Synthetic Materials. Synthetically Transforming the World
18 and 19 November 2016
On November 18 and 19, the Iron Library, Foundation of Georg Fischer Ltd., held the 39th Conference on the History of Technology (TGT) entitled "Synthetic Materials. Synthetically Transforming the World". 70 participants from Austria, Czechia, England, Germany and Switzerland attended this year’s TGT. The participants gathered at the Klostergut Paradies which is the traditional conference venue.
The thematic spectrum ranged from Ursula Klein's (Berlin) presentation about porcelain manufacture around 1800 to the question put by Günter Lattermann (Bayreuth): "Who invented it? Adolf Spitteler and the development of Galalith". Susan Mossman (London) gave a comprehensive overview of "Early plastics: perspectives 1850-1950".
Manfred Rasch (Duisburg) gave a talk about Karl Ziegler and his discovery of the polyethylene low pressure manufacturing process and Stefan Erzinger (Schaffhausen) emphasized the importance of environmental impact assessments of plastics at GF Piping Systems. The conference program was enriched by an impressive visit to the plastic injection moulding facility of Stamm AG in Hallau.
