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A social history of technology

Of the recent trajectories of research in the history of science and environment, there is considerable emphasis on technology. Therefore,…

A social history of technology

The quest for technology (FACEBOOK)

Of the recent trajectories of research in the history of science and environment, there is considerable emphasis on technology. Therefore, this book under review fills a void after a long time. The modern world fights on technology, starting with the Japanese small and precision tools to rockets into the orbit launched by the nuclear powers. Hence, the title of the second chapter, “Technology at Power Spectacle” is most apt. To achieve this technical skill, there was a huge demand for technical education all over the world. Even India, which cared for moral rather than material progress, woke up to this need for technical know-how. Once again the title of the third chapter, “Demand for Technical Education” is more appropriate. The West had once claimed its absolute bequest of science to India, which according to the West was a tabula rasa or clean slate. This was a kind of Eurocentralism, or in modern parlance, orientalism to put the non-west as the “other”. The author in the fourth chapter examines various kinds of indigenous enterprises to make the point. The East also had science and technology in the historical time-span.

The author argues that the 19th century in India was a period of throbbing possibilities. Apart from moral progress, it also had a healthy tradition of indigenous science and technology, which the British colonisers bulldozed and delegitimised. The author rightly says that this was one of the major means of colonising the mind.In his reckoning, colonialism was not merely western intellectual superiority but also an overwhelming force unleashed by technology at a minimal cost.

What is the Industrial Revolution after all? It is the science of converting raw materials into manufactured goods. By territorial conquest, the first part was achieved at cheap or no cost. The influx of raw commodities forced the proto-industrial England, to invent numerous machines in order to convert them into finished products. Necessity was the mother of all inventions, thus came inventions like steamships, firearms, telegraph and railways. This altered the literal relation between Europeans and Indians as Eric Hobsbawm has examined in his book, Industry and Empire. Europeans brought about a shift in global relations.

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The title of this book should more correctly read “Empire and Industry”.

Once England realised that it had a monopolistic market for its industrial goods, the colonies became the dumping ground of their manufactured products, irrespective of quality. The author then brings in Bengal as the focal point of this industrial conversion of an intellectual hub. This was achieved by hoisting a few engineering colleges and polytechniques where talented youth could be trained in civil, electrical and mechanical engineering to serve as draughtsmen in British workshops and foundries, throwing up Shibpur, Roorkee and Guindy. But Bengalis were not lagging behind as is evident in periodicals like Dikdarshan, Sangbad Koumudi, Bibidhartha Sangraha, Rahasyo Sandarbha et al. This reviewer has shown in his book, Scientific Bengal, which has a section on technology, how a person like Sitanath Ghosh invented the crude telegraph, sewing machine and magnetic healer.

The history of technology was an uncharted terrain a few decades ago, but has now become a vibrant subject. The author rightly observes that it is actually a social history of technology seeking out links between society and technology. If this is thoroughly done, the battle between substructure and superstructure will end and a two-way conduit will be established to fertilise both. In his final lines, the author humbly suggests more adequate study than his to trace the connections between education, technology and development of human capital. Fortunately, this is the thrust of historical research now. It is the whole gamut of science, technology, medicine and environment. Nowadays, we have subjects like the invention of microscope and x-ray machine in medical laboratories and electrification of rural Bengal as fruitful discourses in this emerging area.

The reviewer is former professor of history, jadavpur university and currently director, institute of historical studies, kolkata

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