Some Futures for Design History?

This article began as a talk given in response to some of the articles presented in this issue of the journal, which were first given as papers in a colloquium in Dallas in 2008. Its subject matter was what could be glimpsed in them for a possible future history of design. I would like to take one proposition from each paper that I see as indicative of possibility. This exercise in turn will allow the suggestion, within these analyses, of some axioms that might guide the future writing of histories in this field. Together, these two ambitions will describe the essay. Since it originated as a commentary I have retained the tone of a verbal presentation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]