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Philosophy of Engineering, East and West pp 271–280Cite as

Decision Making in the 120MN Shanghai Hydraulic Forging Press Project: Walking a Tightrope Between Politics and Technology

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Part of the book series: Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science ((BSPS,volume 330))

Abstract

The successful manufacture of the 120 mega newtons Shanghai Hydraulic Forging Press (SHFP) in 1962 has been considered a typical example of modern Chinese industry and the development of local technology. Actually, it was neither a victory of the Great Leap Forward campaign nor a product of so-called indigenous methods. Taking into account the technical process and decision-making during the project, it is hard to interpret the success of the SHFP as either Mao’s “politics in command” or technological determinism. The project, in fact, largely depended on a series of appropriate decision-making and prudent risk analysis by Shen Hong, the chief engineer, who successfully adopted a strategy to maintain a careful balance between technology and politics.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for the History of Natural Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Zhongguancun East Rd. 55, Haidian District, Beijing, 100190 PR, China

    SUN Lie 孙烈

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  1. SUN Lie 孙烈
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Correspondence to SUN Lie   (孙烈).

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Philosophy, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China

    Carl Mitcham

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Bocong LI

  3. Engineering & Computer Science, Baylor University, Waco, Texas, USA

    Byron Newberry

  4. Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute for the History of Natural Sciences, Beijing, China

    Baichun ZHANG

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Lie, S. (2018). Decision Making in the 120MN Shanghai Hydraulic Forging Press Project: Walking a Tightrope Between Politics and Technology. In: Mitcham, C., LI, B., Newberry, B., ZHANG, B. (eds) Philosophy of Engineering, East and West. Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science, vol 330. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62450-1_23

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