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The Radiance of France: Nuclear Power and National Identity after World War II (Inside Technology) - Hardcover
Winner of the 1999 Herbert Baxter Adams Prize of the American Historical Association. and Winner of the 2001 Edelstein Prize (formerly the Dexter Prize) presented by the Society for the History of Technology (SHOT). This award is given to the author of an outstanding scholarly book in the history of technology published during any of the three years preceding the award.
In the aftermath of World War II, as France sought a distinctive role for itself in the modern, postcolonial world, the nation and its leaders enthusiastically embraced large technological projects in general and nuclear power in particular. The Radiance of France asks how it happened that technological prowess and national glory (or "radiance," which also means "radiation" in French) became synonymous in France as nowhere else.
To answer this question, Gabrielle Hecht has forged an innovative combination of technology studies and cultural and political history. Focusing on the early history of French nuclear power, Hecht explores the design and development of the reactors, the culture and organization of work at reactor sites, and the ways in which local communities responded to nuclear power and state-directed technological development. She also describes the eventual abandonment of the French (gas-graphite) system in favor of the American (light-water) system and shows how the American system was then "made French." A central argument of her book is that engineers and workers shaped artifacts and practices in a deliberate effort to implement specific political and cultural programs. Combining research in a wealth of previously untapped archival sources with extensive oral interviews, Hecht effectively demonstrates the relationship between history and memory in technological France.
In the aftermath of World War II, as France sought a distinctive role for itself in the modern, postcolonial world, the nation and its leaders enthusiastically embraced large technological projects in general and nuclear power in particular. The Radiance of France asks how it happened that technological prowess and national glory (or "radiance," which also means "radiation" in French) became synonymous in France as nowhere else.
To answer this question, Gabrielle Hecht has forged an innovative combination of technology studies and cultural and political history. Focusing on the early history of French nuclear power, Hecht explores the design and development of the reactors, the culture and organization of work at reactor sites, and the ways in which local communities responded to nuclear power and state-directed technological development. She also describes the eventual abandonment of the French (gas-graphite) system in favor of the American (light-water) system and shows how the American system was then "made French." A central argument of her book is that engineers and workers shaped artifacts and practices in a deliberate effort to implement specific political and cultural programs. Combining research in a wealth of previously untapped archival sources with extensive oral interviews, Hecht effectively demonstrates the relationship between history and memory in technological France.
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About the Author:
"This elegantly written book is an important contribution to the history of modern France and sets a demanding new standard for social studies of technology."
—Donald MacKenzie, University of Edinburgh, author of Inventing Accuracy
Gabrielle Hecht is Associate Professor of History at the University of Michigan and the author of The Radiance of France: Nuclear Power and National Identity after World War II (MIT Press, 1998).
Review:
"This elegantly written book is an important contribution to the history of modern France and sets a demanding new standard for social studies of technology."
—Donald MacKenzie, University of Edinburgh, author of Inventing Accuracy
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherMit Pr
- Publication date1998
- ISBN 10 0262082667
- ISBN 13 9780262082662
- BindingHardcover
- Edition number1
- Number of pages453
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