Cathedrals of Technoscience

Roberta Spada is currently a postdoctoral research fellow in Sociology of Cultural and Communication Processes at the University of Padua and an adjunct professor in History of Information Technology at the Politecnico di Milano. She is a researcher in Science and Technology Studies interested in the heritage of science, technology, and industry. Her work intersects STS with curatorial and historical approaches to science and technology, especially media and ICT. She was awarded her PhD at the Museo Nazionale Scienza e Tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci and the Politecnico di Milano. In 2026, she obtained a Byrne-Bussey Marconi Fellowship in the History of Science, Technology and Communication at the Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford.

Chapter 1: Entering the Science and Technology Museum from the Backdoor.- Chapter 2: Authenticating a Narrative: Acquiring the 50-A Microphone by RCA.- Chapter 3: Emotional Narratives: Curating “Siziano”, a 50-kW transmitter by RCA.- Chapter 4: From Narrative to Dogma and Back: Exhibiting Guglielmo Marconi’s Magnetic Detector in a Cigar Box.- Chapter 5: Conclusion: Leaving the Cathedral Transformed.