Instrumentation Between Science, State and Industry

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-ix

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2. Part One

   1. A Fresh Look at Instrumentation an Introduction

      • Bernward Joerges, Terry Shinn

      Pages 1-13

3. Origins of the Research-Technology Community

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 15-15

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   2. From Theodolite to Spectral Apparatus: Joseph von Fraunhofer and the Invention of a German Optical Research-Technology

      • Myles W. Jackson

      Pages 17-28

   3. The Research-Technology Matrix: German Origins, 1860–1900

      • Terry Shinn

      Pages 29-48

4. Interstitial Worlds

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 49-49

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   2. Displacing Radioactivity

      • Xavier Roqué

      Pages 51-68

   3. Strange Cooperations The U.S. Research-Technology Perspective, 1900–1955

      • Terry Shinn

      Pages 69-95

   4. Mediating Between Plant Science and Plant Breeding: The Role of Research-Technology

      • Patricia Nevers, Raimund Hasse, Rainer Hohlfeld, Walther Zimmerli

      Pages 97-118

5. Purviews of Generic Instruments

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 119-119

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   2. In Search of Space: Fourier Spectroscopy 1950–1970

      • Sean F. Johnston

      Pages 121-141

   3. Putting Isotopes to Work: Liquid Scintillation Counters, 1950–1970

      • Hans-Jörg Rheinberger

      Pages 143-174

   4. Making Mice and Other Devices: The Dynamics of Instrumentation in American Biomedical Research (1930–1960)

      • Jean-Paul Gaudillière

      Pages 175-196

6. Standardized Languages

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 197-197

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   2. From Dynamometers to Simulations: Transforming Brake Testing Technology into Antilock Braking Systems

      • Ann Johnson

      Pages 199-218

   3. From the Laboratory to the Market: The Metrological Arenas of Research-Technology

      • Alexandre Mallard

      Pages 219-238

7. In Conclusion

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 239-239

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   2. Research-Technology in Historical Perspective: An Attempt at Reconstruction

      • Bernward Joerges, Terry Shinn

      Pages 241-248

8. Back Matter

   Pages 249-272

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these. In this book, we appropriate their conception of research-technology, and ex­ tend it to many other phenomena which are less stable and less localized in time and space than the Zeeman/Cotton situation. In the following pages, we use the concept for instances where research activities are orientated primarily toward technologies which facilitate both the production of scientific knowledge and the production of other goods. In particular, we use the tenn for instances where instruments and meth­ ods· traverse numerous geographic and institutional boundaries; that is, fields dis­ tinctly different and distant from the instruments' and methods' initial focus. We suggest that instruments such as the ultra-centrifuge, and the trajectories of the men who devise such artefacts, diverge in an interesting way from other fonns of artefacts and careers in science, metrology and engineering with which students of science and technology are more familiar. The instrument systems developed by re­ search-technologists strike us as especially general, open-ended, and flexible. When tailored effectively, research-technology instruments potentially fit into many niches and serve a host of unrelated applications. Their multi-functional character distin­ guishes them from many other devices which are designed to address specific, nar­ rowly defined problems in a circumscribed arena in and outside of science. Research­ technology activities link universities, industry, public and private research or me­ trology establishments, instrument-making finns, consulting companies, the military, and metrological agencies. Research-technology practitioners do not follow the career path of the traditional academic or engineering professional.

• Invention
• Simulation
• cooperation
• media
• research
• science
• service
• stability
• technology

• Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung, (WZB), Germany

  Bernward Joerges

• Technische Universität Berlin, Germany

  Bernward Joerges

• Sociology and History of Science, CNRS/GEMAS, Paris, France

  Terry Shinn

Policies and ethics