The Society for the History of Technology was formed in 1958 to encourage the study of the development of technology and its relations with society and culture.
An interdisciplinary organization, SHOT is concerned not only with the history of technological devices and processes but also with technology in history—that is, the relationship of technology to politics, economics, science, the arts, and the organization of production, and with the role it plays in the differentiation of individuals in society. Not least, it is concerned with interpretive flexibility, the conception that beliefs about whether a technology "works" are contingent on the expectations, needs, and ideologies of those who interact with it.
SHOT members represent a wide range of disciplines and professions, from history and the humanities to engineering and science, and come from some thirty-five countries throughout the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Africa.