Science, Its Advocates and Adversaries
17th Summer Conference of the Institute of Contemporary British History at
the IHR, University of London, 7-9 July 2003
Changes in Science, Technology and Medicine have profoundly affected all
aspects of British life over the past century,
from the kitchen to the battlefield, at home, at work, at leisure, in town
and country. The capacity to kill and the
capacity to cure and to extend life have never grown faster. For much of the
twentieth century these changes were
generally greeted with enthusiasm and awe as unquestionable improvements and
the experts responsible for them
were held in respect, though there was always a strand of opposition, in
particular to armaments. In the later twentieth
century the previously dominant deference to scientific expertise was
replaced by widespread scepticism of scientific and
medical authority. The conference seeks to explore how this change came
about within the wider context of discussing
the production and application of scientific knowledge and its impact on
British society.
Topics to be considered might include:
Who are the scientists?
Specific innovations and their impacts e.g. penicillin, the pill, the
motor-cycle, the washing machine, the
mobile phone.
Household technology and women's lives.
Communications
Diseases and their eradication
The environment
Popular attitudes to science, scientists and scientific expertise
R & D and the fortunes of the British economy
Cultural Representations of science, technology and medicine
It should be stressed that we shall only accept papers which present the
findings of new research. The conference will include a mixture of plenary
speakers, panels and parallel seminars. Young researchers and postgraduates
are particularly encouraged to apply.
The deadline is 31 December 2002. Please send short proposals (no more than
300 words) for individual papers or panels to Dr Harriet Jones, ICBH,
Institute of Historical Research, Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E
7HU. Email: [log in to unmask] Electronic submission is preferred.
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