Reviews for A Catechism of the Steam Engine

The average rating for A Catechism of the Steam Engine based on 2 reviews is 5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2014-12-04 00:00:00 Robert Cameron Preface A. Discuss past situations where technology was responsive to social needs. [vii] B. These people insulated themselves from economic constraints by engaging in idealistic ventures (cathedral building) where market constraints did not exist C. Thus, this book looks at idealistic (or non-economic) trends in Western technology from Middle Ages to 20th [viii] III. The Cathedral Builders: European Technical Advancement Between 1100 and 1280 A. Introduction: Innovations of the 1090s 1. The beginning of the Durham Cathedral is a landmark period in Western technology [2] a) Began the rediscovery of Roman and Greek technology b) Contact with Islamic civilization also furthered knowledge c) The idealism and energy with which Europeans assimilated and furthered this knowledge 2. Three technical innovations were developed at Durham: rib vault, pointed arch, flying buttress [8] IV. Social Ideals in Technical Change: German Miners and English Puritans, 1450-1650 A. Introduction 1. The German view does not easily fit into the Scientific Revolution (except for Kepler) [103] 2. It was a mystical approach (neo-Platonic) as opposed to Cartesian mechanical universe [104] 3. While German's are dismissed by historians of science, historians of technology do not because of their expertise in mining and metalworking B. The Practical Arts of the German Speaking Countries 1. Copper, silver and lead were mined in German speaking areas [105] 2. The importance of silver arose from making coins 3. Tin was used to make bronze (1 part tin, 8 parts copper) [107] 4. In the 15th guns were used and copper was in large demand C. Bankers and Assayers 1. German craftsmen spread their knowledge across Europe as agents of Augsburg banking firms [108] 2. They were sent because the German mines were becoming less profitable [109] 3. Daniel Hochstetter was Germany's main assayer (evaluator of metal in an ore) in England 4. He developed methods to extract 1 part silver in 5,000 parts ore [110] D. The Literature of Mining 1. The printing press allowed mining literature to become available [112] 2. The greatest books were by Georgius Agricola 3. He thought that by writing about mining in a good Latin style would bring the attention of learned men 4. But the miners themselves ignored the work because of the scholarly Latin [114] E. The Outlook of the Miners 1. The miners attitudes, while different from Agricola are difficult to document [115] 2. Martin Luther's father was a miner and we know a little about him 3. Luther's teaching was that man's every day work (mining) was pleasing to God [117] 4. Thus ordinary miners became religious singing hymns [118] F. Commerce and Warfare in Germany and England 1. Commerce in England expanded rapidly in the 16th [120] 2. This is tied to the Protestant Reformation because it provided positive ideals for economic enterprise. This is contrasts to the Anabaptists and Luther [121] 3. John Calvin and the Calvinists brought even more the idea that business success was looked favorably on by God 4. Discovery and invention at this time were supposed to benefit humankind thru medicine, or agriculture 5. Wars in the 17th (30 years war, Civil War) redirected the thought about technology to these more social ends [122] G. Social Ideals for the Use of Knowledge 1. Francis Bacon called for technology to benefit humankind [124] 2. A campaign for educational reform was put forward by Hartlib [125] 3. "Puritan antagonism to secular learning" I thought that Puritans believed that scientific knowledge glorified God. Merton made them the basis for English Scientific Revolution [127] H. Technology and Human Destiny 1. Three attitudes towards technology during 16th & 17th [129] a) Mathematics & engineering b) Mining, textiles & foreign trade (Germany & Hochsetter) c) Artisan, craftworkers, miners & the mysticism of Paracelsus V. The State and Technical Progress, 1660-1770 A. French Policies Under Colbert 1. Colbert was Louis XIV Controller General [133] 2. A problem that he was concerned with was the inadequacy of French shipping compared to other nations 3. He founded the French Academy of Sciences [134] 4. Huygen's took over the Academy 5. Colbert promoted the founding of trading companies 6. Colberts policies for France were far reaching [135] 7. These policies promoted new industries, promoted guilds, improved inland transport (roads and rivers), canal (of the 2 seas) from Mediterranean to Atlantic [136] These promoted the ideal: Glory to the king & utility : economic advancement B. Developments in England 1. There were similar river schemes in England (though not as grand as the canal of the 2 seas) 2. From 1712 Newcomen engines were used for pumps in tin mines [137] 3. The Royal Society had lofty objectives for trade and manufacturing [138] 4. There was a water-powered silk twisting mill 5. England was learning from other European countries (canals from France, silk twisting from Italy, agriculture from the low countries) [140] C. The Mood of the Improvers in England 1. Though progress was made there was much dissatisfaction. Roads were bad as were bridges 2. Alexander Pope's poems described the dissatisfaction with the time [142] 3. Pope wanted to emulate the splendors of the Roman times D. Mercantilist Economies and the Eastern Trade (the East is a stimulus) 1. Mercantilism influenced many technologies during this time [144] 2. Wealth was defined in terms of Gold. So the gains of one nation must come from the loss of another 3. The plan for a mercantilist country would be to aim for industrial self-sufficiency (no imports were necessary) then export to increase the countries gold supply 4. Trade with the East was difficult because there was little that the East wanted [145] 5. So technology had to be developed that would produce goods on par with those of China 6. So the importance of trade with the East was that techniques unfamiliar to the West provided stimulus to inventors and experimenters [146] E. Mercantilist Policies in Europe 1. The weakness of mercantilist theory is that there was a failure to see that the growth of manufacturing or agriculture could result in an increase of wealth all in one country [149] 2. Mercantilist thinking predominated the policies of the Saxon government. Mines were subject to governmental control. Educational institutions were funded by the government to provide technically qualified personnel. [152] F. Steam Power in the Austrian Empire 1. Atmospheric engines appeared in the Austrian empire shortly after their appearance in the English mines. This shows how well the practical arts fared under mercantilism 2. Joseph Hell in the 18th developed an atmospheric steam engine for raising water in mines [153] G. Directions of Technical Progress Under Mercantilism 1. Much of the countryside remained backward while palaces had advanced technology [155] 2. Austria was a dual economy: Advanced technology in a small area and little technology in country textile manufacturing 3. Britain differed with its neighbors. Ex. use of government [158] 4. The contrast is between social ideals. England believed that the public good was served by technology. VI. Technology in the Industrial Revolution A. Steam, Coal, & Iron: A single movement 1. There was an increasing use of coal to substitute for wood 2. The greatest challenge was to find a way of using coal in iron smelting around 1700 3. Abraham Darby began experiments using coal then coke in the furnace (1709) a) Darby developed thin-walled cast-iron pots were ideal for engine cylinders 4. Thus, developments in the iron industry became linked to steam engine design a) Also Newcomen's engine is linked to coal mining because the engine pumped water out of the mines b) So, coal, steam power, and the coke based iron industry were so closely related that we should think of them as a single movement B. Textile Technology Organization 1. Demand for cotton textiles was greatly expanding. 2. Two efforts to increase cotton output a) Within the system: Kay's flying shuttle (allowed the weavers to work faster), spinning jenney (increased the productivity of the spinners b) Application of these to cotton production 3. Richard Arkwright mechanized all the processes involved in producing cotton yarn, but most importantly he centralized the work in a single factory (1771) 4. The power for these mills was wood and water wheels C. The Convergence of Industrial Movements 1. The Arkwright system was having difficulty finding new rivers capable of driving waterwheels 2. In Lancashire in 1783 a steam engine was installed 3. Iron also began to be used in improving the construction of the buildings 4. Therefore, steam+iron enabled the textile industry to break through traditional limits-and-the expansion of the textile production stimulated the iron and engine building business 5. It is this convergence which represents the industrial revolution 6. Results to the rest of the world a) India began to louse markets to the mule and its fine yarn b) The Caribbean and America benefited because much of the raw cotton came from here D. The Technology of the Industrial Convergence 1. Watt's improvements a) Double-acting: the piston produces work on up and downward motions b) Sun & Planet gearing transformed lateral motion to circular motion 2. This rotative engine transformed Manchester a) The city was transformed in a few years to the biggest concentration of manufacturing and engineering in the world (1790s) b) Here more than anywhere else the steam, coal, & iron movements converged with the textile movement 3. Iron began to be used more frequently for structural and engine design E. Rationalist Ideals 1. In 1759 John Smeaton experimented with waterwheels and determined that the breast shot was the most productive a) He was concerned about the education of engineers b) So, he encouraged the formation of the "Society of Civil Engineers" (1771) F. Social Ideals and Industrial Technology 1. From Landes, we see 2 main impulses for innovation a) Application of rationality to life b) The Faustian ethic-or to control nature G. Utilitarianism and Industry 1. Optimism began to fade after the French Revolution and the overcrowding of towns 2. However, some remained hopeful about science and industry 3. Jeremy Bentham became the philosopher of the IR a) Utilitarianism is usually the word associated with this group but Bentham preferred "greatest happiness" 4. Strutts work on heating and hospital design is an example of the use of technical skill for a compassionate purpose a) This is an example of social idealism influencing attitudes toward technology VII. Conflicting Ideals in Engineering: America & Britain, 1790-1870 A. Steam Transport Systems 1. The U.S. had the first steam transport systems on the Mississippi (1815) 2. The Clermont by Robert Fulton (1807) was the first successful passenger system 3. From 1817-1850 Mississippi steamboats played a crucial role in allowing the economy in this part of America to develop 4. It also enable settlers to travel west via tributaries (this sounds like they could not have traveled west without the steam boats) B. The Coming of the Railroads 1. In Britain (1825) we see the beginning of the railroad: Stockton & Darlington 2. In America the first line, The Baltimore and Ohio (1827) 3. A special feature to railroads and spinning machinery was that they began to be built to a standard dimension 4. This principle of standardization and interchangeable parts is traditionally associated with America, but it began in Britain (Maudsley's workshop) C. Developments in America 1. Eli Whitney was contracted to make 10,000 guns for the government-but he underestimated the difficulty in making them interchangeable 2. The problem was that every time a piece was moved from 1 machine to another there was an error in positioning it. This error could be eliminated if a part only had to be attached once. D. Quality and Mechanization 1. The 1850's were a time of rapid development in armaments for European countries 2. The fact that people were promoting interchangeable parts shows that it had become an important ideal. This was "the grand objective" 3. Interchangeability and mechanization were 2 separate ideals: E. Visions of Automation 1. Self-acting looms and spinning mules were a powerful stimulus for people thinking about how far systems of mechanization could advance 2. Andrew Ure said that if a process could not be fully mechanized it should be performed by a division of labor 3. Babbage, On the Economy of Machinery and Manufactures, stressed this division of labor. He also believed that the government should interfere as little as possible between workmen and their employees. (1832) 4. There was a link between Marx, Babbage, & Ure. They all believed that fewer of the old-style craftsmen were needed because machines were being built as self-acting F. Moral Inventions 1. In America it was believed that the discipline necessary to construct interchangeable parts would instill moral growth 2. "Moral inventions" began to be made. Example was Strutt's invention which automatically flushed the toilet when a person finished with it 3. Chadwick adopted a Benthamite approach to technology in the field of sanitation a) He developed a program for the development of urban sanitation in Britain G. Symbols and Conflicting Ideals 1. The Brooklyn Bridge was seen as a symbol of victory 2. Hewitt compared the bridge with the pyramids of Egypt 3. It has a vault of heaven about it. The idea of human invention mirroring God's creative energy is a recurring theme. 4. Conflicting ideals between U.S. and Britain: U.S. was concerned with systems for production and transportation. Britain was more concerned with the quality of individual products, guns, bridges, etc.

Review # 2 was written on 2016-01-07 00:00:00 Maria Pace I'm currently reading this for a college class. I really didn't think this topic has any relevance at all anymore, but I was wrong. I'm surprised by how closely it parallels technology today.