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History of Technology & Technology Studies

General

• History of Science, Technology, and Medicine database journal articles, conference proceedings, books, book reviews, and dissertations in the history of science, technology, and medicine and allied historical fields. It integrates four bibliographies: the Isis Current Bibliography of the History of Science, the Current Bibliography in the History of Technology (Technology and Culture), the Bibliografia Italiana di Storia della Scienza and the Wellcome Library for the History and Understanding of Medicine. Covers 1975 to the present.
  NOTE: restricted to institutions with subsciptions - available at Stanford
• Google Directory for History of Engineering and Technology
• Technology History An annotated collection of links to some of the history of technology, including little-known subsites buried on many well-known commercial sites.
• Voice of the Shuttle Science, Technology, and Culture Page Extensive list of resources on science, medicine, technology, and cultural-studies/historical approaches to science designed for humanists interested in the relation between sci-tech and society. The emphasis is on materials that reflect upon, historicize, critique, collect, exhibit, or otherwise mediate (and mediatize) sci-tech rather than on scientific research per se.
• The History of Computing Provided courtesy of the Department of Computer Science at Virginia Tech; award-winning website
• The Virtual Museum of Computing (VMoC) Includes an eclectic collection of World Wide Web (WWW) hyperlinks connected with the history of computing and on-line computer-based exhibits available both locally and around the world.
• Ten Events That Shaped Silicon Valley from the San Jose Mercury News
• Center for History and the New Media Produces historical works in new media, tests the effectiveness of these products in the classroom, and reflects critically on the promises and pitfalls of new media in historical practice. In addition, the Center's web pages provide electronic access to extensive directories, journals, sources, and professional discussions related to historical issues.
• Biographical Memoirs The National Academy Press (NAP), publisher for the National Academy of Sciences (U.S.), has mounted HTML and PDF editions of 264 of its Biographical Memoirs.

Specialized sources

• Book History Online- International Bibliography of the History of the Printed Book and Libraries by the Koninklijke Bibliotheek, National Library of the Netherlands, in co-operation with national committees in countries all over the world. BHO is based on ABHB, the Annual Bibliography of the History of the printed Book and Libraries. The database contains more than 24.500 records. The files can be searched by names of authors, editors, title words, classification, geographical keywords, names of persons (printers, publishers etc.), firms and institutions, and by titles of periodicals.
• Smithsonian- The Chip CollectionThe National Museum of American History's Chip Collection consists of individual donations of objects, images and documenation that traces the history of integrated circuits. The site also includes Don C. Hoefler's Silicon Valley tabloid Microelectronics News, original issues 1975 - 1986 (Under "Schreiner", 5th link down the page).
• The Thomas A. Edison Papers Collection of Edison's patents (from 1847–1898) from Rutgers University with continual additions, available as an edited, searchable collection of images. Digital counterpart to a six-part microfilm publication and a book edition of a select edition of Edison's papers.
• The Charles Babbage Institute Established at the University of Minnesota in 1979 CBI is an archives and research center dedicated to promoting study of the history of information processing and its impact on society.   CBI preserves relevant historical documentation, conducts and fosters research, offers graduate fellowships, and sponsors symposia, conferences, and publications.
• Biotech Chronicles Brief of discoveries in biotechnology with essays on genetics and DNA research, profiles influetial persons, and series of time lines
• History of the Light Microscope
• History of Cartography Project Organized by region and time period, the History of Cartography looks at maps in the context of the societies that made and used them. The volumes integrate existing scholarship with new research, examining an unprecedented range of artifacts from local maps to those of the cosmos
• NASA Kennedy Space Center Historical Archives Includes Space History, detailed information o Manned Missions, recollections by astronauts, Apollo images.
• IEEE Center for the History of Electrical Engineering Its mission is to preserve, research and promote the history of information and electrical technologies. The Center maintains many useful resources for the engineer, for the historian of technology, and for anyone interested in the development of electrical and computer engineering and their role in modern society. Most of these resources are available on-line at this site.
• Steam Engine Library A search engine for a collection of historical documents relating to the history of the steam engine from Rochester University.
• Medieval Technology Pages from NYU; attempt to provide accurate, referenced information on technological innovation and related subjects in western Europe during the Middle Ages.
• The Gutenberg Bible digitized, in German and English. Among the ancillary material is Helmasperger's Notarial Instrument (6th November 1455), dealing with Gutenberg's invention, known as the "Werk der Buecher" (work of books) and Gutenberg's business relations with Johannes Fust.
• Calculating Machines This site deals mainly with the mechanical calculating machines from a collector's point of view.
• Recording Technology History Chronology of the history of recording instruments, with photographs
• Scientific and Medical Antiques A depository of information relating to scientific and medical antiques. This category includes telescopes, astronomy, microscopes, scales, electrical and magnetic items, calculating, drawing, surveying, navigation, meteorology, maps, globes, sliderules, astronomy, surgical instruments, bloodletting, pharmaceuticals and medical chests, electrotherapy devices, and more.
• The F-14A Central Air Data Computer Microprocessor This site describes the design work for a MOS-LSI microprocessor chip set designed starting June 1968 and completed by June 1970.
• The Evolution of Recording

   

Libraries, Museums & Exhibits

• Epact: Scientific Instruments of Medieval and Renaissance Europe Electronic catalogue of medieval and renaissance scientific instruments from four European museums: the Museum of the History of Science, Oxford, the Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza, Florence , the British Museum, London, and the Museum Boerhaave, Leiden. Consists of 520 catalogue entries and a variety of supporting material. All European instruments from the four museums by makers who were active before 1600 have been entered in the catalogue.
• The National Museum of Science and Industry (UK) The collections form an enduring record of scientific, technological and medical change since the eighteenth century. Though rich in British material, they result from worldwide acquisition.
• Robert A. Paselk Scientific Instrument Museum The Museum's collection consists primarily of scientific instruments and apparatus used at Humboldt State University over the past 75 years.The site is intended to serve both as a stand-alone on-line museum, and as an information resource for the physical displays.
• The Caltech Institute Archives A wealth of sources for the history of science and technology worldwide, stretching from the time of Copernicus to today, as well as papers,documents, artifacts and pictorial materials that tell the school's history.
• The MIT Museum Houses extensive collections of art, artifacts, drawings, photographs, and instruments documenting MIT's role in 19th- and 20th-century science and technology. World-renowned collections in holography, architecture, and nautical history.
• Deutsches Museum von Meisterwerken der Naturwissenschaft und Technik in Munich. In Enlgish or German, includes multimedia exhibits, library, and archives of materials related to the history of science and technology.
• John W. Mauchly and the Development of the ENIAC Computer from the University of Pennsylvania, comprehensive illustrated exhibition of The ENIAC computer, the first large-scale general-purpose electronic computer built in 1946.
• The Tech Museum of Innovation Museum of high-tech located in San José, California.
• Walk Through Time -evolution of time measurement developed by NIST Physics Laboratory. Describes ancient calendars, early clocks, revolution in timekeeping, the atomic age, world time scales, and NIST time calibration. This site also contains an exhibits on the history of the quartz watch, calendars throughout the ages, the history of daylight savings time, and a short history of NIST time and Frequency measurement.
• Medical Antiques & Pre-1870 Surgical Instruments Private collection of early medical items featuring cased surgical, medical, and dental instruments from the late 1700's to 1900.  Information about collecting medical and dental antiques is being presented as an educational project.

Universities & Programs

• History of Science & Technology Graduate Schools Directory US & Foreign Schools listed by location
• Science and Technology Studies (STS) at Virginia Tech (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University) M.S. and Ph.D. degrees. The STS Program is run cooperatively by the Center for Science and Technology Studies (CSTS), which is a member unit of the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies, and the Departments of History, Philosophy, and Sociology. The STS program is also itself a member unit of Virginia Tech's School of Public and International Affairs.
• Georgie Institiute of Technology The School of History, Technology, and Society offers Bachelors's, Master's, and Doctoral degrees
• History of Technology and Science (HOTS) at lowa State University emphasizes the history of technology, science, and medicine in Europe and America since the later 18th century. Its core faculty all teach and write in this chronological period.
• Science and Technology Studies at Atkinson College. Focusing primarily on science and technology in the 19th and 20th centuries.
• Office for History of Science and Technology at the University of California at Berkeley since 1973.

Organizations & Societies

• Society for Historical Archaeology includes public and members' section.
• International Comittee for the History of Technology (ICOHTEC) also has its own annual journal ICON.
• The IEEE Society on Social Implications of Technology The Society on Social Implications of Technology (SSIT) of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) has about 2000 members worldwide. The scope of the society includes such issues as environmental, health and safety implications of technology; engineering ethics and professional responsibility; history of electrotechnology; technical expertise and public policy; peace technology; and social issues related to energy, information technology and telecommunications. SSIT publishes a quarterly journal, IEEE Technology and Society Magazine, and sponsors periodic conferences entitled The International Symposium on Technology and Society (ISTAS)
• German Society for the History of Medicine, Science and Technology (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Geschichte der Medizin, Naturwissenschaft und Technik - DGGMNT)- in German

Journals

• Technology & Culture International quarterly of the society for the history of technology, available through Project Muse
• Don C. Hoefler's Silicon Valley tabloid Microelectronics News, original issues 1975 - 1986 on the Smithsonian- The Chip Collection page. (Under "Schreiner", 5th link down the page)

Last modified: May 19, 2009