Department members converse after a colloquium.
STS Lecture Series
American Automobile Design 1900-1960:A Case Study in Engineering and Human Values
Bill Shields
Dept. of Science &Technology Studies - Virginia Tech
Thursday at 4:00
24 March 2004
208 Willard
— All Welcome —
ABSTRACT
What influences the choices of individuals? Bill Shields looks at what he considers the critical factor: the individual’s concern for his own safety and the safety of others. Technologies do not long survive the label of “unsafe.” Yet from the historical point of view, how individuals arrive at an answer to the question “is it safe?” is not fixed.
In the last century, the automobile has served as a paradigm of a technology that brings both risk and benefit. Automobiles were not assumed to be more dangerous than the modes of transportation they ultimately replaced, and what constitutes a “safe automobile” has affected the choices of consumers since the dawn of the automotive era. From horseless carriages to modern SUVs, this seminar will look at some general concepts of safety studies and then will summarize my case study of safety and the American automobile using archival materials and lively discussion.
BIO
Following undergraduate and graduate studies at MIT in theoretical physics, Bill obtained a law degree from Columbia University in 1976. He then entered the field of nuclear regulation and has achieved prominence as a regulatory lawyer, safety analyst and field inspector with special expertise in fire safety engineering. His current professional work involves safety oversight of nuclear weapons facilities.
Outside of his professional work, Bill has collected, restored, and maintained antique automobiles for over 20 years; he currently owns and drives four vehicles ranging from 1931 to 1960. He is an active member of many academic and professional societies, including the bar of the Supreme Court of the United States and of the District of Columbia, the American Physical Society and American Nuclear Society, the National Fire Protection Association and the Society of Fire Protection Engineers, the History of Science Society, the Society for the History of Technology, and the Society of Automotive Historians.
Upon retirement from federal service in 2006, Bill plans to spend full time on his historical and philosophical investigations of science and technology and his archival work in the history of automobile engineering.