ICON : Volume 1 (1995)

CONTENTS:

EDITORIAL:

Graham Hollister-Short
The rapid changes in the world situation in and after 1991, and in particular the re-shaping of the political map of eastern Europe with the ending of the cold war, made it necessary to re-think the constitutional structure of ICOHTEC. This was all the more important because ICOHTEC was itself a by-product of that war, and came into being at a time, in 1968, of particular stress. The constitutional changes made necessary by the new political climate were discussed and approved at Zaragoza in the course of the XlXth International Congress of the History of Science of 1993. ICOHTEC was reorganised on an individual subscription basis. At the same time, it was decided to endow it with a journal. The Officers of ICOHTEC have pleasure now in presenting this first volume of ICON to our members and other readers.

The history of technology, like the history of science, is a universal history in which, to adapt John Donne's phrase, no country is an island. The twenty-two international symposia held so far constitute a large part of the visible history of ICOHTEC. They have helped to bring into being an international community of researchers whose numbers and capacities are beginning to match the universality of the subject. At the same time these meetings have made possible innumerable contacts and friendships. My hope, now we have this journal, is that it will help to give form and focus to this great Gesellschaft.

As for the name of the journal, ICON, it almost selected itself. It picks up the first three letters of the acronym, ICOHTEC, and this of course immediately makes it a rather special kind of icon. This would have been no reason at all for choosing it, however, if members had not liked it. In fact, the response to it has been almost universally positive. Any icon worth the name must also have eye-appeal. The cover design, the work of Andrzej Kuszell, will, I hope, help to imprint our image on whoever picks up the journal.

The time available since the Bath meeting in which to prepare this first volume was short because of the commitment to our readers to have the first volume out by the end of 1995. It has therefore not been possible to develop fully all the features which ICON will have in future. We have yet to elect an editorial board to assist in the refereeing of papers, although I fear that many colleagues will already know what it means to be ascriptae glebae in this regard. The same shortage of time has meant also that the present volume could not contain reviews of newly-published works in our field or reports on other modes, such as television, in which themes from the history of technology have been explored. I hope in future that it may be possible to engage in debate with some of the creators (and some might say perpetrators) of televisual material in order to understand more clearly the problems, constraints and satisfactions in handling technological ideas in visual form. Apart from this, I would welcome the views and ideas of our members as to other ways in which future issues of the journal might be made as responsive and useful as possible to the needs of our members. As to membership, each copy of the journal will contain a membership application form. It is really up to each of us to seek to enlist new members if we wish ICOHTEC to grow.

In selecting papers for inclusion in this volume, I have drawn on two sources. The first of these was the symposium, 'The place of theory in the history of technology' which formed part of the XIX International Congress of 1993. The second has been papers read at the 22nd International ICOHTEC Symposium held in Bath in July/August 1994. At Bath there were four main themes: (i) International aspects of the institutional Organisation of engineers; (ii) The manufacture and marketing of gunpowder; (iii) The value of physical artefacts in international comparisons in the history of technology; and (iv) Invisible technology. The present volume draws heavily on contributions to the first, third and fourth of these themes. The very interesting collection of papers relating to the manufacture of gunpowder will be edited by Dr. Brenda Buchanan and published by Bath University Press, in time, it is hoped, for the ICOHTEC symposium in Budapest in August 1996.

It is for readers to discover what the present volume has to offer, but a few words here to indicate the range of that offering may not be out of place. I have certainly done my best to select papers which will give the best possible indication of the scope and variety of contemporary research in the history of technology. Three papers, those by Barton Hacker, James Williams and Hugh Torrens, deal with mechanical and civil engineering themes, although all three are also investigations of varieties of 'invisible' technology. What this means is that they are all themes which focus attention on the ways in which things worthy of study are neglected, and sink from sight. Sometimes this is the result of official obfuscation, of prejudice, or lack of imagination, or of simple bad luck. Four papers, those by Molly Berger, Tatsuya Kobayashi, Joan Rothschild and your editor, explore aspects of design history, ranging from the severely practical - as for instance how to produce thousands of elaborate meals in the space of a few hours, or how to engineer machines that will not break down at each and every trial - to those dealing with delicate questions of perception and sensibility. Carroll Pursell, like Joan Rothschild, draws attention to aspects of the history of technology whose investigation has largely gone by default. John Harris' story of industrial espionage does not quite qualify as 'invisible' technology because, after all, the spy in question now stands partially revealed. Wolfhard Weber outlines the development of history of technology in Germany since 1945, and Kees Gispen the intricate play of social and cultural factors conditioning the development of professional associations of engineers, again in Germany. Florence Hachez shows how a market was created for aluminium in France by dint of supplying free metal and the provision of training to thousands of metal workers. Last but not least, Hans-Liudger Dienel assesses with considerable wit what our discipline owes to the insights of economists and sociologists. Whatever we may think of these insights, at least we may agree with Vico that what did all this was mind.

Text conversion by Mary Ann Hellrigel, 17 March 1996.