Historians of Technology in the Real World

摘要

Nearly all historians writing about their craft begin by explaining the value of studying the past. According to the authors of a popular primer, history represents a collective memory that provides an awareness of past events, helping us shape our present and future.1 History has great practical significance, notes another academic, because "intelligent action" draws on past experience.2 As a consequence of the way pedagogues extol the relevance of their work, many high-school students can paraphrase Santayana's dictum that "[t]hose who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."3 Despite widespread acceptance of the notion that history provides tangible benefits, historians usually remain reluctant to apply "lessons" to real-world situations, especially in the realms of public and business policy. Eager to be viewed as unbiased, dispassionate observers of events, most academic historians seem happy to write primarily for their peers.