Of Bicycles, Bakelites, and Bulbs A Presentation by Lisa Weissbard and Barbara Young 10/25/2004

“The technical is socially constructed and the social is technically constructed.” – Wiebe Bijker

Looking Back and Looking Ahead: from Mumford to Bijker    1920s Mumford and others rage against the Machine  1950s History of Technology becomes a formal academic specialty; SHOT forms in 1958 1960s 1970s Contextual approach STS gains momentum

Bijker’s Case Studies

Bicycles Bakelite Bulbs Time period Disciplinary background Market 1860-1890 1880-1920 1930-1945 Mechanical engineering Chemical engineering Consumer Industrial Electrical engineering Hybrid Technological Frame No dominant tech. frame 1 dominant tech. frame More than 1 powerful tech. frame

Tentative list of Elements of a Technological Frame (table 3.1)

• Goals • Key Problems • Problem-solving strategies • Requirements to be met by problem solutions • Current theories • Tacit knowledge • Testing procedures • Design methods and criteria • Users’ practice • Perceived substitution function • Exemplary artifacts

Vocabulary

• Relevant Social Groups • Technological Frame • Interpretive Flexibility – Closure – Stabilization • Seamless web • Boundary objects

Storage Technology: More is Less

Univac Soyo Cigar HD20

The Intermezzo

Narrative Baekeland had become interested in the reaction between phenol and formaldehyde in about 1902, two years after establishing his private laboratory at Snug Rock. This was probably one of his reasons for hiring Nathaniel Thurlow as a research assistant in December 1904, for previously Thurlow had been involved in studying phenolic bodies. First they familiarized themselves, by reading publications and through experimentation, with the state of the art… (pg. 148) Theory The case of contemporaneous membership in different relevant social groups, and thus involvement in different technological frames at the same time, is more interesting. It is to describe this situation that I propose the concept of “inclusion in a technological frame.” The degree of inclusion of an actor in a technological frame indicates to what extent the actor’s interactions are structured by that technological frame. If an actor has a high degree of inclusion, this means that she thinks, acts, and interacts to a large extent in terms of that technological frame. (pg. 143)

The Safety Cap

• From “The lid that flies off and lands under the radiator.” --Quote attributed to Dr. John Mauchly, also inventor of the Univac to • “I can’t get this damn

US Patent 5,449,078

cap off.” safety