“Electric power systems demanded of their designers, operators, and managers a feel for the purposeful manipulation of things, intellect for the rational analysis of their nature and dynamics, and an ability to deal with the messy economic, political, and social vitality of the production systems that embody the complex objectives of modern men and women. ”

— Thomas P. Hughes (1923-2014)

Networks of Power

February 07, 2017 in Quotes

Man's making of the complex modern world is an appropriate subject for the twentieth-century historian. Creation of the material environment shaped by -- and shaping -- mankind is not a peripheral subject that can be left to narrow specialists. To direct attention today to technological affairs is to focus on a concern that is as central now as nation building and constitution making were a century ago. Technological affairs contain a rich texture of technical matters, scientific laws, economic principles, political forces, and social concerns. The historian must take the broad perspective to get to the root of things and to see the patterns. Scientists and engineers analyze the technical systems they build, but historians are needed to comprehend the complex, multifaceted relations of these systems and the changes that take place in them over time.

The Creation of Adam, Michelangelo, circa 1511

On Homo Deus

December 22, 2016 in Reviews

Homo Deus is a book about the future -- let me rephrase -- about the futures. Standing under the signpost of 2016, if you are like most of my friends, you are also feeling pretty grim about the immediate future. A rapid perusal of the NYT's headlines of the day reveals a vast range of issues to worry about. However, in his latest book, Yuval Harari, the author of Sapiens, points his finger at the more remote horizon: not the next year, not even the next decades, we are talking about a nebulous timeline which might just exceed our current human lifespan.

Power generation in the UK

August 04, 2015 in Musings

Inspired by this Washington Post article, I have decided to map how the UK generates electricity using publicly available data maintained by the wonderful colleagues of mine at TU Delft.

Mission of this blog

July 05, 2014 in Foundation

Now, we are faced with the challenge of consciously evolving in both; we need to innovate in the way we make decisions and in the way we develop technologically. Because, Homo sapiens are now experiencing our home, the Earth system, as a boundary condition, which is altered by our actions and in turn delimits them.