Uitgepakt/Unboxed – new book

I have a chapter in a new collection of photos and essays about scientific and technical instruments. The book is called Uitgepakt/Unboxed. This features 24 contributions from colleagues who are all part of the Maastricht University Science and Technology Studies research group, The instruments are part of the collection of Centre Céramique in Maastricht. They will display a selection of the instruments on a rolling basis. The book was edited by Karin Bijsterveld, and published by Uitgeverij Verloren.

The book includes contributions about exotic instruments such as cloud chambers and a model fire engine. It also includes more everyday items such as water metres, telephones, keys and cigarette lighters. My own contribution is about plugs. This builds on earlier work I did with Jules Cassidy many years ago about the importance of being able to wire a plug. That was published in 2001 in a book called Cyborg Lives: Women’s Technobiographies, edited by Flis Henwood, Helen Kennedy and Nod Miller. My chapter with Jules is called ‘Plugging into the Mother Country’. Sadly, the publisher, Raw Nerve Press, is out of business but copies can sometimes still be found.