The past and energy consumption today – an interview with Rebecca Wright

University of Sussex research fellow in the Sussex Humanities Lab, Dr Rebecca Wright will be talking about ‘What Can The Past Tell Us About Energy Consumption Today’ at The Keep in Brighton on 6 September at 10-11am, as part of the British Science Festival.

‘Whenever I switch on my washing machine I think about my grandmother’s exhausting washing routine’

What first sparked your interest in science?

Recognizing the value of history for science came to me when I started thinking about how science is embedded in our everyday life and how this has changed dramatically over time. It was seeing a connection between the histories of the home and large scientific challenges such as climate change, which made me understand the importance of history for science.

What’s it like to have a ‘eureka’ moment?

Eureka moments tend to happen to me when I am in the archive and find something unexpected. Sometimes it only takes one document to transform my understanding of a historical event or perspective. So finding new historical evidence led to my eureka moments. This makes me feel a bit like Sherlock Holmes.

What will the audience learn at your event?

The audience will be able to look through original archival material in the Mass Observation Archive in order to think more about how people have adapted to energy in the past. They will learn that history is not just thinking about the past - but contains valuable lessons that could be applied to thinking about energy today.

What’s important about your area of research?

My research stresses the importance of uncovering the social and cultural factors that are embedded in our energy systems. This means connecting insights from the humanities to greater understand scientific challenges -  such as reducing energy consumption and cutting Co2 emissions. Science and technology does not happen in a vacuum and my research tries to uncover the contingent factors, from aesthetics, sentimental attachments and social memory, that led to our current energy cultures and technologies.

Which scientific discovery or invention has made the greatest difference to your life?

The electrification of the home transformed women’s life dramatically in the 20th Century. The liberation of women from back-breaking household labour through inventions such as the washing machine had a dramatic effect on gender roles enabling women to enter the labour market and achieve greater independence. Whenever I switch on my washing machine I think about my grandmother’s exhausting washing routine and feel grateful that I can relax and watch Netflix as my clothes are automatically cleaned for me.

Which scientific mystery would you most like solved?

The challenge of energy storage: improving the technology to make it feasible and cost-effective to save and transport renewable energy.

Which scientists (alive, dead or fictional) would you invite to a summer picnic?

I would want a mix of scientists and great storytellers. It is through narrative that the importance and applicability of science becomes clear. My picnic would be a space where the value of scientific advances and the impact they will have on life would be debated and argued over.

For the inventors, I would invite James Watt and Elon Musk, who both represent different ends of the petro-carbon era.

To explain the significance of the shift I would invite HG Wells. No one has Wells’ capacity to foresee and understand the significance scientific advances would have on world in the future and to tell a stonking good story about it.

Today some of the best storytellers can be found in audio media and podcasts. To capture our imagination and spread the word I would invite the narrative genius Ira Glass (of This American Life) and Jad Abumrad (of RadioLab) who both manage to subtly interweave science and politics with everyday life and stories about the struggle of individuals.

Dr Rebecca Wright will be talking about ‘What Can the Past Tell Us About Energy Consumption Today’ as part of the British Science Festival.