Bertrand Gille (; March 29, 1920,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

– November 30, 1980, Paris) was a French archivist and

historian of technology The history of technology is the history of the invention of tools and techniques by humans. Technology includes methods ranging from simple stone tools to the complex genetic engineering and information technology that has emerged since the 19 ...

. Although best known for his work on technology, Gille also wrote on diverse subjects including the history of French banking and Russian economics. After teaching at the university of

Clermont-Ferrand Clermont-Ferrand (, , ; or simply ; ) is a city and Communes of France, commune of France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regions of France, region, with a population of 147,284 (2020). Its metropolitan area () had 504,157 inhabitants at the 2018 ...

, he became a director of studies at the

École pratique des hautes études The (), abbreviated EPHE, is a French postgraduate top level educational institution, a . EPHE is a constituent college of the Université PSL (together with ENS Ulm, Paris Dauphine or Ecole des Mines). The college is closely linked to É ...

, as well as giving a course on the history of technology at the University of Paris I: Panthéon-Sorbonne.

Early career

After studying at the

École Nationale des Chartes The École Nationale des Chartes (; ) is a French ''grande école'' and a constituent college of Université PSL, specialising in the auxiliary sciences of history, historical sciences. It was founded in 1821, and was located initially at the A ...

, in 1943 Gille completed his thesis on the French iron industry, ''Les Origines de la grande industrie métallurgique en France'' (published 1947). In 1959 Gille published his doctoral thesis, ''La Banque et le crédit en France de 1815 à 1848'', part of a longer work derived from the archives of several French banks. This in turn led to the publication of the two-volume, 1000 page, ''Histoire de la maison

Rothschild Rothschild () is a name derived from the German ''zum rothen Schild'' (with the old spelling "th"), meaning "to the red shield", in reference to the houses where these family members lived or had lived. At the time, houses were designated by signs ...

'' (1965, 1967).

History of technology

In 1962 Gille published the first volume of ''Histoire générale des techniques'', followed in 1965 by volume two. Between these he published ''Les ingénieurs de la Renaissance'' (1964; re-edited 1978). In 1978 he published his magisterial ''Histoire des techniques'', in which he developed his concept of "technical systems." Although it was a collaborative work, Gille himself wrote 1300 out of a total 1500 pages. This was followed by a work on

ancient Greek technology Ancient Greek technology developed during the 5th century BC, continuing up to and including the Roman period, and beyond. Inventions that are credited to the ancient Greeks include the gear, screw, rotary mills, bronze casting techniques, water ...

entitled ''Les Mécaniciens grecs, la naissance de la technologie'' (1980). In the same year he published ''Petites questions et grands problèmes: la brouette'', on the history of the

wheelbarrow A wheelbarrow is a small hand-propelled load-bearing vehicle, usually with just one wheel, designed to be pushed and guided by a single person using two handles at the rear. The term "wheelbarrow" is made of two words: "wheel" and "barrow." " Ba ...

Awards

Gille was a Corresponding Member of the

Society for the History of Technology The Society for the History of Technology (SHOT) is the primary professional society for historians of technology. SHOT was founded in 1958 in the United States, and it has since become an international society with members "from some thirty-five ...

, which in 1970 awarded him its highest honour, the

Leonardo da Vinci Medal The Leonardo da Vinci Medal is the highest award of the Society for the History of Technology (SHOT), and was first given in 1962. In general this award is granted annually to scholars who have contributed outstandingly to the history of technology ...

Influence

Gille's theoretical work on the history of technology was an important influence on the French philosopher of technology,

Bernard Stiegler Bernard Stiegler (; 1 April 1952 – 5 August 2020) was a French philosopher. He was head of the Institut de recherche et d'innovation (IRI), which he founded in 2006 at the Centre Georges-Pompidou. He was also founder of the political and c ...

, and in particular on his book, '' Technics and Time, 1: The Fault of Epimetheus''.

Bibliography

Works translated into English

*''Engineers of the Renaissance'' (Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press, 1966). *''The History of Techniques'' (New York: Gordon and Breach Science Publishers, 1986, 2 vols., 1410 pages. ''Vol. 1: Techniques and civilizations''; ''vol. 2: Techniques and sciences'').

References

*Maurice Daumas, "Bertrand Gille (1920–1980)," ''Technology and Culture'' 22 (1981): 839–842. {{DEFAULTSORT:Gille, Bertrand French archivists French philosophers of technology École Nationale des Chartes alumni Historians of technology Academic staff of the University of Paris 1920 births 1980 deaths 20th-century French historians French male non-fiction writers Writers from Paris Leonardo da Vinci Medal recipients 20th-century French male writers