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Engineering A New World. The role of engineers in modern society 1815-c. 1890.
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Engineers played a key role in the industrialisation, ‘technisation’ and mechanisation of modern society. They were not merely perceived as neutral experts, but rather as highly esteemed, even pivotal figures in society, as partners and actors in the development of modernity. It is our ambition to realize a coherent synthesis of this societal history of engineering, on a trans-national level, and embracing the period from 1815 till the end of the Second World War. In this first stage the project will focus on the period from 1815 to c. 1890; i.e. from the new international order of modern nation states established at the Treaty of Vienna to the end of the nineteenth century. Around 1890 the socio-political, technological and economical context underwent some radical changes, leading, amongst others, to a new industrial revolution, an increasing professional specialisation within the field of engineering, and the rise of new socio-political and economic theories and configurations. The evolving social functions of engineering and its interaction with modern society will be studied in a comparative manner within four national contexts: Belgium, England, France and Prussia/Germany.
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Project number:
3E070847
Duration of the project:
01.10.2007 - 30.09.2011
Funded research
Nederlands
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