The Society
for the History of
Medieval Technology and Science
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The society was founded in 1987 under the aegis of
Alistair Crombie, its first President, with the aim of promoting,
popularising and contributing to the study of the technology and
science of the Middle Ages (European, Islamic, and Asian).
Since its inception SHMTS has had the following
officers:
Presidents: Alistair Crombie, Francis Maddison,
Geoffrey Hindley, Emilie Savage-Smith.
Secretaries: Geoffrey Hindley, Emilie Savage-Smith, G.
M. Helms, S. Ackermann and S. Worthen.
Treasurers: Hans Georg Schneider, Willem
Hackmann, Julia M Cresswell.
The Society meets for talks three times a year in Oxford.
In addition to those regular talks, it holds an
occasional conference or colloquium organised jointly with bodies
having similar interests. These have comprised a collaboration with The
Pitt Rivers Museum at Oxford for a colloquium on early musical
instruments; a day-long conference in conjunction with the
Molinological Society on wind and water power during the Middle Ages,
and a colloquium on Islamic science and technology with the Warburg
Institute that was held in memoriam Donald Hill whom the SHMTS was
proud to number amongst its members, and in October of 1997 a
colloquium was held at Imperial College in memoriam two of the
Society's founding members: Alistair Crombie and Jean Gimpel. In
October 2003, a day-long meeting was held on Early Metallurgy in
conjunction with the Society for the History of Alchemy and Chemistry.
In October 2007 a one-day symposium was held on Metals and Money in the
Middle Ages. In 2013, a daylong seminar of papers was held on Late Medieval and Early
Modern Banqueting, Food and Music.
The Society is affiliated to AVISTA in the United
States and to the Association de Villard de Honnecourt in France.