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HISTORY 4P47 Material Culture of Science and Technology Winter 2011 Thursdays 14:00­17:00 PL411 Professor Elizabeth Neswald History Department 573 Glendridge Ave. Room 227 email: [email protected] telephone: 905‐688‐5550 ex. 5327 office hours: Tuesday 11:00‐12:00 and by appointment 2
Course Overview Historians tend to work primarily with documents, books, written records of the past. In the past, as today, however, people lived surrounded by things – for daily use, for work or leisure, to demonstrate status, or simply for the pleasure of having them. Museums and basements are full of these historical things. There is history in things, and things are a part of history, but what can these things tell a historian and how can a historian get them to talk? In this course, we will be interrogating some things, exploring their histories and asking what role things have to play in the work of a historian. About the Course The Things This course will be different from most of the courses you have had: We will not only be reading texts about things and giving presentations, but doing original research on actual objects of science and technology (broadly conceived). You will need a thing. We will talk in class about the kinds of things that offer themselves for research and about where to find them. For some assignments you will need to take pictures with a digital camera or cell phone with camera. If you do not own this equipment yourself and do not know anyone you can borrow it from, come to me and we will try to find a solution. There is a Flickr site for this course, where you can upload your pictures. We will talk in class about what you need to do to become part of the course Flickr group. It is a private group. This means that your email address will only be accessible to people involved with the course. We will also have several guest speakers – “thing specialists”. The guests are scheduled into the syllabus, but if they have to change their plans, we will have to change ours, i.e. adjust the syllabus accordingly. Course Requirements and Marking Seminar Participation 30% Participation means: coming to class prepared, engaging in the discussion, making relevant contributions. For this course, this includes uploading your photographs and images to the Flickr site so that the group can discuss them in class and it means giving short reports on your object research on the planned days. Presentation and facilitation 3
20% Group presentations should last about 20 minutes and focus on the theme of the readings, but they should not be limited to the readings. We have a high‐tech classroom, where you can access internet resources for the presentation and show images. You can bring in things to illustrate the themes of the readings. Be creative. Facilitation means coming with some relevant questions to get the discussion going and moderating it. There will not be a presentation in every session. Presentation session dates are: Feb. 3; Feb. 10; March 10; March 17; March 31. Progress reports Since you will be doing original research projects, it is 1) important to start early, 2) work continuously and 3) keep a record of the steps you have taken. These progress reports show me what you have accomplished, allow you to realize early on where you may run into difficulties and trouble spots and allow me to give you concrete suggestions and feedback. Sometimes an original research project does not take you where you planned to go or you will not be able to answer all of your questions. This is not a catastrophe – you can learn as much (sometimes more) from things that do not work out than from things that do. The progress reports document this. They will be submitted twice – once on the due date, and the marked and commented report again with your final project essay. Progress report 1 5% Due Feb. 10 In this report you will have chosen an object and begun to think about it, what questions you can ask of it and where to look for answers – maybe you will even have some answers. You should do a provisional outline here. “Provisional” means provisional. Expect it to change. I will. Progress report 2 10% Due March 3 By now you and your object should be well acquainted. You will know some things about it and will have looked for more information. The report should include the places you have looked and why you chose to look in this way, even if nothing turned up. Keep a record of your search and sources. It should also include a bibliography of background material. *****People are sources of information too. If you speak to someone about the object, remember to document the conversation properly – see Rampolla or the Chicago Manuel of Style for how to site verbal protocols, interviews, emails, conversations etc. 4
Progress report 3 10% Due March 24 This is your last progress report. It should detail the state of your research, sources etc., as above. By this time you should have enough information to have a good idea of how you want to structure your essay and what threads you still need to follow. Final project 25% Due April 7 Your final project is a research essay about your object. This is the writing‐up, cleaning‐up and final interpretation of the research and research steps you have described in your progress reports. It should have a bibliography, footnotes and otherwise fulfill the formal criteria of an essay. How long? As long as you need it to be, but not less than 15 pages double‐spaced or longer than 30 without permission. How many sources? You will probably need at least 10. We will talk more about sources in class. Feel free to include pictures of your object (or other relevant objects) in your essay. Formalities > Attendance is mandatory. More than one unexcused absence may jeopardize your
grade.
> Extensions will be considered in the case of medical or personal emergencies, but
they must be substantiated by documentation and are subject to the instructor’s
discretion. Work handed in late without the instructor’s permission will be penalized
5% a day.
> To pass the course, you must complete ALL assigned work AND receive an
average passing mark on each assignment.
> Plagiarism is the use of another writer’s thoughts, words or ideas without giving
him/her credit. Paraphrases and footnotes are ways of giving credit to the other writer.
If in doubt, ask your instructor or consult a standard style manual. Plagiarism will
NOT be tolerated and will AUTOMATICALLY result in failing the assignment. For
further consequences of plagiarism consult the university calendar.
Course Reading All reading material is either in the reserves section of the library, online or accessible through an electronic journal database. 5
Seminar Plan Jan. 13 1) Introduction Jan 20 2) Approaching Material Culture In this session we will think about 1) what “material culture” is, and 2) how to approach historical artifacts. a) Jules David Prown, “Mind in Matter. An Introduction to Material Culture Theory and Method,” in: Winterthur Portfolio 17 (1982), 1‐19. e­
journal b) Thomas J.; Schlereth, Cultural History & Material Culture. Everyday Life, Landscapes, Museums, Charlottesville and London: University Press of Virginia 1992, prologue (p17‐33). Copy in reserves c) E. Fleming, “Artifact Study: A Proposed Model,” in Winterthur Portfolio 9
(1974), 153-173. e-journal
Jan 27 3) Materials Everyone is expected to have read all texts, but groups will specialize on specific materials and their characteristics. The groups should do some additional research into their materials. Materials are: plastic, metal, wood, glass. a) Robert Friedel, “Some Matters of Substance,” in: Steven Lubar and W. David Kingery (eds.) History from Things. Essays on Material Culture, Washington and London: Smithsonian Institution Press 1993, 41‐50. book on reserves b) Eric Schatzberg, Wings of Wood, Wings of Metal. Cultural and Technical Choice in America Airplane Materials, 1914‐1945, Princeton: Princeton University Press 1999, Chp. 1 and 3. (3‐21; 44‐63). Copy in reserves c) Lorraine Daston, The Glass Flowers. Object Lessons from Art and Science, in: Daston (ed.): Things that Talk, New York: Zone Books 2004, chp. 6, 223‐254. book on reserves d) Jeffrey Meikle, American Plastic: A Cultural History, New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press 1995, chp 7, 183‐205. e­book 6
Feb 3 4) What is a scientific instrument? *** This is a presentation session. a) Deborah Jean Warner, “What is a Scientific Instrument, When Did it Become One, and Why?, “in: British Journal for the History of Science 23 (1990), 83‐93. e­journal b) J. V. Field, “What is Scientific About a Scientific Instrument,” in: Nuncius 3 (1988), 3‐26. copy in reserves c) W.D. Hackman, “Scientific instruments: Models of brass and aids to discovery.” In The uses of experiment, ed. David Gooding, et al., pp. 31‐66. Cambridge, 1990. book in reserves Browse at least 3 of these sites/sources: 1) Gerard L.E. Turner: Scientific Instruments, 1500‐1900. An Introduction, Berkeley, CA: University of California Press 1998. reserves 2) Nigel Hawkes, Early Scientific Instruments, New York: Abbeville Press 1981. in special collections 3) National Maritime Museum, London: http://www.nmm.ac.uk/explore/collections/ 4) Harvard University Scientific Instrument collection http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~hsdept/chsi.html 5) Museum of Science and Industry, Manchester http://www.mosi.org.uk/collections 6) Science Museum, London http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/onlinestuff/museum_objects.aspx 7) Canada Museum of Science and Technology http://www.sciencetech.technomuses.ca/english/collection/instrument.cfm 8) Virtual Laboratory Project, Digital Library http://vlp.mpiwg‐berlin.mpg.de/library/tradecatalogues.html Be prepared to discus: 1) How is collection presented (think: audiences, collections, messages) 2) Pick an instrument that you particularly like and be prepared to discuss why. If possible, upload the image to the Flickr group, so that we can all see what you are talking about. Write down the web‐address so that we can call it up in class if we want a closer look. 7
Feb. 10 4) Architecture as Object **** This is a presentation session. Your first progress reports are due today. a) Annemarie Adams, “The Eichler Home: Intention and Experience in Post‐War Suburbia,” in: Perspectives in Vernacular Architecture 5 (1995), 164‐178. e­journal b) James A. Jacobs, “Social and Spatial Change in the Postwar Family Room,” in: Perspectives in Vernacular Architecture 13 (2006), 70‐85. e­
journal c) Martina Hessler, “The Frankfurt Kitchen: The Model of Modernity and the ‘Madness’ of Traditional Users, 1926‐1933, “in: Ruth Oldenziel and Karin Zachmann (eds): Cold War Kitchen, Americanization, Technology, and European Users, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press 2009, 163‐184. book on reserve d) Susan E. Reid, “The Khrushchev Kitchen: Domesticating the Scientific‐
Technological Revolution,” in: Journal of Contemporary History 40 (2005), 289‐316. e­journal Feb. 17 6) Excavating McKenzie­Chowan In this session we will take a tour of McKenzie‐Chowan with Leslie Bell, curator of the visual arts collection and discuss with her the architecture of MC and downtown St. Catharines. a) Stewart Brand, How buildings learn. What happens after they’re built, New York and Toronto: Penguin Books 1994, chp 2. book in reserves b) Watch: Stewart Brand: How buildings learn part 1 and 6 on Google Videos: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8639555925486210852# (feel free to watch the rest if you are interested) Homework: Walk around MC for ca. 1 hr, observing building, taking notes and pictures. Walk around downtown St. Catharines for ca. 1 hr observing buildings, changes, additions, taking notes and pictures. Upload 3‐5 pictures of MC and 3‐5 pictures of St. Catharines to the Flickr group by Tuesday, Feb. 15. Feb. 23: Winter break – no class 8
March 3 7) Experiencing Things Your second progress reports are due today. In this session our guest is Gord Dunkley from the Department of Computer Sciences, who will speak to us about how the experience of using computers changed over the past decades. If there is time after our guest and the discussion of the readings, we will talk about the projects. a) Peter Heering, “The enlightened microscope. Re‐enactment and analysis of projections with eighteenth‐century solar microscopes,” in: British Journal for the History of Science 41 (2008), 345‐367. e­journal b) Elizabeth Cavicchi, “A witness account of solar microscope projections: collective acts integrating across personal and historical memory,” in: British Journal for the History of Science 41 (2008), 369‐383. e­journal c) H. Otto Sibum, “Experimental History of Science,” in: Svante Lindqvist (ed.): Museums of Modern Science, Canton, MA: Science History Publications 2000, 77‐86. book in reserves March 10 8) Design **** This is a presentation session. a) David Pye, The Nature and Aesthetics of Design, London: Herbert Press 1978, 11‐19, 21‐35. copy in reserves b) Patricia Peck Gossel, “Packaging the Pill,” in: Robert Bud (ed.): Manifesting Medicine. Bodies and Machines, Amsterdam: Harwood Academic Publishers 1999, 105‐121. copy in reserves c) Paulo Brenni, “Art and Science: the Design of Scientific Instruments,” in: William R. Shea and Antonio Spadafora (eds.), Creativity in the Arts and Sciences, Canton, MA: Science History Publications 1990, 121‐141. in reserves Further readings: TBA 9
March 17 9) Museums and Collections **** This is a presentation session. a) Marjorie Akin, “Passionate Possession. The Formation of Private Collections,” in: Steven Lubar and W. David Kingery (eds.) History from Things. Essays on Material Culture, Washington and London: Smithsonian Institution Press 1993, 102‐128. book in reserves b) A. J. Turner, “From Mathematical Practice to the History of Science. The pattern of collecting scientific instruments,” Journal of the History of Collecting 7 (1995), 135‐150. e­journal c) David H. Shayt, "Artifacts of Disaster: Creating the Smithsonian's Katrina Collection", Technology and Culture (Vol. 47, April 2006), p. 357‐
368. e­journal d) Ruth B. Phillips, "Re‐placing Objects: Historical Practices for the Second Museum Age", The Canadian Historical Review (86, 1, March 2005), p. 83‐
110. e­journal e) Lorenz Seelig, “The Munich Kunstkammer, 1565‐1807,” in: Oliver Impy and Arthur MacGregor (eds.): The Origins of museums: the cabinet of curiosities in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Oxford: Clarendon Press 1985, 76‐89. reserves ***** look at the image plates at the back of this book to get an idea of the spaces and objects March 24 10) University collections Your third progress reports are due today. In this session we will visit Special Collections and meet with its curator, David Sharron, who will talk to us about collecting, curating and conserving objects. After our visit to Special Collections, we will discuss the projects in class. a) Marta C. Lourenco, "Working with words or objects? The contribution of university museums", Meeting, Do Collections matter to Instrument Studies?, Museum of the History of Science, Oxford, June 30, 2002. copy in reserves b) David Pantalony, Richard L. Kremer and Francis J. Manasek: Study Measure, Experiment. Stories of Scientific Instruments at Dartmouth College, Norwich, VA: Terra Nova Press 2005, 203‐206. copy in reserves 10
March 31 11) Images as Objects **** This is a presentation session. a) Elizabeth Edwards and Janice Hart, “Introduction: Photographs as Objects,” Elizabeth Edwards and Janice Hart (eds.), Photographs Objects Histories, London and New York: Routledge 2004, 1‐15. E­book b) Annemarie Adams and Kevin Schwartzman, “Pneumothorax then and now,” Space and Time 8 (2005), 435‐448. e­journal c) Jochen Hennig, “Changes in the Design of Scanning Tunneling Microscopic Images from 1980 to 1990,” Techne. Research in Philosophy and Technology 11 (2005). Online journal: http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/SPT/v8n2/hennig.html d) Klaus Staubermann, “Inside the Nineteenth‐Century Scientific Lantern Slide,” Peter J. T. Morris and Klaus Staubermann (eds.), Illuminating Instruments, Washington DC: Smithsonian Instition Scholarly Press 2010, 3‐18. copy in reserves Additional readings: TBA April 7 12) Wrap­up: In this session, you will have the opportunity to present your project briefly to the class.