Science and Technology
Historical Science and Technology Studies
Photograph of a research reactor at the TU Vienna
The research focus Historical Science and Technology Studies examines the relationship between science and technology from a historical perspective in their political, social and cultural context. Science and technology have long been regarded as separate fields of research that emerge from each other in a linear progression. However, recent work on the history of innovation in particular has shown that science and technology are closely interwoven.
Both fields are coupled in a dynamic relationship through transversal and by no means hierarchical connections. These transversal connections form the basis for knowledge flows between science and technology and are dependent in their configuration on the variety of social, cultural and political contexts in which they are embedded. Accordingly, this field applies methods from the historical and social sciences and the cultural science.
The projects assigned to this research area are diverse: the spectrum ranges from the study of innovation cultures from a transnational perspective to digital knowledge orders in the dismantling of nuclear reactors and outreach activities. All these projects share the goal of learning from a historical analysis of scientific and technical innovation for the present in order to shape the future.