The interrelations of science and technology as an object of study seem to have drawn the attention of a number of disciplines: the history of both science and technology, sociology, economics and economic history, and even the philosophy of science. The question that comes to mind is whether the phenomenon itself is new or if advances in the disciplines involved account for this novel interest, or, in fact, if both are intercon nected. When the editors set out to plan this volume, their more or less explicit conviction was that the relationship of science and technology did reveal a new...

Edward Gibbon's allegation at the beginning of his Essay on the Study of Literature (1764) that the history of empires is that of the miseries of humankind whereas the history of the sciences is that of their splendour and happiness has for a long time been accepted by professional scientists and by historians of science alike. For its practitioner, the history of a discipline displayed above all the always difficult but fmally rewarding approach to a truth which was incorporated in the discipline in its actual fonn. Looking back, it was only too easy to distinguish those who erred and...

When the socialist regime in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) was overthrown around the end of the eighties, beginning of the nineties, an overall transforma tion of whole societies started. Not only the political and the economic systems of these countries, but all societal sectors underwent deep changes. These changes presented opportunities, but they also spelled trouble. On one hand, getting rid of stifling political control and excessive bureaucratic regulation was something which most members of these societies desired. On the other, it be came apparent very soon that the necessary and...