A collection of essays providing a spectrum of historical perspectives on how, when, or why individuals, societies, governments, and industries have made choices regarding the use of technologies. The essays offer historical accounts, some recent and some from several centuries ago, of the invention, dissemination, adoption, or rejection of technologies that range in complexity from electrical plugs to nuclear power plants.
Profile
Ph.D., 1984, M.A., 1978, B.A., 1975, University of California at Santa Barbara
Research Specialties
- Environmental History
- History of Technology
- History of Science and Technology Policy
Projects
Current Projects:
Research:
- The history of volunteerism and public lands
- The material culture of American environmentalism
- The intersections of public and environmental history
Past Projects:
Exhibitions:
- Lighthouse Postcards (a Web exhibit launched in 2004)
- Make the Dirt Fly! Building the Panama Canal (1999–2001)
- Oil from the Arctic: Building the Trans-Alaska Pipeline (1997–1998)
- Extending the Legacy: Planning America’s Capital for the 21st Century (1996–1997)
- Tunnels! (1993–1994)
- Manufactured Weather (1993)
Public Programs:
- Environmental Film Festival in the Nation's Capital (annual event; 1993- )
- Three Mile Island: A Nuclear Crisis in Historical Perspective (author interview; 2004)
- Three Mile Island: A Look Back after 25 Years (panel discussion; 2004)
- Noontime lecture series on the history of Washington, D.C. (1996–1997)
- Capital Cities: Adaptable Infrastructure for the Next Century (symposium; 1996)
- Forum on Environmental Justice (lecture series; 1995–1998)
Editing:
- Editorial Board, Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences (2010- )
- Editorial Board, Environmental Justice (2007– )
- Editorial Adviser, RFF Press (2003–11)
- Editorial Board, Environmental History (2002–10)
- Editorial Committee, Technology and Culture (1998–2002)
- Founder and senior co-editor of the University of Akron Press book series on Technology and the Environment (1993–2001)
- National Board of Editors, The Public Historian (1993–98)
- Editorial Board, Forest & Conservation History (1993–95)
- Book Review Editor, Technology and Culture (1987–95)
- Book Review Editor, Science, Technology, & Human Values (1986–87)
Awards, Honors, and Special Recognition
- Distinguished Service Award, American Society for Environmental History (2011)
- Smithsonian Secretary's Research Prize (2009)
- Board of Directors, Forest History Society (2005–11)
- President, Public Works Historical Society (2002–03)
- Thomas Phelan Endowed Lecturer, Rensselaer County Historical Society, Troy, New York (2002)
- President, American Society for Environmental History (1999–2001)
- Charles Thomson Prize for an outstanding contribution to research in the history of the Federal Government (awarded by the Society for History in the Federal Government, 1999)
- Board of Directors, American Society for Macro-Engineering (1997–2008)
- Choice Outstanding Academic Book Award (1995)
- Abel Wolman Award for the best book published on the history of public works (awarded by the Public Works Historical Society, 1994)
- Smithsonian Institution Regents' Publication Program Scholar (1993–94)
- G. Wesley Johnson Prize for the most outstanding article in The Public Historian (awarded by the National Council on Public History, 1993)
- Trilateral Committee on Environmental Education (one of three charter U.S. commissioners appointed by the Environmental Protection Agency to the nine-member Canadian/Mexican/United States committee, 1992–96)
- James Madison Prize for the most outstanding article on federal history (awarded by the Society for History in the Federal Government, 1992)
- Trustee, Public Works Historical Society (1990–97; 1999–2001; 2003–04)
- Competitively selected member of the NSF-funded American Delegation to the NATO Advanced Study Institute on “Managing Science in a ‘Steady State’,” Il Ciocco, Italy (1989)
- Visiting Scholar, Program in Science, Technology, and Society, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1988–89)
- American Historical Association Congressional Fellowship (1984–85)
- Ohio State University Postdoctoral Fellowship (1984-85; declined)
- Gerald R. Ford Foundation Grant-in-Aid for research at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library (1984)
- Frederick K. Weyerhaeuser Award for the most outstanding article in the Journal of Forest History (awarded by the Forest History Society, 1984)
- University of California Patent Fund Research Grant (1982–83)
- Smithsonian Institution Predoctoral Fellowship (1981–82)
- Center of Military History Visiting Research Fellowship (1981–82)
- U.S. Army Military History Institute Advanced Research Project Associate (1981)
- Richard Mayberry Prize for outstanding graduate work in the Department of History, University of California at Santa Barbara (1981)
- University of California Regents' Fellowship (1980–81)
- Comprehensive doctoral examinations passed with distinction (1980)
- President, Gamma Iota Chapter of Phi Alpha Theta (the international honor society in history) (1979–80)
- Competitively selected Participant, U.S. Student Pugwash Conference on Science and Ethical Responsibility (1979)
- Short-Term Research Fellowship, Smithsonian Institution (1979)
Professional Affiliations
- American Historical Association
- American Society for Environmental History
- Association for Environmental Studies and Sciences
- Forest History Society
- Public Works Historical Society
- Society for History in the Federal Government
- Society for the History of Technology
Publications
Technology and Choice: Readings from Technology and Culture
with Marcel C. LaFollette, eds. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1991.
Congressional Hearings on Science and Technology Issues: Strengths, Weaknesses, and Suggested Improvements
with Marcel C. LaFollette. Background report prepared for the Committee on Science, Technology, and Congress. New York: Carnegie Commission on Science, Technology, and Government, 1990.
Examines the various ways in which the U.S. Congress has used hearings to receive, question, and debate scientific and technical information.
"Fulfilling the Science and Technology Advisory Needs of Congress."
In Science and Technology Advice to the President, Congress, and Judiciary, edited by in William T. Golden, 443–46. New York: Pergamon Press, 1988.
A historical overview of the U.S. Congress’s growing dependency on scientific and technical advice, and the methods by which it has sought to obtain reliable, independent information.
"John Lucian Savage."
In Dictionary of American Biography, supplement 8, 572–73. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1988.
A biographical sketch of the prominent U.S. Bureau of Reclamation engineer who designed scores of high dams in the American West, including the record-setting Hoover Dam on the Colorado River.
A History of Science Policy in the United States, 1940–1985.
Background Report No. 1, prepared for the Task Force on Science Policy of the House Committee on Science and Technology. 99th Cong., 2d sess., 1986.
An examination of the policy issues and debates that shaped the relationship between government and science in the United States since 1940. Special attention is paid to the evolution of science policy planning mechanisms, along with the ongoing development of Executive agency science programs and the periodic attempts to coordinate the nation’s overall research efforts.
"Government Funding of Scientific Instrumentation: A Review of U.S. Policy Debates since World War II,"
with Gregory A. Good. Science, Technology, & Human Values 11 (Summer 1986): 34–46.
A history of the evolving instrumentation needs of science and the various programs proposed and/or put in place by the federal government to help meet those needs.
"Bibliography of Historical Studies Covering Federal Research Agencies since 1945."
In Bibliography of Studies and Reports on Science Policy and Related Topics, 1945–1985, Background Report No. 2—Part A, 217-21, prepared for the Task Force on Science Policy of the House Committee on Science and Technology. 99th Cong., 2d sess., 1986.
A compilation of works addressing the history of U.S. federal agency efforts to advance scientific research since World War II.
"Professionalism vs. Special Interest: The Debate over Engineering Education in Nineteenth Century America."
Potomac Review 26–27 (1984–1985): 72–94.
A study of how engineering changed from a craft-oriented occupation to a professional occupation in the United States during the nineteenth century.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Environmental Issues in the Twentieth Century: A Bibliography.
with Michael C. Robinson, eds. Environmental History Series. Washington: GPO, 1984.
A compilation of books, articles, government reports, newspaper stories, and unpublished items that address the environmental implications of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ civil works and regulatory activities.
"United States Army Corps of Engineers."
In Government Agencies, Greenwood Encyclopedia of American Institutions, edited by Donald R. Whitnah, 513–16. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1983.
A brief history of the world’s largest engineering organization and how its missions have evolved in accord with shifting public values.
"Regulating Wetlands in the 1970s: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Organizations."
Journal of Forest History 27 (April 1983): 60–75.
A history of how the federal government came to regulate the destruction of wetlands in the United States and the unsuccessful efforts of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to restrict the new police responsibilities entrusted to it. Recipient of the Forest History Society’s 1984 Frederick K. Weyerhaeuser Award.
"Russell G. Cone."
In Dictionary of American Biography, supplement 7, 135–36. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1981.
A biographical sketch of the civil engineer involved in the design and construction of several major suspension bridges in the United States, including San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge.
Nelson P. Lewis and the City Efficient: The Municipal Engineer in City Planning during the Progressive Era.
Essays in Public Works History, no. 11. Chicago: Public Works Historical Society, 1981.
A biography of the New York City engineer who championed the contributions of engineers to city planning during the first two decades of the twentieth century.
"Eugene J. Houdry."
In Dictionary of American Biography, supplement 7, 367–69. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1981.
A biographical sketch of the chemical engineer renowned for his contributions to the refining of gasoline and aviation
fuels.
"Industrial Technology and the American West: The Transformation of Hard Rock Mining."
Midwest Review 3 (Spring 1981), 30–33.
A review essay of Mark Wyman’s book, Hard Rock Epic: Western Miners and the Industrial Revolution, 1860–1910.
"M.M. O'Shaughnessy."
APWA Reporter 46 (March 1979), 4–5. (Reprinted in People Making Public Works History: A Century of Progress, 1894–1994, Robert D. Bugher, 261-62. Kansas City, Mo.: American Public Works Association, 1998.)
A biographical sketch of the San Francisco engineer best known for his work on the controversial dam built in Yosemite National Park’s Hetch Hetchy valley.
"Technology, Pollution, and the Environment."
with Joel A. Tarr, eds. A special theme issue of Environmental History Review 18 (Spring 1994).
A collection of essays that explore the reciprocal influences of technology and the environment during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.