Doctoral Dissertation Research on The History of Technology

博士论文学生，加布里埃尔·赫克特；题目：“技术选择与文化变革：1945-1969年的法国核计划”。在休斯教授的指导下，赫克特正在探索1945年至1969年法国核计划的起源。本研究的重点是构成这一时期法国核能计划的气体-石墨反应堆的设计和运行。在这项研究的第一部分，赫克特正在追踪工程师、管理人员、公务员和政客的政治、经济和技术议程是如何体现在这些反应堆的设计中的。在第二部分中，她从反应堆操作员工作实践的社会、文化和技术背景出发，研究了核安全法规的出现。第三部分也是最后一部分通过考察核电站如何影响地区生活方式和经济，解释了早期公众对法国核能的看法。这项研究的目的是探索技术与社会之间的相互关系，以及在政客、工程师、技术人员、工人和当地居民之间出现不同的“核文化”。它通过分析采访、档案文件和出版物的组合来做到这一点。其主要意义在于，它通过对工作安排的分析，探讨了国家政治议程与技术变革之间的关系，并审查了技术选择与文化变革之间的关系。

Doctoral Dissertation Student, Gabrielle Hecht; topic: "Technological Choice and Cultural Change: The French Nuclear Program, 1945-69." Under the guidance of Professor Hughes, Ms. Hecht is exploring the genesis of the French nuclear program from 1945 to 1969. The study focuses on the design and operation of the gas-graphite reactors which constituted the French nuclear energy program in this time period. In the first part of the study, Ms. Hecht is tracing the ways in which the political, economic, and technological agendas of engineers, managers, public servants, and politicians became embodied in the design of these reactors. In the second part she is examining the emergence of nuclear safety regulations from the social, cultural, and technological context of the work practices of reactor operators. The third and final part explains early public perceptions of nuclear energy in France by looking at how nuclear plants affected regional lifestyles and economies. The study's aim is to explore the reciprocal relationships between technology and society as well as the emergence of different "nuclear cultures" among politicians, engineers, technicians, workers and local residents. It does so by analyzing a combination of interviews, archival documents, and publications. Its primary significance lies in its exploration of relationships between national political agendas and technological change through an analysis of the organization of work, and in its examination of relationships between technological choice and cultural change.