Bhalla-Ladd, India (2026) Typing Physics: The Essential Role of Typists in Intra-Scientific Communication.

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Abstract

I present an analysis of the changes to intra-scientific communication in postwar American physics. In
particular, I focus on a case study of the technical typists who worked for the American Institute of Physics
(AIP) journals, especially the Physical Review (PR), c. 1962–1977. I argue PR became a trading zone amidst
the page-charge crisis, and analyze the networks of physicists, typists, editors, and copy-editors that emerged
to resolve this threat to community-level objectivity. Challenging the picture of typist as ‘‘automaton’’, I
identify the skills and technical knowledge needed to perform manuscript transcription, and offer an account
of the material culture of intra-scientific communication to situate the typists’ epistemic role in the broader
context of ‘‘Big Science’’ changes to postwar physics. I claim this is a case of an epistemic contribution that
has been instrumentalized, akin to human computers and human scanners. However, unlike other cases of
instrumentalization, technical typists were not directly involved in the production or critique of scientific
data. Rather, their novel contributions occurred in the new field of mathematical typesetting that emerged
from this trading zone. Thus, I seek to differentiate the material culture of scientific experiments from the
material culture of intra-scientific communication. I see this project as an extension of Galison’s trading zone
framework, recognizing that there are many more material objects besides those of the laboratory that are
created in the scientific process.

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Item Type:	Published Article or Volume
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Bhalla-Ladd, India ibhallal@uci.edu
Keywords:	Technical typist Physical Review APS AIP Physics Today Peter Galison Trading zone Material culture Human computers Material production Scientific knowledge Instrumentalized knowledge Big Science 20th century physics
Subjects:	General Issues > Experimentation General Issues > Feminist Approaches General Issues > History of Philosophy of Science General Issues > History of Science Case Studies Specific Sciences > Physics General Issues > Science and Society General Issues > Social Epistemology of Science
Depositing User:	Ms. India Bhalla-Ladd
Date Deposited:	09 Apr 2026 12:24
Last Modified:	09 Apr 2026 12:24
Item ID:	28966
DOI or Unique Handle:	doi.org/10.1016/j.shpsa.2026.102147
Subjects:	General Issues > Experimentation General Issues > Feminist Approaches General Issues > History of Philosophy of Science General Issues > History of Science Case Studies Specific Sciences > Physics General Issues > Science and Society General Issues > Social Epistemology of Science
Date:	11 January 2026
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/28966

Available Versions of this Item

• Typing Physics: The Essential Role of Typists in Intra-Scientific Communication. (deposited 13 Nov 2024 13:31)
  • Typing Physics: The Essential Role of Typists in Intra-Scientific Communication. (deposited 09 Apr 2026 12:24) [Currently Displayed]

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