Technological Concepts and Mathematical Models in the Evolution of Modern Engineering Systems

1. Front Matter

   Pages I-XVII

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2. Mathematical Methods and Technological Thought: Historical Aspects

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1

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   2. Mathematical Methods in Preindustrial Technology and Machines

      • Eberhard Knobloch

      Pages 3-20

   3. Organization and Mathematics: A Look into the Prehistory of Industrial Engineering

      • Ana Millán Gasca

      Pages 21-51

   4. Technological Innovation and New Mathematics: van der Pol and the Birth of Nonlinear Dynamics

      • Giorgio Israel

      Pages 52-77

   5. Transferring Formal and Mathematical Tools from War Management to Political, Technological, and Social Intervention (1940-1960)

      • Amy Dahan, Dominique Pestre

      Pages 79-100

3. Technological Knowledge and Mathematical Models in the Analysis, Planning, and Control of Modern Engineering Systems

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 101-101

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   2. Technological Concepts and Mathematical Models in the Evolution of Control Engineering

      • Stuart Bennett

      Pages 103-128

   3. Feedback: A Technique and a “Tool for Thought”

      • Antonio Lepschy, Umberto Viaro

      Pages 129-155

   4. Adequacy of Mathematical Models in Control Theory, Physics, and Environmental Science

      • Evgenii F. Mishchenko, Alexandr S. Mishchenko, Mikhail I. Zelikin

      Pages 156-188

   5. The Development of Systems Science: Concepts of Knowledge as Seen from Western and Eastern Perpsective

      • Andrzej P. Wierzbicki

      Pages 189-220

   6. Coping With Complexity in the Management of Organized Systems

      • Mario Lucertini

      Pages 221-238

4. Back Matter

   Pages 239-246

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M. LUCERTINI, A. MILLAN GASCA, AND F. NICOLO 1 Technology as Knowledge: The Case of Modern Engineering Systems In recent years scholars coming from the fields of history and philosophy of sci­ ence and technology have devoted much attention to the problem of "technology as knowledge" and to the emergence of an autonomous engineering science in the Industrial Agel. This interest echoes a growing awareness among engineers of the independence of their conceptual approach with respect to other forms of knowl­ edge, linked to the consolidation of autonomous academic engineering research in th the 20 century. A careful examination of the nature of technological knowledge appears particularly valuable in view of the pervasive presence of technology in contemporary life and culture, not only as a result of its impressive achievements, but through the less obvious influence of its concepts and viewpoints as well. The activity of engineers and technicians has been traditionally based on the practical ability to cope with specific situations and to attain the corresponding specific goal by means of the design and realization of an artifact or structure, on the basis of past experience handed down by tradition and applied by means of trial-and-error and rule-of-thumb procedures. But the existence of a theoreti­ cal background and of principles underpinning this activity can be traced back to classical antiquity.

• History of Mathematics
• Mathematikgeschichte
• calculus
• control engineering
• mathematics
• nonlinear dynamics

• Dipartimento di Matematica, Università di Roma “La Sapienza”, Roma

  Ana Millán Gasca

• Dipartimento di Informatica Sistemi e Produzione, Università di Roma “Tor Vergata”, Rome

  Mario Lucertini

• Dipartimento di Informatica e Automazione, Università di Roma 3, Roma

  Fernando Nicolò

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