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What If Beddoes & Davy Had Attempted Surgical Anesthesia In 1799? Article

April 1st, 2015 by: A.J. Wright

What If Beddoes & Davy Had Attempted Surgical Anesthesia In 1799?

Technology’s Stories vol 3, no. 1 – doi: 10.15763/JOU.TS.2015.4.1.01 PDF: Wright_What If Beddoes and Davy The inhalation of gases to relieve pain during surgery is considered one of America’s greatest contributions to medicine. The “discovery” of anesthesia is often credited to Boston dentist William Morton, who brought an inhalation device and ether into the operating…

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Thresholds of Change: Why Didn’t Green Chemistry Happen Sooner? Article

April 1st, 2015 by: William Lynch

Thresholds of Change: Why Didn’t Green Chemistry Happen Sooner?

Technology’s Stories vol. 3, no. 1 – doi: 10.15763/JOU.TS.2015.4.1.02 PDF: Lynch_Green Chemistry It is comparatively simple to sketch an historical overview of the chemical industry in Europe and the United States across the twentieth century.  The identification after 1900 of naturally occurring vitamins and hormones in the body, followed by the development of novel synthetic…

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Article

October 1st, 2014 by: Barbara Canavan

Riding the Permafrost Rooster Across the Roof of the World

Technology’s Stories v. 2, no. 3 – doi: 10.15763/JOU.TS.2014.10.1.01 PDF: Canavan_Permafrost Rooster Background “Iron rooster” is a Chinese phrase for a stingy bird, one so difficult to pluck it might as well be made out of iron. Paul Theroux borrows this phrase in Riding the Iron Rooster to describe his arduous train travels across China…

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Article

August 1st, 2014 by: John K. Brown

A Different Counterfactual Perspective on the Eads Bridge

Technology’s Stories vol. 2, no. 2 – doi: 10.15763/JOU.TS.2014.8.1.02 PDF: Brown_A Different Counterfactual Perspective My article, “Not the Eads Bridge,” (Technology and Culture, July 2014) provides a case study of a consequential choice made in 1867-68, a choice influenced by politicians, financiers, railroad managers, and businessmen from St. Louis, Chicago, Philadelphia, New York City, and…

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Counterfactual History and the History of Technology Article

August 1st, 2014 by: Eric Schatzberg

Counterfactual History and the History of Technology

Technology’s Stories vol. 2, no. 2 – doi: 10.15763/JOU.TS.2014.8.1.03 PDF: Schatzberg_Counterfactual History Jack Brown’s recent article in T&C opens up a new topic for historians of technology: the role of counterfactuals.  As Brown notes, there are many possible varieties of “counterfactual history,” and it’s not entirely clear what they share in common.  In this essay,…

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The Value of Counterfactual Analysis: Investigating Social and Technological Structure Article

August 1st, 2014 by: Lee Vinsel

The Value of Counterfactual Analysis: Investigating Social and Technological Structure

Technology’s Stories vol 2, no. 2 – doi: 10.15763/JOU.TS.2014.8.1.01 PDF: Vinsel_Value of Counterfactual Analysis In “Not the Eads Bridge: An Exploration of Counterfactual History of Technology,” Jack Brown offers up both an extended consideration of the counterfactual’s potential as a tool for historical investigation. “Counterfactual history” typically brings to mind open-ended “what if?” meditations that…

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