“The ultimate objective was to implement détente in the history of technology field”: towards the history of the establishment of the International Committee for the History of Technology (ICOHTEC)

The article is devoted to the history of the establishment of the International Committee for the History of Technology (ICOHTEC) that has united the scientists from many countries involved in the studies on the history of technology. The formation of this new scientific organization occurred in the years of the Cold War escalation, which had affected the choice of its leaders. The article provides a brief description of science-organization activities of the scientists who became the leaders of the ICOHTEC: Maurice Daumas (France), Eugeniusz Olszewski (Poland), Semyon V. Shukhardin (USSR), and Melvin Kranzberg (USA). The foundation of the International Committee for the History of Technology was approved by the 12th International Congress of the International Union of the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology in Paris in 1968. Over the next 50 years, the international symposia have been held annually under the auspices of the ICOHTEC.