Thomas Parke Hughes, 1923-2014

It has just come to our attention that Thomas Parke Hughes, Andrew W. Mellon Professor of the History and Sociology of Science emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania, died on February 3, 2014, after a long illness. According to the University of Pennsylvania's remembrance, Hughes "wrote of America transformed by technology. He contributed to the concepts of technological momentum, technological determinism, large technical systems, social construction of technology, and introduced systems theory into the history of technology." He also encouraged business historians to look at firms as networked systems.
Hughes received a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering (1947) and a Ph.D. in modern European history (1953) from the University of Virginia. Among his publications he is best known for the books Networks of Power: Electrification in Western Society, 1880-1930 (1983), which one the Society for the History of Technology's Dexter Prize, and American Genesis: A Century of Invention and Technological Enthusiasm, 1870-1970 (1989), which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in history. Among his many achievements, Hughes was one of the founders of the Society for the History of Technology (SHOT). An early excerpt from his work on power systems can be found in Business and Economic History, "Managing Change: Regional Power Systems, 1910-30" (1977).
Obituaries can be found in the Philadelphia Inquirer, on the University of Pennsylvania website, in The Daily Progress (Charlottesville, Virginia), and, most completely, on the SHOT website.

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Tomorrow: Webinar -- COVID-19, debt monetization, and lessons from war financing

Webinar COVID-19, debt monetization, and lessons from war financing by Harold James With introductions by Markus Brunnermeier, Director of the Princeton Bendheim Center for Finance Event Details Friday, April 24 12:30 PM ET Space is limited, pre-registration is required. A Zoom link will be emailed to those who register early the morning of the event. The Zoom webinar room will open to attendees five minutes before the webinar begins. On Friday, April 24 at 12:30 PM ET, Harold James will join the Princeton Bendheim Center for Finance for a webinar on the history of war financing and lessons for COVID-19. James is Professor of History and International Affairs at Princeton University. The event will begin with a brief discussion by Markus Brunnermeier, Director of the Princeton Bendheim Center for Finance. James will then present. Both Brunnermeier and James will take questions from the audience throughout the event. Visit the COVID-19 webinar series page for all u...

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