Introduction: The Fabulous 1930s in the History of Science and Technology

Abstract

Historians of science and technology have been increasingly curious about the history of their disciplines, viewing the path that has been trodden thus far as a source of ideas to help renew and refresh present day concepts and methodologies. In this context of historiographical reflection, historians have looked at certain time periods, which signal specific historiographical trends or inflections. Despite being aware of the limitations and even dangers that periodization imposed by historians on the past brings, the fact of the matter is that specific “decades” in a broad sense have stood out for their idiosyncratic historiographical outlook. For instance, the 1970s have been recently dubbed as the “turn of an era” in the history of science as well as in the history of technology.1 The 1930s, on the other hand, have long caught the attention of historians of science and technology for a variety of reasons.2 This decade, broadly speaking—including the late 1920s and early 1940s—was the historical period when the first words of criticism to the positivist agenda, in which Georges Sarton established the history of science as a professional discipline, were voiced.3 Further to this, the relationship between science, technology and society was brought to the forefront. The events taking place in the “long 1930s” marked the future of the history of science and technology forever: new areas and approaches were consolidated, many ground-breaking papers and books published, controversies fired and exiles shaped the discipline indelibly.