The Minneapolis Meeting, 3-6 November 2005

Abstract

The forty-sixth meeting of the Society for the History of Technology took place at the Hyatt Hotel in Minneapolis on 3–6 November 2005. Members of the program committee were Dan Holbrook (chair), Jennifer Light, and Ruth Oldenziel. Local arrangements were made by David Rhees and the staff of the Bakken Library and Museum. Special thanks to the Smithsonian's Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation; the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the Department of History, and the Program in the History of Technology and Science at Iowa State University; Joel Shackleford of the University of Minnesota; Jay Malone and the staff of the History of Science Society; the Science Museum of Minnesota and its staff; the Program in the History of Science and Technology and the Office of the Dean of the Institute of Technology at the University of Minnesota; the University of Chicago Press; and SHOT's own Cynthia Bennet. Sessions Opening Plenary: The Public Presentation of Science and Technology Chair: John Krige, Georgia Institute of Technology Papers: "Serving Society/Surviving Scorn? Presenting Science and Technology in a National Museum," Roger Launius, National Air and Space Museum; "What Difference Does It All Make? Untimely Scruples in an Age of Enthusiasm," Svante Lindquist, Nobel Museum; "'What Have We to Do with Mr. Everyman, or He with Us?' Reflections on Professionalism, the Public, and the Digital Age," Katherine Pandora, University of Oklahoma Roundtable—Philosophy of Technology: Forty Years and Counting Organizer and chair: Carl Mitcham, Colorado School of Mines Papers: "Philosophy of Technology in Scandinavia: Coming in from the Cold," Topi Heikkerö, University of Helsinki; "Philosophy of Technology in the Netherlands: Making a Mark," Martijntje W. Smits, Technical University of Eindhoven; "Philosophy of Technology in Spain: Between Analytic Approaches and STS," Juan Bautista Bengoetxea, Colorado School of Mines [End Page 141] Serve Yourself: Reconfiguring the Retail Experience, 1900–1980 Chair: Regina Lee Blaszczyk, Hagley Museum and Library Commentator: Tracey Deutsch, University of Minnesota Papers: "The Technological Deconstruction of Social Systems: The Rising Significance of Self-service Technology in Retail," Mark Samber, Independent Scholar; "From Rational Backroom Handling to Helping the World Recycle: Defining Users of Tomra's Reverse Vending Machines," Finn Arne Jørgensen, Norwegian University of Science and Technology; "Eating by Machinery: Space, Gender, and Pleasure in the Automat, 1900–1965," Meredith TenHoor, Princeton University Resourceful Science and Mineral Resources: The Geology and Technology of American Mining Organizer: Jeremy Vetter, Max Planck Institute, Germany Chair: Beverly Sauer, Johns Hopkins University Commentator: Fredric L. Quivik, Quivik Consulting Historian, Inc. Papers: "Knowledge and the Mining Business: The Technological Agenda of the Colorado Scientific Society," Jeremy Vetter, Max Planck Institute; "Alaska: Infinite Coal Mine of the Imperial Imagination," Peter Shulman, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; "From Courtroom Geology to Corporate R&D: Anaconda Copper and the Origins of Science-Based Mining," Paul Lucier, Independent Scholar Global Circulation of Knowledge in the Solid-State Electronics Industry Organizer: Hyungsub Choi, Johns Hopkins University Chair: David Hounshell, Carnegie Mellon University Commentator: Paul Ceruzzi, Smithsonian Institution Papers: "Solid-State Technology and International Knowledge Transfer: The Case of Philips," Mila Davids, Technical University of Eindhoven; "Circulation of Knowledge in Solid-State Electronics: A Perspective from the U.S.," Hyungsub Choi, Johns Hopkins University; "The Introduction and Development of Transistor Technology in Japan, 1948–1965," Takushi Ootani, Kibi International University The Creation of Automobile-Oriented Landscapes in the 20th Century Organizer: Libby Freed, University of Wisconsin–Madison Chair and commentator: Thomas Zeller, University of Maryland at College Park Papers: "Building for Traffic: Engineers, 'Sound' Roads, and the Path to Federal Aid," Christopher Wells, Macalaster College; "The Construction of Car [End Page 142] Dependence in the Parisian Area after the Second World War: Myth and Realities of 'Americanization,'" Mathieu Flonneau, Université Paris I Pan-théon–Sorbonne; "Roads and the Transformation of Landscapes in Colonial French Central Africa," Libby Freed, University of Wisconsin–Madison Technology's Middle Ground: Exploring Class, Skill, and Technological...