The contested modernisation of the Netherlands. An introduction to the series ‘Techniek in Nederland in de twintigste eeuw’ History is a discipline that is divided up into different specialist areas. The realisation of the seven-volume series entitled ‘Technology in the Netherlands in the Twentieth Century’ could be used to support this claim. However, the greatest achievement of the series is that it has written a new history of the Netherlands from the viewpoint of technology. It is a history of technology in which technology itself is not the key issue. The series explores a number of hypotheses about the modernisation of the Netherlands. For example, the relationship between the development of technology and scaling-up, the emergence of the consumer society, and the role of engineers in the evolving intervention state. The series can be viewed as an invitation for future cooperation among historians. This article is part of the discussion forum 'Techniek in Nederland in de twintigste eeuw' (J. Schot, H. Lintsen, A. Rip, A. Albert de la Bruhèze).