Histoire generale des techniques. Tome I. Les origines de la civilisation technique by MauriceDaumasReview by: Lynn White, Jr.Isis, Vol. 55, No. 2 (Jun., 1964), pp. 228-230Published by: The University of Chicago Press on behalf of The History of Science SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/228200 .

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bination of observation and inference, but is not shown to be connected with the ostensible unifying idea of the book, explanations of the causes of disease. King counters such criticisms in ad- vance by saying that one historian chooses differently from another; but the reader cannot help wishing that the basis of King's particular choices had been made clearer.

The individual episodes are uneven in several respects. For those thinkers whose explanations seem least plausible today, King is primarily concerned to show that their views were reasonable in their historical contexts; sometimes he is overly defensive in maintaining that they should not appear foolish merely because they were wrong. On the other hand, when dealing with Hoffmann or Virchow, whose ap. proaches might appear on the surface most acceptable to modern biologists, King criticizes harshly errors of thought similar to those he has treated with sympathy for Galen and Paracelsus. Furthermore, while he carefully de- velops the background thought associ- ated with the ideas of Galen and of Paracelsus, he holds Hoffmann respon- sible for retrospectively inadequate types of explanation which in fact were as characteristic of his time as neo- Platonic philosophy was for the time of Paracelsus or the four elements for Galen. The focus on motion as primary for explaining physiological processes, the use of subtle fluids to provide " mechanistic " explanations, and hypo- thetical ultimate contractile fibers were so common to the thought of the period that it seems quite unfair to ascribe Hoffmann's use of these concepts chiefly to his poor judgment.

The various episodes differ also in the freshness and usefulness of the ma- terial presented. The discussions of Vesalius and Harvey add a few insights to what is otherwise merely retelling of familiar stories. The presentation of the seldom investigated ideas of Hoff- mann, however, will benefit many stu- dents of medical history. Perhaps the most attractive section is that on the cell theory. King's knowledge of path- ology, together with his interest in gen-

bination of observation and inference, but is not shown to be connected with the ostensible unifying idea of the book, explanations of the causes of disease. King counters such criticisms in ad- vance by saying that one historian chooses differently from another; but the reader cannot help wishing that the basis of King's particular choices had been made clearer.

The individual episodes are uneven in several respects. For those thinkers whose explanations seem least plausible today, King is primarily concerned to show that their views were reasonable in their historical contexts; sometimes he is overly defensive in maintaining that they should not appear foolish merely because they were wrong. On the other hand, when dealing with Hoffmann or Virchow, whose ap. proaches might appear on the surface most acceptable to modern biologists, King criticizes harshly errors of thought similar to those he has treated with sympathy for Galen and Paracelsus. Furthermore, while he carefully de- velops the background thought associ- ated with the ideas of Galen and of Paracelsus, he holds Hoffmann respon- sible for retrospectively inadequate types of explanation which in fact were as characteristic of his time as neo- Platonic philosophy was for the time of Paracelsus or the four elements for Galen. The focus on motion as primary for explaining physiological processes, the use of subtle fluids to provide " mechanistic " explanations, and hypo- thetical ultimate contractile fibers were so common to the thought of the period that it seems quite unfair to ascribe Hoffmann's use of these concepts chiefly to his poor judgment.

The various episodes differ also in the freshness and usefulness of the ma- terial presented. The discussions of Vesalius and Harvey add a few insights to what is otherwise merely retelling of familiar stories. The presentation of the seldom investigated ideas of Hoff- mann, however, will benefit many stu- dents of medical history. Perhaps the most attractive section is that on the cell theory. King's knowledge of path- ology, together with his interest in gen-

eral patterns of thought, enables him to tell this well-known story with fresh understanding. Especially enjoyable is his comparison of the ideas of Virchow and Rokitansky; he shows that both based their ideas of cell development to a large extent on hypothetical mother substances; that Virchow's ideas seemed more fruitful at the time because knowl- edge about cells advanced more rapidly than that about blood; but that recent progress has made Rokitansky appear equally prophetic.

Even this very interesting section, however, displays the lack of unity char- acteristic of the book. To demonstrate that functions now attributed to cells were once explained in other ways, the chapter opens with a discussion of Boer- haave's theory that secretions are formed by mechanical actions of the circulatory system. But the following discussion of cell theory never returns to the problem of secretions. King might well have fol- lowed through by mentioning the ideas about the production of secretions in cells which John Goodsir suggested in 1842.

Despite the faults of this book, its clear, economic descriptions and inter- pretations will make it attractive to students of the history of science. King's ability to make outmoded ways of thinking intelligible should also win the interest of biologists and physicians who have not previously concerned themselves with past medical ideas, while the extensive documentation of the book makes it an excellent starting point for further reading.

FREDERIC L. HOLMES

Massachusetts Institute of Technology X X*

MAURICE DAUMAS (Editor). Histoire generale des techniques. Tome I. Les

origines de la civilisation technique. 652 pp., 473 figs., 48 illus. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1962.

The five volumes of A History of Technology, edited by Charles Singer (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1954-1958)

established the history of technology as an intellectual enterprise. Now Maurice

eral patterns of thought, enables him to tell this well-known story with fresh understanding. Especially enjoyable is his comparison of the ideas of Virchow and Rokitansky; he shows that both based their ideas of cell development to a large extent on hypothetical mother substances; that Virchow's ideas seemed more fruitful at the time because knowl- edge about cells advanced more rapidly than that about blood; but that recent progress has made Rokitansky appear equally prophetic.

Even this very interesting section, however, displays the lack of unity char- acteristic of the book. To demonstrate that functions now attributed to cells were once explained in other ways, the chapter opens with a discussion of Boer- haave's theory that secretions are formed by mechanical actions of the circulatory system. But the following discussion of cell theory never returns to the problem of secretions. King might well have fol- lowed through by mentioning the ideas about the production of secretions in cells which John Goodsir suggested in 1842.

Despite the faults of this book, its clear, economic descriptions and inter- pretations will make it attractive to students of the history of science. King's ability to make outmoded ways of thinking intelligible should also win the interest of biologists and physicians who have not previously concerned themselves with past medical ideas, while the extensive documentation of the book makes it an excellent starting point for further reading.

FREDERIC L. HOLMES

Massachusetts Institute of Technology X X*

MAURICE DAUMAS (Editor). Histoire generale des techniques. Tome I. Les

origines de la civilisation technique. 652 pp., 473 figs., 48 illus. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1962.

The five volumes of A History of Technology, edited by Charles Singer (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1954-1958)

established the history of technology as an intellectual enterprise. Now Maurice

228 228

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BOOK REVIEWS

Daumas has marshalled some of the best scholars of France for a project, comparable to Singer's, to appear in four volumes. The history of tech- nology is, as Daumas remarks, "une discipline en pleine evolution," and this new series marks an advance over Singer's in three major respects.

Singer stops, or rather peters out, about 1900. He was, after all, a mature man when Queen Victoria died, and one has the feeling that he looked upon the twentieth century as too new and brash to be a subject worthy of the historian. It is therefore good news that Daumas' Volume IV, La civilisa- tion industrielle, will cover the period from the 1860's to the present; it will thus be the first major history of recent technology.

Second, Singer and many of his col- laborators were still trapped by the con- cept of an Industrial Revolution in the eighteenth century which was sudden and decisive for man's fate. In his thoughtful general preface, Daumas points out that while the term may have some meaning for economic history, " il n'en a aucune pour les historiens des techniques." The evidence, as he sees it, indicates a much more prolonged and gradual technical development. His Volume II, Les premieres etapes du machinisme will extend from c. 1350 to the early eighteenth century, while Vol- ume III, L'expansion du machinisme, will continue to c. 1860. Thereafter both the temper and the tempo of tech- nological advance, to be chronicled in Volume IV, was greatly altered by in- creasing dependence of innovation upon prior scientific discovery.

Third, Singer's notion of history was restricted by occidental parochialism. His concern was " the main stream" of human destiny, from Piltdown to Pad- dington. Some of his contributors knew better, and smuggled in references to Byzantines and Muslims; as to the rest, silence. In the volume here re- viewed, Daumas has broken decisively with this pattern of thinking. Not only do Gaston Wiet and Jean Theodorides supply us with chapters (respectively) on the technology of medieval Islam

and of Byzantium, but also Jean Fillio- zat writes one on India, an equipe of six sinologists, led by Pierre Huard, one on China, while even pre-Columbian America receives its due from Mlle. Chita de la Calle. The history of tech- nology is thus made global, as the phe- nomenon itself has been.

One wonders, however, whether Daumas is entirely aware of the extent of the revolution which he is leading. He refers to the civilizations of Asia and the New World as those " qui n'ont pas debouche directement sur l'ere in- dustrielle occidentale." His view is con- ventional but incorrect. The technicians of the non-European cultures have been vastly ingenious and patient. It is diffi- cult to name a minor - not to say major -- invention or discovery by them which has not been absorbed into our modern global technology. Indeed, diffusion is so general that when there has been prolonged delay (as in the case of the soya bean, the most complete vegetable protein) we should search for causes of the exception. Moreover many of the West's borrowings, both before and after Columbus and Vasco da Gama, have been fundamental to its own internal development: anyone who thinks that the technical achievements of the American Indians did not de- bouch into the main stream of history should contemplate the impact of the potato on the demography of Europe as presented most recently by William L. Langer, "Europe's Initial Popula- tion Explosion," American Historical Review, 1963, 69: 1-17.

Despite such criticism, the structure of Daumas' project shows decided in- tellectual advance over that of Singer's, even though discussion of individual topics is usually more detailed in Singer's. Yet even in detail, the Daumas volume is at times superior because single scholars are given wider scope. For example, Bertrand Gille con- tributed to Singer some highly original chapters on the early history of power and machines, but for Daumas he has produced the most valuable synopsis (pp. 429-598) of the technology of the

Western Middle Ages which has ever been published. One may quarrel over

229

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BOOK REVIEWS BOOK REVIEWS

minor matters but must recognize it as a superb accomplishment.

Where do we go from here? In the five volumes of Singer there was little effort to connect technology with gen- eral history. Daumas deliberately re- nounces the task, partly because of restrictions of space but chiefly because the analysis of the evolution of tech- niques themselves "a ete le plus sou- vent neglige, or c'est sur lui que devrai- ent s'appuyer toutes les etudes comple- mentaires." It is true that most of what is generally said about the relation of technology to other human concerns is nonsense, because the facts about " the hardware" have not been known ex- actly. The major scholarly effort there- fore must be placed, for the present, less on the history than on the anti- quarianism of technology, simply be- cause sound antiquarianism is the only firm basis of historical understanding. Nevertheless our race properly suspects cowardice in those content to remain nothing but antiquarians. In fear and trembling, armed with all the rigor- ously ascertained facts which he can find, every historian of technology must eventually begin to explore the jungles of meaning.

LYNN WHITE, JR.

University of California, Los Angeles

ALVIN M. JOSEPHY, JR. (Editor in Charge). The American Heritage His- tory of Flight. 416 pp., illus. New York: American Heritage Publishing Co., Inc., 1962. $15.00.

Here is $15.00 of the glossiest avia- tion coverage imaginable. American Heritage, "The Magazine of History," has enlisted distinguished airmen and scholars in producing a chronicle- anthology of air lore which makes Life magazine seem sedate. A circus of spec- tacular aerial associations is on display in these 416 pages: Icaroid birdmen (even Isis had wings!), gaudy balloons,

gliders at the cliff edge, stiff upper lips while sputtering down the runway, wings for freedom-all put across in slick technicolor which will hold the interest of any reader.

minor matters but must recognize it as a superb accomplishment.

Where do we go from here? In the five volumes of Singer there was little effort to connect technology with gen- eral history. Daumas deliberately re- nounces the task, partly because of restrictions of space but chiefly because the analysis of the evolution of tech- niques themselves "a ete le plus sou- vent neglige, or c'est sur lui que devrai- ent s'appuyer toutes les etudes comple- mentaires." It is true that most of what is generally said about the relation of technology to other human concerns is nonsense, because the facts about " the hardware" have not been known ex- actly. The major scholarly effort there- fore must be placed, for the present, less on the history than on the anti- quarianism of technology, simply be- cause sound antiquarianism is the only firm basis of historical understanding. Nevertheless our race properly suspects cowardice in those content to remain nothing but antiquarians. In fear and trembling, armed with all the rigor- ously ascertained facts which he can find, every historian of technology must eventually begin to explore the jungles of meaning.

LYNN WHITE, JR.

University of California, Los Angeles

ALVIN M. JOSEPHY, JR. (Editor in Charge). The American Heritage His- tory of Flight. 416 pp., illus. New York: American Heritage Publishing Co., Inc., 1962. $15.00.

Here is $15.00 of the glossiest avia- tion coverage imaginable. American Heritage, "The Magazine of History," has enlisted distinguished airmen and scholars in producing a chronicle- anthology of air lore which makes Life magazine seem sedate. A circus of spec- tacular aerial associations is on display in these 416 pages: Icaroid birdmen (even Isis had wings!), gaudy balloons,

gliders at the cliff edge, stiff upper lips while sputtering down the runway, wings for freedom-all put across in slick technicolor which will hold the interest of any reader.

But is it history of science? . . . or technology? Is it even history? Even the contributions of Charles Gibbs- Smith and Marvin McFarland cannot disguise the fact that this smooth vol- ume was made for sales, not for truth, insight, and understanding.

The understanding not conveyed by this work concerns the roles played by those thinkers who addressed the ideas of suspension, mobility, and propulsion through thin gaseous media; men who faced the intellectual challenges of aero- dynamics with the same conceptual courage that Euler and Bernoulli mani- fested in theoretical hydrodynamics. The names one might have expected in a genuine history of flight would have been those of Rayleigh, Nayler, Idrac, Walker, Napier Shaw, Humphreys, Richardson, Walkden, not to mention Zahm, Lanchester, Prandtl, Riabou- chinski, Crocco, Soreau, Helmholtz, Thompson, Tait, Joukowsky, Chaplig- in, Kutta, Reynolds, Keldysh, Lavren- tiev, Sedov, Nekrasov, Golubev, Burago, Kochin, Dorodnitsin, von Mises, and von Karman- as well as other serious aerodynamicists. These are the scientists who grappled with unfamiliar types of turbulence, with intractable algebra, and with formidable technological problems that ultimately made heavier- than-air flight not only conceivable, but

practicable. Not one word about them? Instead, American Heritage trumpets

chapter titles like "World War II," "The Allied Triumph," "Post-War," " Ballooning," and "World War I." This is like setting out the conceptual development of the internal combus- tion engine only in terms of the ex-

ploits of hot rodders and the prowess of military tanks! Every theoretical tri-

umph, of course, is soon embraced by bold souls on racetracks and in wars, and we all may want to know more about racers and tanks. But what of the propriety of entitling the result " A History of the Internal Combustion Engine"? Similarly, what of the pro- priety of the title of this book, which

parades polychrome pages of bombed cities, exploding ships, and marching men, of air races, wing walking, and military formation flight; why such a

But is it history of science? . . . or technology? Is it even history? Even the contributions of Charles Gibbs- Smith and Marvin McFarland cannot disguise the fact that this smooth vol- ume was made for sales, not for truth, insight, and understanding.

The understanding not conveyed by this work concerns the roles played by those thinkers who addressed the ideas of suspension, mobility, and propulsion through thin gaseous media; men who faced the intellectual challenges of aero- dynamics with the same conceptual courage that Euler and Bernoulli mani- fested in theoretical hydrodynamics. The names one might have expected in a genuine history of flight would have been those of Rayleigh, Nayler, Idrac, Walker, Napier Shaw, Humphreys, Richardson, Walkden, not to mention Zahm, Lanchester, Prandtl, Riabou- chinski, Crocco, Soreau, Helmholtz, Thompson, Tait, Joukowsky, Chaplig- in, Kutta, Reynolds, Keldysh, Lavren- tiev, Sedov, Nekrasov, Golubev, Burago, Kochin, Dorodnitsin, von Mises, and von Karman- as well as other serious aerodynamicists. These are the scientists who grappled with unfamiliar types of turbulence, with intractable algebra, and with formidable technological problems that ultimately made heavier- than-air flight not only conceivable, but

practicable. Not one word about them? Instead, American Heritage trumpets

chapter titles like "World War II," "The Allied Triumph," "Post-War," " Ballooning," and "World War I." This is like setting out the conceptual development of the internal combus- tion engine only in terms of the ex-

ploits of hot rodders and the prowess of military tanks! Every theoretical tri-

umph, of course, is soon embraced by bold souls on racetracks and in wars, and we all may want to know more about racers and tanks. But what of the propriety of entitling the result " A History of the Internal Combustion Engine"? Similarly, what of the pro- priety of the title of this book, which

parades polychrome pages of bombed cities, exploding ships, and marching men, of air races, wing walking, and military formation flight; why such a

230 230

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