Meccano: the nuts and bolts of science

本博士将研究20世纪初至后期麦加在英国科学文化中的地位。它将集中在两个关键的历史时期，每个时期都看到麦加以不同的形式实例化。在二战前，Meccano将被视为一种前瞻性的游戏技术。该考试将嵌入儿童文化、教育学、工程学和科普。在伦敦科学博物馆展出的哈特里差分分析仪（HDA）是在这一时期发展起来的一种高科技科学设备，由Meccano制成，因此体现了许多这些主题。它构成了研究的物质文化核心。在二战后的一段时间里，Meccano将作为一种怀旧的技术来叙述个人和国家的科学史。围绕HDA的衰落主义叙事在项目的这一部分占据了中心位置，与此同时，科学和工程领域的参与和教育也受到了大众和口头的关注。

This PhD will examine the place of Meccano in scientific cultures in the UK, from early to late twentieth century. It will focus on two key periods of history, each of which saw Meccano instantiated in different forms. During the period before WW2, Meccano will be examined as a forward-looking technology of play. This examination will be embedded in cultures of childhood, pedagogy, engineering and popular science. The Hartree Differential Analyzer (HDA), held at the Science Museum, London, was developed during this period as a hi-tech piece of scientific equipment, made of Meccano, and as such instantiates many of these themes. It forms the material-culture core of the research. During the period after WW2, Meccano will be examined as a backward-looking technology of nostalgia for narrating individual and national histories of science. Declinist narratives surrounding the HDA take central stage in this portion of the project, alongside popular and oral accounts of participation and education in science and engineering.