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great engineers
The history of the British Empire is often narrated in terms of the wars that Britain fought. But when the Industrial Revolution started in the late 18th century, the story of Britain and her empire also became one of technology or engineering. Noted historian Marsden recounts the achievements of several of these luminaries. Such as Watt and Stephenson in railways and mining, and Brunel in steamships. Names still remembered today (at least amongst engineers).

Marsden makes some of those days and their travails come alive. In retrospect, we can appreciate the magnitude of their efforts, even if it all seems inevitable nowdays that someone would have performed the same tasks.

The book is also somewhat of a rejoinder to those who think engineering is boring or colourless. ... Read more

Product Description
Enabling American Innovation traces engineers' struggle to win intellectual, financial, and organizational recognition within the National Science Foundation (NSF). The tools and arguments of this struggle altered over time, but engineers continued to assert the value of their contribution, usually measured in comparative budgetary terms, and philosophical debates, as they were played out through organizational manipulation. By the 1980s, NSF leaders agreed that engineering and science should enjoy an equal and mutually beneficial relationship within the NSF.This fascinating story unfolds within the context of the evolution of the engineering profession, national politics, and the pressures of the cold war and international economics. In spite of, and at times because of, these forces, the NSF evolved and came to promote and interdisciplinary focus and systems orientation, thus becoming and active agent in supporting the acquisition of knowledge and putting that knowledge to use. ... Read more

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scholarly study of the civilization, buildings, approach to science. many illus, maps,including color ... Read more

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This digital document is an article from Michigan Academician, published by Michigan Academy of Science Arts & Letters on January 1, 2003. The length of the article is 3400 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Conceptual difficulties in teaching History of Science and Technology to engineering students.
Author: Leland Giovannelli
Publication: Michigan Academician (Refereed)
Date: January 1, 2003
Publisher: Michigan Academy of Science Arts & Letters
Volume: 34Issue: 4Page: 437(8)

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

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Patrick M. Malone demonstrates how innovative engineering helped make Lowell, Massachusetts, a potent symbol of American industrial prowess in the 19th century.

Waterpower spurred the industrialization of the early United States and was the principal power for textile manufacturing until well after the Civil War. Industrial cities therefore grew alongside many of America's major waterways. Ideally located at Pawtucket Falls on the Merrimack River, Lowell was one such city -- a rural village rapidly transformed into a booming center for textile production and machine building. Malone explains how engineers created a complex canal and lock system in Lowell which harnessed the river and powered mills throughout the city.

James B. Francis, arguably the finest engineer in 19th-century America, played a key role in the history of Lowell's urban industrial development. An English immigrant who came to work for Lowell's Proprietors of Locks and Canals as a young man, Francis rose to become both the company's chief engineer and its managing executive. Linking Francis's life and career with the larger story of waterpower in Lowell, Malone offers the only complete history of the design, construction, and operation of the Lowell canal system.

Waterpower in Lowell informs broader understanding of urban industrial development, American scientific engineering, and the environmental impacts of technology. Its clear and instructional discussions of hydraulic technology and engineering principles make it a useful resource for a range of courses, including the history of technology, urban history, and American business history.

Customer Reviews (1)

Superb!
Wow! This is well written, academic, robust, and thoughtful. Bravo to the author for such intense and specific scholarship. I recommend it highly and without reservation. A contribution to the field of STEM that is both rich in history and technologically astute. ... Read more

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Very good. DJ has some shelfwear. Back cover is torn and crinkled at the top. Hinges unbroken. No markings. Pages are clean and bright. Binding is tight. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A lost scientific gem
This is one of the few books written about AT&T Bell Laboratories as it existed before the government decided that the Bell System was too big. It chroniclesthe "Labs" during one of it's most intense discovery, development periods. Interestingly, the author invokes names of the participants which is a pleasant change from the usual technical reiteration of developments. This book may be the only one written by people who lived and worked during the "Labs" heyday. Unfortunately, science and technology has lost the gem of it's crown and the replacements are shadows of what once was. Worth a read if you are into technology development and what a well organized effort can accomplish. ... Read more

Product Description
Broad, nontechnical survey offers fascinating coverage of history’s major technological advances: food-producing revolution, appearance of urban society, birth of Greek science, revolution in power, steam and the industrial revolution, electricity and the beginnings of applied science, and the age of automatic control. 181 illustrations. "...an excellent work..."—Isis. Bibliography. Index.
... Read more

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Words of the equestrian
This book does a fantastic job of explaining the history of Engineering, and how it affected the civilizations that used it. ... Read more

Product Description
In his classic book, J. G. Landels describes the technological advances of the Greeks and Romans with erudition and enthusiasm. He provides an important introduction to engineering, writing about power and energy sources, water engineering, cranes, and transportation devises. From aqueducts to catapults, he attempts to envision machines as they may have worked in the ancient world. He then traces the path of knowledge taken by early thinkers-including Plato, Pliny, and Archimedes-in developing early theories of engineering and physics. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Interesting with just enough technical info
This book brings to light the knowledge ancient engineers possessed.This book does get a bit technical, however I believe most people should be able to follow the basic mechanics discussed at least well enough to get the gist of the discussion.I think this is a great book to review engineering mechanics for those trained under a more modern school.

To provide some perspective I am a Civil Engineer, and I had to think back to my basic classes to completely comprehend some of the sections of this book.However not quite understanding most of those sections is not going prevent you from following the basic concept of this book.

Thought provoking
I'm delighted that Amazon lets us read freely the very first paragraph of the book, which sets a sobering context for all that follows.The gist of it should be memorized by everyone who gets a high school diploma:The energy in just one gallon of gasoline (which we take for granted and think little of burning) is equivalent to the hard labor of ninety men for an hour.

Only in the past century or two has anyone other than a ruler, high-ranking military officer, or unusually successful businessman enjoyed such power at his beck and call. Our sources for it are all too finite and will not last forever, as we are only beginning to realize.A reader who keeps this in mind will be amazed at what the ancients were able to achieve with the limited energy resources at their disposal: manual labor, beasts of burden, wind, and water-- as the author goes on to describe.By and large they were, after all, just as intelligent as we are.They knew a few tricks that we would do well not to forget.Before long the human race may need them again.

Engineering in the ancient world: spectacular book
This is a very amazing which treats a rare subject. There is a lot of books about ancient times, but very few about the science put into practise in the times. This book brings very sophisticated look into the problems and successes of ancient engineers. Their solutions are somewhat ingenious, but there are also problems which could not be solved without the necessary equipment. J.G.Landers has done a great job looking into all that scarce sources related to engineering in the ancient times.
Dont hesitate and buy this book.
Michal Ruzek, Czech Republic

Ancient History and Engineering Come Together
Mr. Landels brings together two of the world's oldest academic endeavors, history and engineering. This is short volume is a quick read yet serves as a valuable reference tool. Landels provides a wonderful historic backgroundfor each piece of technology discussed in the book. The breadth of actualtechnolgy is not as great as one would want (unfortunately limited toships, lifting devises, some seige engines and water procurementmachines... yet to the author's credit the actual knowledge on complextechnology of the ancient world is limited) but the technology that iscovered is both well explained with many diagrams and placed into ahistoric perspective. To this reader, the last chapter serves as aninvaluable reference for the simple fact the author provides shortbiographies of four ancient writers; Hero, Pliny the Elder, Frontinus andVirtuvius which leaves one starving for more knowlegde of aforementionedsubjects. If you have any interest in the classics, history of the ancientworld or the development of technology,.... please add this to yourlibrary.

A fantastic effort
A very enlightening volume, although it occasionally left me behind and parts will have to be reread when I have looked up some mechanical engineering concepts- but this did not happen often enough to interrupt myenjoyment. A particularly fascinating section briefly discusses why theGreeks didn't quite get to concept of a the steam engine.

Veryworthwhile and, sadly, all too brief. ... Read more

Product Description
Today technology has created a world of dazzling progress, growing disparities of wealth and poverty, and looming threats to the environment. Technology: A World History offers an illuminating backdrop to our present moment--a brilliant history of invention around the globe. Historian Daniel R. Headrick ranges from the Stone Age and the beginnings of agriculture to the Industrial Revolution and the electronic revolution of the recent past. In tracing the growing power of humans over nature through increasingly powerful innovations, he compares the evolution of technology in different parts of the world, providing a much broader account than is found in other histories of technology. We also discover how small changes sometimes have dramatic results--how, for instance, the stirrup revolutionized war and gave the Mongols a deadly advantage over the Chinese. And how the nailed horseshoe was a pivotal breakthrough for western farmers. Enlivened with many illustrations, Technology offers a fascinating look at the spread of inventions around the world, both as boons for humanity and as weapons of destruction. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

a list of when stuff first got used
This is hardly a book, it's a list. Further, it looks and feels like the user's manual of some over-designed computer gadget, complete with naff cover and hideous font. Sadly it does not switch to german or japanese half way through.
The author boasts of writing a world history as if the world was currently short of such things. So we learn (though not on the same page) that clay tablets were invented in Mesopotomia, papyrus in Egypt, paper in China, the printing press in Germany, the world wide web in Switzerland. We also learn that bipedalism and opposable thumbs were inventions rather than random mutations.Eh? Apparently language is also an invention, though some might say it was the result of freeing the throat through an upright stance.
The relentlessly chronological approach leaves no room for discussion of themes. What was the influence of the Domesday Book (surely one of the greatest ever inventions), the land registry, the Ordnance Survey? Without them property rights would hardly exist, so neither would ownership of ideas. The Patent Office is just assumed to be a good thing, but this is arguable. 95% of patents don't get exploited, improvements have to wait for the expiry of the master patent, some inventions (military ones) never are published, and the patenting process is ludicrously expensive and obscurantist. Why not simply replace it with a royalty board, which might at least protect Amazonian tribes who see no benefit from the current craze of big pharma to harvest every obscure plant in the rain forest in case it contains a useful (and synthesisable, patentable) chemical? These and many other questions are never addressed. The big question: how much technology is to thank or blame for our current wealth or ill; is never asked.
This might not matter if the list was reliable, but before transforming this book into a frisbee I found a few howlers which makes me suspicious of the rest. Sheep were not domesticated for their wool. It took thousands of years to breed in. Watt's governor of the steam engine was unreliable, based on a misunderstanding, and didn't work. Stopping engines exploding, and making them turn at a certain speed irrespective of load, had to wait for Maxwell's intellectual breakthrough in 1868.
Who's this book for? It's neither use nor ornament, and you can get more from a google search or wikipedia. For a discussion of themes and issues, there are better books around which don't rely on the reader's knowledge that toilet paper was invented by the Chinese in the first millennium. (But thanks for that info all the same, Mr Headrick.)

Extreme overview
Daniel Headrick has provided a slim (179 pages including index, notes, etc.) overview of the history of technology, from the Stone Age through today.Essentially it's an executive summary of six thousand years of the history of technology (not counting the Stone Age as history).

This is the book's strength and weakness.The strength is that you can quickly read a top line review of the evolution of technology and the societies that invented or exploited it.He looks at where certain technologies were invented, how they moved from one civilization to another, and how they were exploited and by whom.Another good thing about the book is that although it's about technology the author addresses the fact that technology is not necessarily the driver in whether or not a civilization is successful.He points out that geography, climate, governments, religion, and peoples' attitudes towards technology often impact invention and exploitation.

At the same time he doesn't focus on any one civilization.He reviews technologies as they impacted, or not, all the major civilizations around the world.It's not Euro-centric, but it also goes beyond China and the Arabs to discuss early American and African civilizations - all at a very high level.

The weakness is that it lacks depth and rarely provides context.In fact, the last chapter, covering WWII through the present, is nothing more than a laundry list of technological advances in the last 70 years without any historical analysis or context.The author acknowledges that, "it is difficult to draw conclusions from events that are still happening," but it's almost as if it's an excuse to not provide any analysis of the period.

Is the book worth the money?Tough call....you either have to be very interested in the subject and have a desire to keep up with the literature, or you're new to the subject and want nothing more than an abridged versionfor you to to want to have this book.
... Read more

Product Description

Now in its second edition, this bestselling textbook may be the single most influential study of the historical relationship between science and technology ever published. Tracing this relationship from the dawn of civilization through the twentieth century, James E. McClellan III and Harold Dorn argue that technology as "applied science" emerged relatively recently, as industry and governments began funding scientific research that would lead directly to new or improved technologies.

McClellan and Dorn identify two great scientific traditions: the useful sciences, patronized by the state from the dawn of civilization, and scientific theorizing, initiated by the ancient Greeks. They find that scientific traditions took root in China, India, and Central and South America, as well as in a series of Near Eastern empires, during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. From this comparative perspective, the authors explore the emergence of Europe and the United States as a scientific and technological power.

The new edition reorganizes its treatment of Greek science and significantly expands its coverage of industrial civilization and contemporary science and technology with new and revised chapters devoted to applied science, the sociology and economics of science, globalization, and the technological systems that underpin everyday life.

Customer Reviews (11)

Not as well researched as I was hoping for.
I read this book with great interest. Authors did a wonderful job covering the times of Early Civilizations and newer scientific advances. Where I think they failed was interpretation of historical facts in regards to European history. On page 198 the authors state: " Lesser political units or nations (such as Poland) that did not or could not adapt to the Military Revolution simply disappeared as political entities, swept up by larger, more powerful neighbors"
Where do I start? 600 years ago, in July of 1410, the largest battle of XVth. century took place in Grunwald (Tannenberg) where combined armies of Poland and Lithuania destroyed the mightiest European army of Teutonic Knights and their Western allies. Later, in 1569 the official beginning of Commonwealth of Kingdom of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania takes place and prospers till 1795. For over two hundred years, the Commonwealth (through Union rather than conquer) that stretched from the Baltic Sea to almost shores of Black Sea was the dominant power in Europe. The very "lesser" nations of Poland and Lithuania, under the command of King Jan III Sobieski, defeated on September 11th. and 12th. 1683 the army of Kara Mustaffa and initiated the fall of the Ottoman Empire. This very Commonwealth, larger than state of California, gave birth to the second codified constitution in the World, on May 3rd. 1791, just 3 years after the American one. The very progressive character of Polish reforms prompted all neighboring powers of : Austro-Hungary, Prussia and Russian Empire to act in unison and divide Poland fearing its ideas might spread into their countries.
Lastly, there was nothing "simple" about Poland/Lithuanian disappearance. It took three partitions before the Commonwealth finally seized to exist. Until this information is corrected I can't rate it higher than two stars!

Fascinating
I love this kind of book that gives a portrait of human ingenuity. All too often the perpetrators of violence get glorified (ie Alexander the Great) while people who made real contributions to improve our lives are neglected. More such books are needed. One such book I can recommend is The Pneumatics of Hero of Alexandria.

introductory textbook to the subject "history of technology" and "history of science)
The main thesis of this book is to show how technology and science developed largely independentlyof each other throughout almost all of history.Science and Technology in World Literally is quite literally an undergraduate course book.In view of the complexity of the subject matter, I found this to be a boon rather thenhindrance.The authors do an amazing job summarizing complex material.

SciTechinWorHis (my abbreviation for the lengthy title) begins with a survey of the "pristine" civiliastions of earth:the middle east, india, china, south america, central america.. and... uh that's it.These are alll the original civilisations who started raising crops.The authors point out at that all of these civilisations were empires that built large hydraulic projects to help raise more food.Most of them also built large monuments (the pyramids in egypt).In these "prisitine" civilisations, the central government used "scientists" for calendar purposes."Technology" was made these civilisation's possible in the first place- farming improvements and the maniuplation of water to supply large urban populations.In these pristine civilisations science was sponosored by the emperor to achieve practical ends.Technology enabled these civilisations in the first place.And so, technology precedes science.Indeed, technology is one of the things that makes us "human" whereas "science" only comes into play AFTER civilisation and "history" begin.

In that way, the authors make the point- right at the beginning- that technology is quite central to being human, whereas science requires some form of organization.

After running through Egypt, Mesopatamia, India, China, The Aztecs and the Inca, he moves into the "greek miracle" and we are off to the races.After the multi cultural preamble, the book gets locked on europe and chapter by chapter we move through greece, to rome, to the middle ages, to the scientific revolution.Two hundred pages and nine chapters in, this book settles into chapters consisting of mini bios:Copernicus, Galileo, Newton.Then with the advent of the industrial revolution, they march through the "modern" period.Throughout the writing is crisp, and as a non-science type, I found this book quite useful as a survey and introduction to the subject.

Good intro-level textbook; needs supporting materials
This is a great introduction for an undergraduate level class on the history of sci/tech/med. However, as other reviewers have pointed out, there are some rough patches as the work nears the 20th century. Even though some glossing is necessary in a massive overview, I was particularly disturbed by the boilerplate explanation of mid-19th c. Darwinism without much reflection on the German, French, and English precursors (Lamarck is the exception, of course) and oversimplifying the impact on the religious community (who generally accepted "evolution" while rejecting "natural selection"). For an undergraduate course, I recommend supplementing these segments of the book with R. Richards Romantic Conception of Life or The Meaning of Evolution and/or P. Bowler's The Non-Darwinian Revolution. For upper level courses or tutorials, I would relegate this work to "recommended overview."

All that being said, I was impressed with the broad geographic scope and McClellan's ability to account for the vast majority of the ancient, medieval, and early modern material in an interesting and nuanced fashion.

Must buy
This is an awesome book. It portrays a very well organized anrrative of science in history. I do not even major in history yet I kept the book. Awesome. ... Read more

Product Description

By applying their abundant natural resources to ironmaking early in the eighteenth century, Americans soon made themselves felt in world markets. After the Revolution, ironmakers supplied the materials necessary to the building of American industry, pushing the fuel efficiency and productivity of their furnaces far ahead of their European rivals.

In American Iron, 1607-1900, Robert B. Gordon draws on recent archaeological findings as well as archival research to present an ambitious, comprehensive survey of iron technology in America from the colonial period to the industry's demise at about the turn of the twentieth century. Closely examining the techniques -- the "hows" -- of ironmaking in its various forms, Gordon offers new interpretations of labor, innovation, and product quality in ironmaking, along with references to the industry's environmental consequences. He establishes the high level of skills required to ensure efficient and safe operation of furnaces and to improve the quality of iron product. By mastering founding, fining, puddling, or bloom smelting, ironworkers gained a degree of control over their lives not easily attained by others.

Customer Reviews (4)

Inside scoop on American Iron
This is an excellent synthesis focused on the development of the iron industry in America. It is well researched and contains much useful information for individuals wishing to develop their historical knowledge about iron manufacturing. The book is well-designed and is very readable. Many photographs and drawings were employed to show what took place at different locations. You can't go wrong in adding this treatise to your library collection.

The Bible of the American Iron Industry
This book, clearly written and richly illustrated, is the definitive history of the American Iron industry between 1609 and 1900.Since I research the iron industry myself, I found myself returning to it again and again over the years.It is a scholarly book, but it's not written in the often tangled language of academics.I notice two reviewers have said it was too "technical" but I teach English and I read the parts I understand and skimmed the rest.In this way, you gradually understand more and more.

It's true the book is focused in the northeast, where the iron industry was most strong during this time period.For wonderful descriptions of ironmaking in the southeast, read Charles B. Dew.

book review
Good technical reference on the development
of the iron & steel industry in the US.

Required Reading
The best book on the history and technology of the American Iron Industry available. Anyone interested in or working with the early iron industry should own a copy. The only possible criticisms are that some will find parts of the book a bit too technical, and the emphasis of the book is on the 19th century and the Northern industry (not surprising given the available records). ... Read more

Product Description
Nearly every aspect of daily life in the Mediterranean world and Europe during the florescence of the Greek and Roman cultures is relevant to the topics of engineering and technology. This volume highlights both the accomplishments of the ancient societies and the remaining research problems, and stimulates further progress in the history of ancient technology. The subject matter of the book is the technological framework of the Greek and Roman cultures from ca. 800 B.C. through ca. A.D. 500 in the circum-Mediterranean world and Northern Europe. Each chapter discusses a technology or family of technologies from an analytical rather than descriptive point of view, providing a critical summation of our present knowledge of the Greek and Roman accomplishments in the technology concerned and the evolution of their technical capabilities over the chronological period. Each presentation reviews the issues and recent contributions, and defines the capacities and accomplishments of the technology in the context of the society that used it, the available "technological shelf," and the resources consumed. These studies introduce and synthesize the results of excavation or specialized studies. The chapters are organized in sections progressing from sources (written and representational) to primary (e.g., mining, metallurgy, agriculture) and secondary (e.g., woodworking, glass production, food preparation, textile production and leather-working) production, to technologies of social organization and interaction (e.g., roads, bridges, ships, harbors, warfare and fortification), and finally to studies of general social issues (e.g., writing, timekeeping, measurement, scientific instruments, attitudes toward technology and innovation) and the relevance of ethnographic methods to the study of classical technology. The unrivalled breadth and depth of this volume make it the definitive reference work for students and academics across the spectrum of classical studies. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Expensive, but Comprehensive
This book is expensive, but it represents the state-of-the-art in Roman technical studies. It does not necessarily supplant older works, such as KD White's 'Greek and Roman Technology' or Brown and Strong's 'Roman Crafts' but it certainly casts them in a different light - especially with the new information regarding Roman industrial capability, and new outlooks on classical attitudes towards technology. The various contributors are well respected in their fields, and the massive amounts of citation will keep you busy for months on any particular subject.

Although it is very comprehensive, it does not cover every aspect of classical technology, and I would HIGHLY recommend you pick up Humphrey, Oleson, and Sherwood's 'Greek and Roman Technology: A Sourcebook' as a companion. Also, keep in mind that this book does not deal with specific nuts and bolts of technologies: you will not find discussions of how much a Roman wagon weighed, efficiencies of harness techniques, mining yields, and other such data points.

If you have an interest in technology and industry in the classical world and want a book you can crack open to any page and go "Wow, I didn't know that!", get this.

Definitive?
In most ways this is an Oxford book of the kind I have come to love: well designed and printed, handsomely bound, and chock-full of information. (Opening it at random, I see that goat hair was of minor commercial value but in some places was used in making tents and sacks.) The scope includes practically all aspects of applied knowledge in the Greek and Roman worlds, from mining to publishing. Even warfare is given a brief treatment.

Clearly this volume must supplant older and lesser works like those of White and Landels as the first place to turn for the current state of knowledge in this field.

I have a couple of gripes, though. First, the copyediting is not quite up to Oxford standards: a mistake like "has lead to" makes me cringe, and at times the text inclines to excessive polysyllabicism.

Second, the editor has chosen to use in-line references instead of footnotes, on the grounds that this enables a "smoother presentation." But there's nothing smooth about prose that's riddled with parenthetic references. In places, such as the middle of p. 4, it's almost impossible even to parse the text. Stop the madness!

Indeed, the proliferation of scholars' names in the inline references, together with an approach that emphasizes the current state of study as much as the subject itself, makes the book seem an exercise in mutual gratification at times.

However, there's no denying the scholarly credentials of the authors, and this book will take a place among the great Oxford reference works for the classical period. ... Read more

Product Description

This innovative new book presents the vast historical sweep of engineering innovation and technological change to describe and illustrate engineering design and what conditions, events, cultural climates and personalities have brought it to its present state.

Matthew Wells covers topics based on an examination of paradigm shifts, the contribution of individuals, important structures and influential disasters to show approaches to the modern concept of structure. By demonstrating the historical context of engineering, Wells has created a guide to design like no other, inspirational for both students and practitioners working in the fields of architecture and engineering.