Edited by
Guillaume Carnino, Compiègne University of Technology, France.
Xavier Guchet, Compiègne University of Technology, France.
ISBN : 9781789452075
Publication Date : January 2026
Hardcover 260 pp
165.00 USD
Co-publisher
Over the past thirty years, the history of technology has been so extensively renewed that many once-canonical narratives have been invalidated.
This collective work takes account of several of these major recompositions: ancient periods were never eras of technical stagnation; techniques are not “diffused”, but interpenetrate and reinvent themselves as they travel; invention is not an individual epiphany, but a gradual and often collective process; far from neutral, the material is endowed with its own agentivity; the notions of capitalism, gender and the environment are fertile contributions to the history of techniques, and have served to invalidate many naiveties.
These recent works have put an end to the discontinuous vision of a history made up of straightforward technical ruptures, in favor of more complex descriptions that provide a better grasp of the real dynamics of today’s world.
1. After the Eighteenth Century: History of Technology, Lisa Caliste et Catherine Verna.
2. Within the Long Nineteenth Century in the History of Techniques, Delphine Spic.
3. Invention, Exhibiting, Concept, Liliane Hilaire-Pérez.
4. Rethinking Innovation in the History of Techniques, Valérie Nègre.
5. Concepts of the History of Techniques: Technology, Eric Schatberg.
6. Industry in the History of Techniques, Guillaume Carnin.
7. Standards and Commodification in Histories of Technology, Joris Ercelis.
8. History of Techniques in the Environment, Anal Arrec.
9. Techniques and Gender, Delphine Garde.
10. History of Techniques in Anthropology: Measure, Means, Mirror, Nathan Schlanger.
11. Philosophy in History of Techniques, Xavier Guchet.
Guillaume Carnino is Lecturer in the History of Technology at Compiègne University of Technology, France. As a nineteenth-century historian, his research interests include the epistemological and industrial foundations of technology.
Xavier Guchet is Professor of Philosophy at Compiègne University of Technology, France. His work focuses on the history of the philosophy of technology and the epistemological and ethical challenges of new technologies.
