Conclusion

Conclusion:

The two articles discussed here from The Social Construction of Large Technological Systems are two of the most historically oriented articles in the book.

Hughes was probably the most history oriented scholar with an article in this book and his article has much content that has to do with the history of technology. His main concept is the explanation of technological systems.

Law's chapter applies Hughes's technological systems theory which use historical examples.

In this way the two chapters complement each other and provide a good picture of the relationship of technological systems and history. The two articles can also be looked at in different ways and ways that can lead to greater understanding of them through various articles from the weekly readings for the class.

Law's and Lesley's Article

Law's and Lesley's Article:

Stuart Lesley's scholarly journal article "Cold War and Hot Physics: Science, Security, and the American State, 1945-56" briefly reviews literatures that suggest some ways to understand the political character and the historical character of contemporary scientific knowledge. 

Some of these literatures can be applied to better understand the Portuguese ship history.  The following shows Lesley's literatures in bold and then followed by Law's application.

Artifacts: 

The Portuguese invested in artifacts including developing a better ship, the caravel, and used magnetic compass technology.

Disciplines:

The Portuguese government invested in expanding their knowledge within scientific disciplines.  The led to the invetion of the volta to better navigate challenging routes, at first used to round Cape Bojador.

Technology and Heterogeneous Engineering: The Case of Portuguese Expansion and How it Relates to Technological Systems

Technology and Heterogeneous Engineering: The Case of Portuguese Expansion

By, John Law

Law's discusses Portuguese ship use and the struggle it had with being the first country to navigate around Cape Bojador and the surrounding areas.  He discusses the evolution of galleys, the magnetic compass, and a navigation technique called the "volta" to illustrate this main discussion.

 

How Law Uses the Technological Systems Approach

Law discusses that technological system builders try to dissociate hostile systems and reassemble their components in a way that contributes to the thing being built.

The hostile systems of current and wind were impossible to change. So, Portuguese galleys were made square rigged, made use of the magnetic compass, and took advantage of the "volta" method, to handle these hostile systems.

Law uses the example improving the Portuguese ship, the galley, by combining two technological innovations to create the volta.

These two innovations were the magnetic compass and a better understanding of ocean current and surrounding winds. These were then used to create the very helpful sailing strategy called the volta.

Hughes divides the inventions that make up technological systems into two groups.

These two groups are conservative and radical.

Conservative:

Conservative inventions usually add to and improve existing inventions and are usually financed by larger corporations. 

Radical:

Radical inventions are usually done by independent inventors on much less funding because larger companies find them too risky to invest in.

The scholarly journal article "Cold War and Hot Physics: Science Security, and the American State, 1945-56" by Daniel Kevles discusses the technological system responsible for atomic technologly and especially nuclear weapons in the United States. 

\

 

 The development of atomic technology quickly became a conservative invention.



This was because it became important to improve on the beginnings of  the atomic idea to develop it for weapon and power usage.  The development of atomic technology  was funded with a huge investment of money, largely by the United States government.

Parts of a Technological System and its Phases that Make Up its History

The Evolution of Large Technological Systems:

What Makes Up a Technological System and the Phases of the History of Technological Systems

By, Thomas Hughes

One of the main technological systems that Hughes discusses is electrical systems.   All systems are made up of physical artifacts.  An electrical system includes physical artifacts such as turbogenerators and power lines.

Another part of technological system is organizations.  The electrical systems are produced by organizations, such as manufacturing firms.

A third part of technological systems are components labeled scientific, such as books, articles, and research programs. 

These are three interlocking parts of a technnological systems. 

There are then different phases that make up a technological system's history. 

These phases are: invention, development, innovation, transfer, growth, competition, consolidation, and momentum.

These phases are not sequential, but they can overlap and backtrack.

About the Chapters Covered and Authors of Those Chapters

The Two Chapters Discussed and Their Authors:

The first of the two chapters discussed in this book review essay is "The Evolution of Large Technological Systems" by the historian of science Thomas P. Hughes. 

                                                                 Thomas P. Hughes

Hughes is a professor of history and sociology of science at the University of Pennsylvania.

Hughes's chapter was chosen for this essay because it was the chapter that had the most to do with the history of technology and uses many examples from the history of technology and science to prove his points. 

The second chapter that is focused on in this essay is "Technology and Heterogeneous Engineering: The Case of Portuguese Expansion" by John Law. 

Law is a professor of sociology at the Open University.


Law's chapter was chosen because it discusses in detail Hughes's concept of technological systems and applies them to Law's chapter to prove the points he is trying to convey.  Also his main example to prove his point, the Portuguese sailing technology, is very historical, and uses much history from this topic to prove his points.

The Social Contruction of Technological Systems Book Presentation:

The Background of the Book:

The book The Social Construction of Technological Systems came about as a collaboration of sociologists, philosophers, and historians of technology.  The collaboration was done mostly in a workshop setting on the campus of Twente University of Technology in the Netherlands.  The workshop provoked so many good ideas that it was decided to publish this book on the basis of the papers and discussions produced by the attendants of the workshop.

The articles that make up the book consist of chapters by the attendants of the workshop about the sociology of technology and history of technology.