The nineteenth century was the age of railways and bicycles, telegraphs and light bulbs.  A vast array of new technologies came into use in Victorian Britain, and transformed people’s lives at home, at work and in the streets.  This module will enable you to learn about some of those technologies, with a particular emphasis on the way they were experienced by their early users.  Alternating with the case studies, we will be investigating broader questions about the relationship between technology and society, and the nature of technological change, both as understood by the Victorians themselves, and as theorized by modern historians.  As well as reading printed documents, we will visit the National Museum of Scotland, to consider what material culture can add to our understanding.

Marsden, B., and C. Smith. Engineering Empires: A Cultural History of Technology in Nineteenth-Century Britain. (London, 2005)
Headrick, D.R., Tentacles of Progress: technology transfer in the age of imperialism, 1850-1940, (Oxford, 1988)
Hardyment, Christina, From Mangle to Microwave: the mechanization of household work (Oxford, 1990)
Bijker, Wiebe E, Of Bicycles, Bakelites and Bulbs: toward a theory of sociotechnical change (Cambridge, MA, 1995)

Course Structure

SEMESTER 1: INVENTIONS
1. Narratives of progress
2. Steam power
3. Factory tourism
4. The heroism of invention
5. Railways
6. Supporting innovation
7. Mauve
8. Case studies of inventors (student presentations)
9. Electric telegraphy
10. The Great Exhibition, 1851
11. Sewing machine and typewriter

SEMESTER 2: USERS

12. Diffusion of innovations
13. Flush toilets
14. Building technological systems
15. Light bulbs
16. Field Trip
17. Case studies of domestic technologies (student presentations)
18. Social construction of technology
19. Bicycles
20. Failed technologies
21. Telecommunications
22. Conclusions: why technology matters

Assessment

60% examination, comprising:

• 3-hr paper focused on primary sources
• 3-hr paper with essay questions

40% coursework, comprising:

• 2 historiographical essays (2,500 words each)
• A portfolio of primary source analyses (6 x 750 words)
• 2 mini-projects (oral presentation + 1,000-word report)

Learning
Outcomes

On completion of this module, you will be able to:

• Summarise the history of the invention, adoption and use of key Victorian technologies
• Contrast the ways in which different technologies were used in Victorian society
• Analyse the ways inventors and inventions were represented in Victorian Britain
• Critique the narratives of technological progress offered by both historians and historical actors
• Explain and critique what is meant by ‘technological determinism’, ‘diffusion of innovations’ and ‘social construction of technology’

Restrictions

Available only to students in the second year of the Honours programme