Civil Engineering during the Enlightenment—ICOHTEC Symposium, Madrid, September 5–9, 1988

Abstract

Conference Report CIVIL ENGINEERING DURING THE ENLIGHTENMENT— ICOHTEC SYMPOSIUM, MADRID, SEPTEMBER 5-9, 1988 GEORGE F. W. HAUCK In late summer of 1988, the sunbaked capital of Spain was the setting for the “XIV Simposio Internacional I.C.O.H.T.E.C.” On Monday, September 5, the International Committee for the History of Technology gathered in Madrid for the purpose of exchanging perceptions of civil engineering during the Enlightenment or, specif­ ically, the century from 1750 to 1850. The rationale for the theme was predicated both on the significance of civil engineering developments during that era and on the coinci­ dence with the bicentennial of the death of Carlos III, the “enlight­ ened despot” who ruled from 1759 to 1788 (a time of profound upheavals in Europe as in America) and played a vital role in the development of technology and science in Spain. As noted in the invitation bulletin, this “was a period ofextraordinary development of ingenuity and energy in projects and studies, [and a time when] engineering work based on empirical methods was replaced by the use of mathematical procedures and scientific knowledge for maxi­ mum development of the art and techniques of engineering.” It may be recalled as well that the very term “civil engineer” is attributable to an exponent of the Enlightenment, namely, John Smeaton (1724—92). All arrangements for the meeting had been planned and coordi­ nated by the Centro de Estudios Históricos de Obras Públicas y Urbanismo, an agency of the Ministry of Public Works and Urbanism (MOPU). The organizers “hoped to commemorate an enlightened age, rich in economic reforms, industrial modernization and the design of new cities.” “Together with reforms in education and infrastructure,” the bulletin explained, “[the enlightened technology] led to a significant improvement in the living standards and cultural life of the country, reducing the gap which separated Spain from the Dr. Hauck is professor of civil engineering at the University of Missouri—Kansas City.© 1990 by the Society for the History of Technology. All rights reserved. 0040-165X/90/3101-0005$01.00 114 Civil Engineering during the Enlightenment 115 more scientifically and technically advanced Countries of Europe.” Many of the papers presented were to substantiate these points. Some sixty participants (plus acompañantes) had come from more than a dozen countries on three continents, motivated in part by the opportunity to share their recent research findings. Next to the twenty-odd-member Spanish delegation, the American and French contingents were most numerous. Other countries represented in­ cluded Great Britain, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Japan, Poland, the Federal Republic of Germany, the German Democratic Republic, Sweden, Austria, and Switzerland. This was a group brought together by common interests but admitting of diversity. 1 found myself in a minority in several respects. This was my first ICOHTEC meeting, whereas most of the participants had attended others, notably the 1986 symposium at Dresden reported in the October 1987 issue of this journal. Furthermore, as one of the attending civil engineers, I was apparently outnumbered by professional historians. Finally, while others generally related developments during the Enlightenment that occurred in their own regions, I had to look elsewhere, for I live in a place where there was no civil engineering in 1750, and not much more in 1850. Most of the foreign symposium attendees were lodged and nour­ ished in a women’s dormitory on the Paseo deJuan XXIII, at the edge of Madrid’s University City. This arrangement had the advantage not only of minimizing costs but also of providing ample opportunities for informal exchanges in dining room, lobby, and nearby bars. The paper sessions took place in the lecture theater of another residence hall some 100 meters down the street. The facilities were fully conducive to listening and learning, and the capable, dedicated staff contributed in no small measure to the success of the event. The entire program comprised seven sessions of five to seven papers each. The presentations, read in English, French, German, or Spanish, were simultaneously interpreted for the benefit of listeners not fluent in any of these conference languages. (Russian, one of the official ICOHTEC languages, was not used, for regrettably no Soviet representative had been...