts - and women's role in the sciences throughout history. The author then exemplifies - through history, example, and case studies - that although women were denied a scientific education until fairly recently in our history, they have nevertheless demonstrated intellect and capability in mathematics, physical sciences, life sciences, social sciences, and computer sciences throughout time. Biographies of women who contributed to these fields since before the Common Era are interwoven into a discussion of the development of the scientific profession, the advancement of education, the professionalization of the various scientific occupations, and the advancement of women in society. This book is a follow up to the author's book "Engineering Women: Re-visioning Women's Scientific Achievements and Impacts" (Springer 2017). The author, Jill Tietjen, is the series editor for Springer's Women in Engineering and Science book series. Illuminates the many significant contributions of women in the sciences; Educates readers about the evolution of women's participation in the scientific fields over the last century; Demonstrates how key scientific advances are driven by socio-economic and cultural contexts.

This book compares the cultural politics of the U.S. space and Antarctic programs during the Cold War. It analyzes how culturally salient terms, especially the nationalist motif of the frontier, were used to garner public support for these strategic initiatives and, more generally, United States internationalism during this period.

The technical problems confronting different societies and periods, and the measures taken to solve them, form the concern of this annual collection of essays. It deals with the history of technical discovery and change, and explores the relation of technology to other aspects of life.

Since the earliest days of our species, technology and language have evolved in parallel. This book examines the processes and products of this age-old relationship: a phenomenon we're calling technolingualism -- the mutually influential relationship between language and technology. One the one hand, as humans advance technology to master, control, and change the world around us, our language adapts. More sophisticated social-cultural practices give rise to new patterns of linguistic communication. Language changes in its vocabulary, structures, social conventions, and ideologies. Conversely-and this side of the story has been widely overlooked-the unique features of human language can influence a technology's physical forms and technical processes. Technolingualism explores the fascinating ways, past and present, by which language and technology have informed each other's development. The book reveals important corollaries about the universal nature of language and, most importantly, what it means to be human. From our first babbling noises to the ends of our lives, we are innately attuned to the technologies around us, and our language reflects this. We are, all of us, technolinguals.

This book is an important outcome of the Fifth World Internet Conference. It provides a comprehensive review of China's Internet development, especially the new practice and achievement in 2018. And it offers a systematic account of China's experience in Internet development and governance. This year, the book improves China's Internet Development Index System, optimizes the algorithm model, and enhances data collection, to assess and reflect Internet development more comprehensively, objectively and scientifically.

In his book, pending between history and sociology, on engineers in thirteen countries of the western part of Europe, Professor Rolf Torstendahl approaches the development from around 1850 up to the present situation from different angles. - One examines the educational patterns and the author shows how widely different types of formation of engineers existed in Britain, France and Germany in the early period. They were paradigmatic for other countries. Differences remain but patterns have gradually become similar. - From another angle the author makes professional organisations of engineers a main object of study, and they vary from alumni associations to powerful lobby organisations. - A third approach in the book is to examine engineers versus sociological theories of professionalism on the one hand and theories of managerialism on the other. In the last chapter the author also discusses topics like technocracy and the responsibility of engineers.