Thomas Brandt

Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Department of History and Classical Studies, Faculty Member

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Books by Thomas Brandt

The History of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (In Norwegian. Original title: Turbulens og tankekraft. Historien om NTNU) Oslo, 2010. 552 pages.

This book is a history of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, 1760-2... more This book is a history of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, 1760-2010. The book aims at understanding the different scientific and scholarly traditions and cultures, and how they developed throughout history.

NTNU is first of all reckognized as having a strong engineering education tradition. The Norges Tekniske Høiskole, inaugurated in 1910, was a rather belated expression of Norwegian claims for an advanced engineering school. Still, the pre-existence of the Royal Norwegian Society for the Sciences and Letters (DKNVS) since 1760 was vital in establishing Trondheim as a centre of learning. In addition, the polytechnical college from 1870 helped Trondheim in the race against Oslo for a higher education for engineers and architects. A teachers' training college from 1922 became a further enlargement of the institutional framework for higher education.

The book is written as a history of the institutional integration of what eventually became the NTNU in 1995, combined with histories of scientific practice from a wide range of disciplines.

Talks by Thomas Brandt

Chemical Engineering versus Industrial Chemistry at the Norwegian Institute of Technology, 1930s-1950s

1924 Henry Ingeberg, a chemical engineer, had returned to Trondheim from America. There he had be... more 1924 Henry Ingeberg, a chemical engineer, had returned to Trondheim from America. There he had been impressed with chemical engineering education and its focus on large scale experiments and training in the use of instruments. Chemical engineering was a rather new scientific discipline, described by Fred Aftalion (1991) as “a hybrid science requiring both the chemist’s and the engineer’s knowledge.” Ingeberg saw a great potential for chemical engineering in Norway, and wanted to introduce it here trough a course curriculum at the Faculty of Chemistry at the Norwegian Institute of Technology in Trondheim. He travelled to England, as well as to Germany, Sweden and Finland, where he found laboratories and engineering colleges where chemical engineering had been introduced. In particular he found inspiration in Emil Kirschbaum’s work on “Apparatebau” in Karlsruhe. In the 1930s Leif Tronstad, a professor in technical inorganic chemistry in Trondheim, also travelled extensively in Europe. In his diary he wrote about his own reactions to the introduction of chemical engineering as a new discipline. Manchester had been a pioneering site for chemical engineering, but Tronstad was not impressed by the work being done in this field there. After meeting several German colleagues, who reported on the lack of scientific results from other European chemical engineering laboratories, Tronstad’s negative impression of the novelty was strengthened. This paper explores how these different forms of chemical science were debated, how they were sought appropriated to the education of Norwegian engineers, what kind of buildings, laboratories, instruments and curricula were seen as required, and how these chemical disciplines related to different transnational scientific communities and industrial practices.

Papers by Thomas Brandt

The Peaceful Revolts

by Sigríður Matthíasdóttir and Thomas Brandt

Preventing opioid-induced nausea and vomiting: Rest your head and close your eyes?

PloS one, 2017

Although opioid-induced nausea and vomiting (OINV) is common and debilitating, its mechanism is s... more Although opioid-induced nausea and vomiting (OINV) is common and debilitating, its mechanism is still unclear. Recently, we suggested that opioids affect semicircular canal function and that this leads to a mismatch between canal input and other sensory information during head motion, which triggers OINV. Here, we assess if visual input is relevant for this mismatch. In a randomized-controlled crossover study 14 healthy men (26.9±3.4 years, mean±SD) were tested twice, once blindfolded and once with eyes open, with at least one-day washout. The opioid remifentanil was administered intravenously (0.15 μg/kg/min) for 60 minutes. After a thirty-minutes resting period, subjects' head and trunk were passively moved. Nausea was rated before remifentanil start (T0), before the movement intervention (T30) and after 60 minutes (T60) of administration. At rest (T0, T30), median nausea ratings were zero whether subjects were blindfolded or not. Movement triggered nausea independently of vis...

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Contested heritage sites – rethinking methodology and practice: The case of the former Union Carbide site in Bhopal, India

by Moulshri Joshi, Thomas Brandt, Bosse Lagerqvist, and Diana Walters

In December 1984 there was a gas leak from the Union Carbide pesticide factory in Bhopal, India. ... more In December 1984 there was a gas leak from the Union Carbide pesticide factory in Bhopal, India. As many as 25,000 deaths have been attributed to the disaster and officially more than 500,000 were injured. After the disaster the factory site was abandoned, partly heavily contaminated, and till this day causing an on-going disaster. As well as a physical legacy, it constitutes a source of contested memories and reminders of a difficult past. The authors of this paper are preparing a research project on the memorialization of the Bhopal gas tragedy, critically examining dominant methods of preservation, conservation, interpretation and management of the industrial remains. The objectives are to outline crossdisciplinary and trans-discursive concepts through inclusive management of contested heritage sites, based theoretical platforms seeking to overarch the boundaries between museum, heritage and conservation discourses. For more than a quarter of century survivors have waged a struggle for compensation and economic rehabilitation, for health care and clean water, for environmental remediation and legal retribution. They have also demanded commemoration of the tragedy along with the preservation of the industrial remains of the factory. Construction of heritage should take into account the active participation of local people, but in Bhopal this is difficult to define. The long drawn out struggle between the state and activists has fragmented society into multiple survivor groups, activists, supporters, deniers and a larger population that remains largely untouched but still affected by the tragedy through its association with their city. The paper discusses why methods like oral history, field observation and archival studies have to be rethought in a complex case like Bhopal, where the conflict still is alive, the availability of historical sources are unsecure, and the role of the researcher is highly sensitive. Through analyzing the contested heritages of Bhopal the paper will explore its relevance for inclusive heritage management in general.

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Da verden hadde fire hjørner..." - Et foredrag om myter og historie i lys av Trondheims 1000-årsjubileum. Trondhjems Historiske Forening, 22.10.01

Vespa-Ikon for drømmen om frihet og glede

TECHNE - FEAR AND CONTROL: Exhibiting a history of technology and warfare

Nettverkssamarbeid under skiftende markedsbetingelser – et forsvarsindustrielt eksempel

La Vespa negli Stati Uniti: Il trasporto culturale di una merce italiana

Collecting scientific instruments – why and for whom?

Collecting scientific instruments: why, how and for whom?

Vitenskapens nytte i 250 år. Fra Opplysningstidens viten til ingeniørvitenskap i Trondheim

Nye nettverksvalg i norsk forsvarsindustri - historien bak UNISON 2005-prosjektet

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An "Italian family" of Vespa drivers. The creation of brand communities around the Italian Vespa scooter

Pluralisering og eller ensretting: Teknologi- og medieutviklingens kulturelle konsekvenser

Forord til "Maskinkultur, utsnitt fra fabrikkens tidsalder

by Thomas Brandt and Knut Eliassen

Centaur, Venus or Centauress - Gendering the Vespa scooter in Italy in the 1940s-1960s

Maskiner

The History of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (In Norwegian. Original title: Turbulens og tankekraft. Historien om NTNU) Oslo, 2010. 552 pages.

Chemical Engineering versus Industrial Chemistry at the Norwegian Institute of Technology, 1930s-1950s

The Peaceful Revolts

by Sigríður Matthíasdóttir and Thomas Brandt

Preventing opioid-induced nausea and vomiting: Rest your head and close your eyes?

PloS one, 2017

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Contested heritage sites – rethinking methodology and practice: The case of the former Union Carbide site in Bhopal, India

by Moulshri Joshi, Thomas Brandt, Bosse Lagerqvist, and Diana Walters

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Da verden hadde fire hjørner..." - Et foredrag om myter og historie i lys av Trondheims 1000-årsjubileum. Trondhjems Historiske Forening, 22.10.01

Vespa-Ikon for drømmen om frihet og glede

TECHNE - FEAR AND CONTROL: Exhibiting a history of technology and warfare

Nettverkssamarbeid under skiftende markedsbetingelser – et forsvarsindustrielt eksempel

La Vespa negli Stati Uniti: Il trasporto culturale di una merce italiana

Collecting scientific instruments – why and for whom?

Collecting scientific instruments: why, how and for whom?

Vitenskapens nytte i 250 år. Fra Opplysningstidens viten til ingeniørvitenskap i Trondheim

Nye nettverksvalg i norsk forsvarsindustri - historien bak UNISON 2005-prosjektet

Fabrikken

An "Italian family" of Vespa drivers. The creation of brand communities around the Italian Vespa scooter

Pluralisering og eller ensretting: Teknologi- og medieutviklingens kulturelle konsekvenser

Forord til "Maskinkultur, utsnitt fra fabrikkens tidsalder

by Thomas Brandt and Knut Eliassen

Centaur, Venus or Centauress - Gendering the Vespa scooter in Italy in the 1940s-1960s

Maskiner

Vespa: Fabrikkprodukt som ikon

Kvinnene ved porten: Det kjønnsdelte fabrikkarbeidets historie

Envisioning a national infrastructure for science – academic entrepreneurship in 1890s–1950s Norway Thomas Brandt

This paper investigates the importance of entrepreneurship in the establishment of institutions f... more This paper investigates the importance of entrepreneurship in the establishment of institutions for scientific research in Norway from the late nineteenth century until the mid-twentieth century. By rethinking the historical development of three forms of institutionalization of scientific research – the science academy with its private funds; the central research institute; and the research council – this paper provides insights into how the entrepreneurial process worked to identify future opportunities, gather resources and legitimize ventures for the organization of science in Norway. The paper pays special attention to the role of a select group of scientists, and their inter-generational transfer of knowledge. At the same time, the paper argues for academic entrepreneurship as an inherently collective endeavor, involving also state representatives and industrialists. The methodology of the long-term historical narrative allows for highlighting the specificity of the Norwegian development, while acknowledging the importance of the shifting contexts of entrepreneurial action in a period marked by two world wars and economic crises.

University Jubilees and University History Writing. A Challenging Relationship

by Thomas Brandt, Pieter Dhondt, Ana-Maria Stan, and Marek Ďurčanský

Researching and writing its history has always been one of the tasks of the university, particula... more Researching and writing its history has always been one of the tasks of the university, particularly on the occasion of anniversary celebrations. Through case studies of Prague (1848, 1948), Oslo (1911), Cluj (from 1919), Leipzig (2009) and Trondheim (2010), this book shows the continuity of the close relationship between jubilees and university historiography and the impact of this interaction on the jubilee publications and academic heritage. Up to today, historians are faced with the challenge of finding a balance between an engaged, celebratory approach and a more distant, academically critical one. In its third part, the book aims to go beyond the jubilee and presents three other ways of writing university history, by focusing on the university as an educational institution.

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Capturing the Power of the Ocean Waves: The Rise and Demise of a Research and Development Project for Ocean Wave Energy Conversion in Norway, 1970s–1990s

How could the energy from ocean waves be captured, transformed into electricity, and distributed ... more How could the energy from ocean waves be captured, transformed into electricity, and distributed to consumers? In this paper I will address how visions and solutions for a renewable alternative energy future were sought in the ocean. Specifically, I describe how a small group of Norwegian scientists and engineers in the 1970s and 1980s attempted to create technological solutions to harness the power of ocean waves. For centuries, engineers and scientists have sought to capture some of the oceans’ enormous potential to generate power. Offshore windmills, tidal power plants, and osmotic energy systems are other marine technological solutions that have been part of a vision of finding alternative renewable energy sources in the ocean space. After World War II, Japanese and British scientists and engineers presented the most promising solutions. The energy potential in the seawater surface waves has been calculated as approximately 29,500 TWh/year, which is more than all currently installed electricity generation worldwide. However, attempts to harness this energy resource have been riddled with numerous problems, and there are currently very few commercially viable energy systems that are based on ocean wave conversion technology. In this paper I will consider one specific attempt to solve the problems of ocean wave power. In 1973, prompted by the ongoing global energy crisis, Johannes Falnes and Kjell Budal, both faculty members at the Norwegian Institute of Technology, Trondheim, started to design a technology to capture ocean wave energy. Their idea was based on rethinking the nature of ocean waves. Falnes and Budal, inspired by a project that involved designing a microphone, brought in concepts from electro-acoustic engineering, treating ocean waves like radio waves. In the ensuing decade, their research and innovation efforts attracted substantial attention from policy makers, public funders of science, and industrial partners. This led to the development of a prototype and attempts at commercialization that reached far beyond the shores of Norway. Ocean wave power conversion technology from Norway was tested on Tonga and on the West Coast of India. By the end of the 1990s, however, the R&D project had lost its momentum. Based on primary archive material, Johannes Falnes’ project journal, interviews and public policy documents, I investigate the history of this attempted project by looking at the scientific and engineering challenges posed by working with ocean wave power conversion. It is however also necessary to address the problems facing these proponents of alternative, renewable energy sources in attempting to introduce new technical solutions into the existing technological system for energy distribution in Norway. On the one hand this paper draws on theoretical discussions on the development of large technological systems, like electric power generation and distribution. On the other hand, this hitherto unsuccessful marine technology innovation project can hardly be understood without also considering how it was represented in the discourses on energy, economy and environment in the 1970s and 80s.

The office as a place of production, adaptation and circulation of scientific and academic knowledge

by Mattias Bäckström, Thomas Brandt, and Annette LYKKNES

ESHS 2022 Brussels. 10th Conference of the European Society for the History of Science. Session 12. International conference in Brussels, Belgium, 7–10 September 2022. Organised by European Society for the History of Science, and ULB Université libre du Bruxelles, 2022

While the laboratory as a site of research has been amply studied by historians and sociologists,... more While the laboratory as a site of research has been amply studied by historians and sociologists, less attention has been given to the academic office as a place of production, adaptation and circulation of scientific and academic knowledge. Public discourse on the built environment for academic work is today to a large degree dominated by cost-efficiency thinking, and the idea of so-called open, activity-based office spaces has been met with resistance from academic staff. Temple (2008) asserts that the purpose of teaching and learning spaces, including how the offices are used, has to a large extent been absent from accounts on campus design. And while there is abundant scholarship demonstrating the promises and pitfalls of activity-based open-plan workspaces (Kaufman-Buhler 2020), little is known about the importance, functions, and meaning of individual offices for academic work, and to which extent and how academics use the individual offices as a multipurpose and flexible workplace. Coming from the field of education and management, Ruth (2015) points to the importance of materiality in academic life, including the furnishing of stuff and things in the office, and how that material contexts help shape academics’ identities.

In session 12 of the ESHS 2022 Brussels, we intend to investigate the office and other built environments for academic work as places of scientific knowledge production and circulation through history. We are interested in understanding these places and spaces both from the institutional history point of view, as a part of strategic planning and university policy, and from the point of view of the individual historical actor: Which role did the built environments play in the professor’s professional life, and how did they contribute to shaping scientific and scholarly identities in different historic and geographic contexts? How have academics used the individual office as a multipurpose and flexible workplace?

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Universitetshistorie – viktig kunnskapshistorisk material eller et hår i suppa? (University history – important part of the history of knowledge or unwanted company?)

by Mattias Bäckström, Thomas Brandt, Ellen Grav, and Annette LYKKNES

Seminar on university history and academic heritage with archivists, curators and researchers in Trondheim, Norway, 19–20 October 2021. Organised by NTNU University History Collections, Forum for the History of NTNU, and the research project Academic Office as Milieu of Ideas and Theatre of Memory, 2021

This two-day seminar on university history and academic heritage focuses on the challenges and op... more This two-day seminar on university history and academic heritage focuses on the challenges and opportunities regarding the historical archives and collections of scientific and scholarly objects in universities. The seminar pays attention to how the Museum of University History at the University of Oslo has organised its research, management and mediation of the historical archives and collections. Furthermore, it sheds light on how the NTNU Norwegian University of Science and Technology works with similar issues about the organisation, research, management and mediation of the historical archives and collections of scientific and scholarly objects. How do these universities preserve, manage, mediate and conduct research on historical archives and collections? What potential does this academic heritage and historical material have?

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Kontoret – idémiljø og minneteater (The academic office as a milieu of ideas and a theatre of memory)

by Mattias Bäckström and Thomas Brandt

Pilot project on the academic office in university history and as academic heritage and working environment in Trondheim, Norway, 1 March 2021–autumn of 2022. Organised by the Departments of Archaeology and Cultural History, Historical and Classical Studies, and Teacher Education at NTNU, 2021

What is going on in the academic office? A pilot project, the Academic Office as a Milieu of Idea... more What is going on in the academic office? A pilot project, the Academic Office as a Milieu of Ideas and a Theatre of Memory aims at developing research strategies and methods in order to document and analyse the importance of the academic office as a working environment in times past and present at the NTNU Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim. The project also focuses on expanding new knowledge, methods and strategies in the academic heritage management of NTNU. It sheds light on the academic office as a physical and ideational place – a ‘milieu of ideas’ and a ‘theatre of memory’ – where academic knowledge production has acquired various material, cognitive and social expressions through history. Which place and significance did and does the academic office have in scientific and scholarly work at NTNU? What are the significant interactions between the academic office and its users today, and what were they in times past? How is it possible to document, research and communicate these notions and meanings?

The members of the interdisciplinary project group hold curatorial, scholarly and scientific positions at the Department of Archaeology and Cultural History at the NTNU University Museum, the Department of Historical and Classical Studies at the Faculty of Humanities, and the Department of Teacher Education at the Faculty of Social and Educational Sciences. Funded by the NTNU Campus of the Future, a research and development program that follows NTNU’s work with campus development in Trondheim, the pilot project is also supported by the NTNU University History Collections. The project period extends from March 2021 to the autumn of 2022.

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Conceptualizing and situating knowledge production. The academic office in history and theory, and locally at the Dragvoll University Campus in Trondheim

by Mattias Bäckström and Thomas Brandt

ESHS Brussels 2022. 10th Conference of the European Society for the History of Science. International conference in Brussels, Belgium, 7–10 September 2022. Organised by the European Society for the History of Science, and ULB Université libre du Bruxelles, 2022

This paper will outline some research results from the project ‘The academic office as a theatre ... more This paper will outline some research results from the project ‘The academic office as a theatre of memory and a milieu of ideas’. It will consist of three parts: As a starting point, it will reflect on the historical and theoretical dimensions of relevant concepts. By using conceptual history (Koselleck 2002), the paper will present findings about the change of meanings in the term ‘office’ (kontor). The paper will then present the following tripartite conceptual framework: the academic office as a ‘theatre of memory’, inspired by the spatial-material notion and technique of artificial memory from the classical antiquity onwards (Yates 1966); as a ‘milieu of ideas’, i.e. the location in which actors receive, transform, produce and use ideas (Ambjörnsson 1983); and as a ‘general spatial unit within a flexible spatial system’, i.e. a structuralist notion on building socio-material patterns for non-formal situations and relations between teachers and students (Larsen et al. 1971). Using the tripartite conceptual framework, the paper will expand on some research results from the project’s archival and architectural studies of the first construction phase of the Dragvoll University Campus in Trondheim, which was inaugurated in 1978.

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