History of Technology Research Unit

Researchers

• Zbigniew Tucholski, PhD, DSc – supervisor
• Sławomir Łotysz, PhD, DSc
• Bartosz Kozak, MEng; PhD
• Jarosław Kurkowski, PhD
• mgr Kamila Albin, MA

Research aims

Our research pertains to the broadly understood history of technology and covers such issues as engineering, inventiveness, industry, communication and industrial architecture, as well as military technology. These areas are considered both classically, as a process of development of technical thought, and through the prism of cultural, social, political, and economic conditions. Much attention is paid to the flow and reception of technical ideas and to the social aspects of technological progress. The research conducted in the Unit is interdisciplinary, and by tackling the issues in the field of the history of medicine and environmental history, it intertwines with the academic interests in other research units at the Institute. Another vital subject of research is the protection of industrial heritage and its restoration. These works also concern the methodological and practical foundations of documentation and conservation of the monuments of technology. We cooperate with conservation services, museums, courts, prosecutors, and police units, providing expertise on matters relating to the monuments of technology and industrial architecture.

Research topics

• Sławomir Łotysz, PhD, DSc – researches the history of inventiveness, environmental history of Polesie, and UNRRA activity in Poland.
• Prof. Bolesław Orłowski – researches the achievements of Polish pioneers in the fields of technology and natural sciences, as well as the general history of technology.
• Zbigniew Tucholski, PhD, DSc – researches the history of technology and communication, military technology, and the methodology of conservation of the monuments of technology and industrial architecture.

Research projects

• Od programu pomocowego do embarga strategicznego. Społeczność międzynarodowa wobec dążeń krajów Środkowej i Wschodniej Europy do uzyskania penicyliny po II wojnie światowej, National Science Center research project no. 2014/13/B/HS3/04951, duration: 2015–2020, Principal Investigator: S. Łotysz.
• „Druga Holandia” czy naturalna forteca? Kwestia osuszenia Polesia w II Rzeczpospolitej” National Science Center research project no. 2015/19/B/HS3/03553, duration: 2016–2021, Principal Investigator: S. Łotysz.
• „Pomóżcie zapomnieć, do czego nie nadaję się z powodu kalectwa, powiedźcie co mogę robić i dajcie mi taką pracę”. Pomoc społeczności międzynarodowej w rehabilitacji osób z niepełnosprawnościami w Polsce po II wojnie światowej, PFRON research project, 2020, Principal Investigator: S. Łotysz.
• Polski wkład w przyrodoznawstwo i technikę. Słownik polskich i związanych z Polską odkrywców, wynalazców oraz pionierów nauk matematyczno-przyrodniczych i techniki, Ministry of Science and Higher Education research project, duration: 2017–2019, Principal Investigator: B. Orłowski.
• Dziedzictwo polskiej architektury i infrastruktury kolejowej na dawnych Kresach II RP, POLONIKA The National Institute of Polish Cultural Heritage Abroad research project, duration: 2019–2020, Principal Investigator: Z. Tucholski.
• Translation into English and publication (both in print and online) of Zbigniew Tucholski’s monograph Polish State Railways as a Mode of Transportation for Troops of the Warsaw Pact; Technology in Service of Doctrine (project financed by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education within the National Programme for the Development of Humanities, National Heritage module No. 21H 17 0259 85).

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