Technical standards have received increasing attention in recent years from historians of science and technology, management theorists and economists. Often, inquiry focuses on the emergence of stability, technical closure and culturally uniform modernity. Yet current literature also emphasizes the durability of localism, heterogeneity and user choice. This collection investigates the apparent tension between these trends using case studies from across the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

The History of Technology addresses tensions between material standards and process standards, explores the distinction between specifying standards and achieving convergence towards them, and examines some of the discontents generated by the reach of standards into 'everyday life'.

Includes the Special Issue "By whose standards? Standardization, stability and uniformity in the history of information and electrical technologies"

About the Author

Ian Inkster is Research Professor of International History at Nottingham Trent University, UK.

Graeme Gooday is Professor of the History of Science and Technology at the University of Leeds. He had broad interests in the history and historiography of technology, especially in late 19th century electrical engineering. Following his thesis work on the advent of precision measurement techniques for laboratories, his first monograph The Morals of Measurement (Cambridge, 2004) critiqued the use of metrological determinism in measurement history.

Dr James Sumner is Lecturer in History of Technology and Associate Director of the UK National Archive for the History of Computing, University of Manchester. He holds a PhD on quantification and measurement in the British brewing industry around 1800, and has broad interests in the role of standards, uniformity and technical communication in modern history.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

Store Description

Visit Seller's Storefront

Seller's business information

Edward Bowditch Ltd
Exstowe, Exton, Exeter, EX3 0PP, United Kingdom

Sale & Shipping Terms

Terms of Sale

Legal entity name: Edward Bowditch Ltd
Legal entity form: Limited company
Business correspondence address: Exstowe, Exton, Exeter, EX3 0PP
Company registration number: 04916632
VAT registration: GB834241546
Authorised representative: Mr. E. Bowditch

Shipping Terms

Orders usually dispatched within two working days. Please note that at this time all domestic United Kingdom orders are sent by trackable UPS courier, we choose not to offer a lower cost alternative.

Shipping rates from United Kingdom to U.S.A.

Shipping rates from United Kingdom to U.S.A.
Order quantity	7 to 14 business days	2 to 3 business days
First item	US$ 13.34	US$ 33.35

Delivery times are set by sellers and vary by carrier and location. Orders passing through Customs may face delays and buyers are responsible for any associated duties or fees. Sellers may contact you regarding additional charges to cover any increased costs to ship your items.