Dr. Hamlin is examining the process by which technical controversies, especially those controversies between technical experts and lay political decision-makers. How is it that technical advice is utilized in the political process, particularly in the context of urban public works? In order to understand this broader question, Dr. Hamlin is examining a particular case study, that of British municipal engineering at the turn of the 20th century. He will study both the professionalization of municipal engineers and the role of individual engineers in carrying out the major urban public works projects that transformed late 19th and early 20th century cities. These projects ranged from water supplies to electricity generating stations, and included public buildings, street improvements, parks and cemeteries, docks and harbors, drainage and sewerage systems, and tramways -- i.e. the kinds of projects which continue to be addressed by municipal engineers and city planners today. Dr. Hamlin will carry out this research at the University of Liverpool's Centre for the History of Social Policies under the supervision of its director, Prof. E. P. Hennock, who will complement Dr. Hamlin's background in the history of science and technology with his expertise in the legal, financial, and social history of the local governments which employed the engineers.
