Does technology make you happy?
Description
Looking back on the last century, an eyewitness wrote:
'In my youth, I myself still experienced in my native village the time of the petroleum light, the toilet without a flush, water from the pump and the advent of light gas. When we moved to Zeist, the miracle of electricity awaited us there. The 20th century will certainly be called the century of great inventions by later historians, for what did I not see coming and changing'.
The lecture examines the industrial revolution, one of the greatest revolutions in human history. It searches for the roots of our modern society. It is a story about the demographic revolution (population growth, increase in life expectancy). A story about the revolution in energy, transport and communication, about the unimaginable increase in prosperity realised with new technologies and a story about the rise of the consumer society with countless new products.
Each time, the questions arise: Have we improved? Have we become happier? And above all: Where do we go from here?
10.30 a.m. Reception with coffee
11.00 a.m. Lecture by prof.dr.ir. H.W. Lintsen
11.45 Pause
12.15 Continuation of the lecture with a concluding discussion
12.45 End of the meeting
Following the lecture, the reunion lunch of the study trip to Barcelona will take place; interested parties are welcome. See announcement via the link below.
Directions:
From motorway A13 Rotterdam or Den Haag, exit Delft. Leave IKEA behind you. Go straight ahead at first traffic light, turn left at second (T-junction). Keep right and turn right at the next traffic lights (Mijnbouwstraat). After approx. 100 m, you will see the former mining engineering building on your right. There is some parking next to the building, and also on the service road of the Julianalaan opposite. Public transport via NS Delft Centraal, then bus 62, 80 or 81 (stop Michiel de Ruyterweg) or walk (approx. 20 min).
Speaker(s)
Harry Lintsen (1949) is Emeritus Professor of the History of Technology at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e). Lintsen studied physics at TU/e. He wrote a PhD thesis on the history of the engineering profession in the Netherlands. After his PhD in 1980, he and a group of researchers started a project on the history of engineering in the Netherlands. The aim was to rewrite Dutch history from a technical-social perspective. The research resulted in a thirteen-volume series. A summary was published in the public book Made in Holland. A technical history of the Netherlands (1800-2000).
Prof Dr H.W. Lintsen is a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) and an honorary member of KIVI NIRIA
Location
Science Centre, Mijnbouwstraat 120, Delft
Organiser
History of Technology
Histechnica
Name and contact details for information
Further information from L.A. Hissink at the e-mail address below.