ASME History and Heritage Committee: solicits advanced graduate students or recent post graduate students in history of technology/science to author brochures/essays for ASME’s Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmarks program
The History and Heritage Committee (HHC) of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) solicits advanced graduate students or recent post graduate students in history of technology/science to author brochures/essays for ASME’s Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmarks program. The contracted honorarium for each brochure/essay is $500, payable on final acceptance.
For 2021-2022 the Committee seeks brochures/essays on
(1) John Smeaton’s water wheel experiments (c1752)
(2) Navier-Stokes equations in fluid dynamics (1827, 1845).
Examples of recent Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark brochures can be found on ASME’s website at https://www.asme.org/about-asme/engineering-history/landmarks; click on ‘Download Brochure’ at the bottom of each record. Please refer to the more recent Landmarks (#265—) for length, style, and content, but most tend to be about 3,000–4,000 words. Graphic design and layout are flexible, and the HHC can provide this for the final version.
This material should be written so that the significance of the landmark is understandable to intelligent, educated persons who may not be experts in the technology. Brochures normally include: (1) a description of the landmark and its significant features, including the context in which it emerged and particularly its technical aspects; (2) brief biographical sketches of the individuals most responsible for the concept, design, or construction; (3) an outline of the landmark’s impact on the evolution of mechanical engineering and/or on society; (4) one or ideally several copyright free/public domain illustrations, appropriately captioned; and (4) a short bibliography [or references for further reading] to aid those interested in additional study.
Submission of a polished first draft is due by January 15, 2022. A History and Heritage subcommittee, including at least one professional historian of technology, will review the manuscript for content, accuracy, grammar, organization, and style and respond by February 1. A revised draft, if needed, will be due by April 1. After acceptance of the brochure/essay, payment of the honorarium will be authorized; the brochure will be posted on the asme.org Landmark Page sometime thereafter.
Those interested in contracting with ASME to produce one or both of the brochures should submit a letter of interest outlining qualifications and a brief vita to the current chair of the History and Heritage Committee, Terry S. Reynolds (treynold@mtu.edu) before October 1, 2021.