Technology and Industry: A Nordic Heritage ed. by Jan Hult, Bengt Nyström

Abstract

TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE Book Reviews 189 Technology and Industry: A Nordic Heritage. Edited by Jan Hult and Bengt Nystrom. Nantucket, Mass.: Watson Publishing Interna­ tional, 1992. Pp. xiii + 218; illustrations, bibliography, index. $38.00. In the packet of materials handed each participant at the 1992 SHOT meeting in Uppsala appeared this handsome volume, which proved to be two profusely illustrated short books under one cover. The first, “History of Technology: An Overview,” addresses the national technological development of Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden. The second, “The Industrial Heritage: Conservation and Preservation,” presents the efforts of each of these nations to maintain and interpret historic industrial environments. In his foreword to Technology and Industry, Svante Lindqvist points out that while the general history of technology for each Western nation follows a similar pattern, the industrial applications of these technologies differ according to each country’s topography, climate, and natural resources. These geographical constraints on applications of technologies become the leitmotif of the four essays, one to a country, devoted to technological history. In the case of fertile Denmark, agricultural developments occupy much of the discussion; in that of poor-soiled but tree-covered Finland, slash-and-burn farm­ ing and development of forest products; in that of many-fjorded Norway, fishing and shipbuilding; in that of resource-blessed Sweden, mining and forest products. The essayists do not neglect the social surrounds of technological development, such as the impact on Swedish industrial development of the military requirements of its 17th-century Baltic empire. Scandinavia imported much technology, but on occasion it was the source of invention. A fascinating case is cited in the essay on Finland, which refers approvingly to the argument that the pioneers of Anglo-Saxon America derived the heart of their woodcraft from Finnish settlers along the Delaware. The first part of Technology and Industry certainly accomplishes its goal of providing an overview of Nordic technological growth. The detailing of later developments becomes a bit breathless, however, and perhaps a mere chronology of post-1860 developments would have freed up limited text space for deeper consideration of such topics as each society’s permeation by energy networks. One would like to hear more, for instance, concerning antinuclear-energy refer­ enda in Denmark and Sweden. The editors could have strengthened the essays by more careful selection of accompanying maps, graphs, and photographs. The second part of Technology and Industry resembles a series of travel guides. Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, and Swedish scholars present overviews of each country’s efforts toward the conservation of indus­ trial environments, and each overview is followed by descriptions 190 Book Reviews TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE of important national sites. While these essays recapitulate much of the content of the first part of the book, their intrinsic value lies in their consideration of technological history in terms of built environ­ ments and the rise of the new specialty of industrial preservation. Marie Nisser, in her general introduction to this section and in her description of the industrial heritage of Sweden, traces the growth of the meaning of “industrial heritage” in recent decades from archaeo­ logical artifacts to an examination of working life and its environment to an inclusive presentation of local human and natural environments in regional “ecomuseums.” The reader can only hope that such Nordic developments as substantial labor union support for working life museums and the creation of museum trails dedicated to a region’s industry will find an echo in North America. One can also hope that industrial heritage guides on the model of this second part of Technology and Industry will become available on these shores. The maps in this second section keep the nonScandinavian reader oriented. While the commentary and diagrams for specific sites are constantly informative, the same cannot be said of all the photographs. Showing factory exteriorsjust does not convey all that much. North Americans should emulate not only this volume’s industrial heritage section but also its presentation of history of technology tied to geographic regions. An industrial overview of the Northeast could be written keyed to the fall line, of the South keyed to plantation labor systems, of the West keyed to aridity’s challenge to technologies. Technology and...