Journal

It is true that work in the philosophy of technology predates the founding of the Society for Philosophy and Technology (SPT), and probably would have managed to struggle on even if SPT never came into existence. Philosophers and social thinkers did think and write about technology prior to 1975. Plato directed attention to crafts, Galileo to the media scientia, Heidegger to whatever. But I am not so sure that work in this area would have developed in the way it has without SPT. The Society for Philosophy and Technology has contributed in significant ways to the field known as the philosophy of technology, but not always positively. Further, today, work in the philosophy of technology is at a crossroads. The direction SPT takes will make the difference between seeing the philosophy of technology flourish or seeing it become marginalized. The marginalization of the philosophy of technology is a theme I have articulated on a number of occasions. I will rehearse some of the old concerns below. But my old worries are not the main worry addressed here. What I want to direct our attention to is the fact that philosophers of science are moving rapidly into our territory, and they are doing so without the baggage we in SPT have carried for so long. If we don't get our act together, we may find that we have been scooped in a fundamental way, one which removes from our purview an area of research we should be moving into, leaving us with only the irrelevant leftovers of our past efforts. But before I play Cassandra, let me give some of my personal perspective on the developments of the last twenty years, good and bad.

Corporations involved in the software industry are exploring open-source software, some with the enthusiasm of bodysurfers losing themselves in the roaring surf, others with the timidity of diffident waders in a lagoon full of sharks. They are by no means unified in their approach as an industry sector, or even internally within a single company. But there are executives and engineers at all of these companies who believe that an extraordinarily clear business case can be made for open-source software: Figure out how to make it your friend, before it starts dancing on your grave.

Heinrich Hertz - first to detect radio waves in 1887 by causing a spark to leap across a gap that generated electromagnetic waves - built oscillator and resonator by 1893
Oliver Lodge in Britain, Alexander Popov in Russia, Edward Brauley in France - filled a glass tube with metal filings that would cohere under electromagnetic waves and when the tube was tapped, the filings would collapse to break the circuit - built coherer to detect radio waves by 1894

Founding Editor:
Everett Mendelsohn
Dept. of the History of Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, USA
Editor-in-Chief:
Garland E. Allen
Washington University, St. Louis, MO, USA
Jane Maienschein
Arizona State University, Tempe, USA

Hubble's role. This year marks the centennial of the birth of Edwin Hubble. There can be no doubt that future historians, writing about the scientific advances of this age will describe the 20th century as epoch-changing in giving us the first correct view of how the universe is organized. The principal cosmological problem of discovering the large scale content of the universe was solved observationally between 1920 and 1936. Hubble was a major figure in this development. Knowledge that galaxies mark the space and provide the means to measure it was gained by the first convincing analysis of new data on the nature of the nebulae - knowledge that came directly from the sky rather than by dialectic discussion or revelation.

Each month one or more issues is published in each of the topic areas you can see below. To have access to any one of these areas over the Web, as new issues are published, is only GBP2/US$3 per month, and double that to have unrestricted personal access to ALL areas. Please contact us at info@exnet.com for subscription information for individuals or groups (accredited educational institutions may be accepted free of charge).

APPLETONS is in the preliminary stages the original index is in place which you can use for reference. Individual articles are being added monthly. Netscape displays the articles best as it allows text to wrap around graphics. However it is viewable with any browser. We are looking for a sponsor to help us speed up the availability of new articles. We are also redesigning the index and front matter of this online book for Netscape 2.0's Frame feature

Welcome to the Hanford Health Information Network (HHIN). The Network is a collaboration of the health agencies of Washington, Oregon and Idaho, along with nine Indian Nations. The Network was created to provide information on the known and potential health effects of the radioactive releases from the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, located in south central Washington state, from 1944 to 1972. For more than 40 years, Hanford released radioactive materials into the environment, while producing plutonium for America's nuclear arsenal.
This Web site offers a series of HHIN publications concerning possible health effects of exposure to radioactive materials, as well as a directory of organizations and other useful resources. Information from a variety of sources and perspectives is also available

Planetary and Space Science publishes original articles as well as short communications (letters). Ground-based and space-borne instrumentation and laboratory simulation of solar system processes are included.

Studies in History and Philosophy of Science is devoted to the integrated study of the history, philosophy and sociology of the sciences. The editors encourage contributions both in the long-established areas of the history of the sciences and the philosophy of the sciences and in the topical areas of historiography of the sciences, the sciences in relation to gender, culture and society and the sciences in relation to arts. The Journal is international in scope and content and publishes papers from a wide range of countries and cultural traditions