Engineering space in the nineteenth century: environment, science, technology and the transformation of space

Workshop | 4-5 September 2009, St Andrews

Convenors: John Clark and Bernhard Struck

Programme

Friday, 4 September 2009
9.30-9.45 Welcome and Introduction

9.45-10.20 Dr Richard Noakes (University of Exeter), ‘Settling the nerve centres of empire: remote stations and the Eastern Telegraph Company circa 1870-1918’

10.20-10.55 Simone Müller (Free University Berlin), ‘The Transatlantic Telegraph and the Wiring of the World: Cultural networks in maritime space, 1858-1902’

10.55-11.30 Coffee

11.30-12.05  Eike-Christian Heine (Technische Universität Braunschweig), ‘Infrastructure and space in Northern Sweden. The construction of transport- and military infrastructure in Lapland between 1859 and 1902’

12.05 -12.40 Professor Crosbie Smith (University of Kent), ‘The Coal Question: Engineering Spaces of Ocean Steam Navigation’

12.40-1.45 Lunch

1.45-2.20 Christine DeLucia (Yale University), ‘Mastering North and South: The Production of Environmental Knowledge and Modern Identities through Polar Maritime Technologies’

2.30 Depart for Dundee

3.00-5.00 Discovery Point, Dundee

5.00 Depart for St Andrews

6.30 Dinner (Agnes Blackadder Hall)

Saturday, 5 September 2009

9.30 -10.05 Professor Harriet Ritvo (MIT), ‘Lifting the Face of Nature:  Thirlmere as Lake and Reservoir’

10.05-10.40 Dr John Thistle (University of British Columbia), ‘Grappling with Grasshoppers: Science, Space, and the Problem of Insect Outbreaks in British Columbia Grasslands’

10.40-11.15 Coffee

11.15-11.40 Dr. Timothy Cooper (University of Exeter), ‘Disposable ecologies:  The Victorian idea of waste and the limits of `sustainability’ ‘

11.40-12.30 Discussion

12.30 Close