Here’s the final programme of the 11th meeting in the “Artefacts” series, titled “Constructing and Deconstructing Icons of Achievement in Science and Technology”, which takes place in Stockholm, Sweden, 14-16 September 2006 (Note: this is now a closed meeting)

THURSDAY, September 14

16:00

Svante Lindqvist: “Problems and Challenges associated with collecting objects associated with Nobel Prize winners”

FRIDAY, September 15

9:00-9:30 Introduction

Helmuth Trischler–Opening comments
Svante Lindqvust–Welcome
Barney Finn–Summary of Artefacts X
Robert Bud–Preliminary thoughts on icons

9:30-10:50 Session 1: Personal Icons

Peter Jakab: “From Invention to Icon: The transformation of the Wright brothers’ research aircraft”
Dag Andreassen: “A Letter from Sir Frank Whittle. Inventing a Norwegian inventor”
Robert Anderson: “Scientists and their icons”

11:10-12:50 Session 2 Personal Icons (cont.)

Peter Donhauser: “Rise and fall of the neo-Bechstein. Constructing Walther Nernst as a figurehead”
Frode Weium: “The Theremin as an icon of achievement”
Loic Petitgirard: “Icons in CNAM”
Andrew Nahum: “Whittle and Wankel: Self-made icons”

14:00-15:40 Session 3: Icons of Achievement

Bart Hacker: “Dog turds where no dog trod: Technological prowess and cultural blinders in Vietnam”
Damon Yarnell: “Building the bicycle: The controversial life of a simple machine”
Joe Tatarewicz: “The Hubble space telescope: Icon of failure and achievement”
Alice Nicholls: “The iron lung in Britain’s African colonies–an icon of medical technology?”

16:00-17:20 Session 4: Icons of Achievement (cont.)

Randall Brooks: “ZEEP: A different kind of scientific instrument”
Margaret Vining: “The OODA loop: Linking the technology of aerial combat to corporate strategy”
Dan Albert: “Isambard’s folly: How a bloated whale became one of England’s great ships”

SATURDAY, September 16

8:50-10:30 Session 5: Other thoughts

Eva Åhrén Snickare: “The bust of Chief White Fox: Anthropological objects and racial science at the Karolinska Institute”
Thomas Söderqvist: “The GeneChip as an icon for molecularization, digitalization and miniaturization in the history of recent biomedicine”
Christian Sichau: “Peace to the ordinary objects! War on the icons!”
Nathan Ensmenger, Matthew Hersch: “Views from the academy: Program at Penn”

10:40-11:20 Session 6a Wrap-up

Martin Collins-Commentary

11:20-12:40 Session 6b: State of the Museums

Bart Hacker, Robert Bud, Helmuth Trischler, Svante Lindqvist,Otmar Moritsch, Loic Petitgirard, Hans Weinberger, Kimberley Webber, Randall Brooks

12:40-13:10 Session 6c: The Future of Artefacts

Robert Bud, Helmuth Trischler, Barney Finn