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Like many apparently simple devices, the vertical water wheel has been around for so long that it is taken for granted. Yet this "picturesque artifact" was for centuries man's primary mechanical source of power and was the foundation upon which mills and other industries developed. Stronger than a Hundred Men explores the development of the vertical water wheel from its invention in ancient times through its eventual demise as a source of power during the Industrial Revolution. Spanning more than 2000 years, Terry Reynolds's account follows the progression of this labor-saving device from Asia to the Middle East, Europe, and America-covering the evolution of the water wheel itself, the development of dams and reservoirs, and the applications of water power.
From cathedrals to star wars, Arnold Pacey looks at the interaction of technologies and society over the last thousand years and uses that survey to argue for a more humane form of future technological development. The second edition of The Maze of Ingenuity concentrates on Europe and North America and incorporates recent insights from the history and sociology of technology. A new series of chapters extends Pacey's discussion of the role of ideas and ideals in technology in the period since the industrial revolution. Contents The Cathedral Builders: European Technical Achievement between 1100 and 1280 • A Century of Invention: 1250-1350 • Mathematics and the Arts: 1450-1600 • The Practical Arts and the Scientific Revolution • Social Ideals in Technical Change: German Miners and English Puritans, 1450-1650 • The State and Technical Progress: 1660-1770 • Technology in the Industrial Revolution • Conflicting Ideals in Engineering: America and Britain, 1790-1870 • Institutionalizing Technical Ideals, 1820-1920 • Idealistic Trends in Twentieth-Century Technology
Winner, 2010 Edelstein Prize, Society for the History of Technology Efficiency—associated with individual discipline, superior management, and increased profits or productivity—often counts as one of the highest virtues in Western culture. But what does it mean, exactly, to be efficient? How did this concept evolve from a means for evaluating simple machines to the mantra of progress and a prerequisite for success? In this provocative and ambitious study, Jennifer Karns Alexander explores the growing power of efficiency in the post-industrial West. Examining the ways the concept has appeared in modern history—from a benign measure of the thermal economy of a machine to its widespread a...
First general account of the mechanics behind pre-industrial technology, combining the skills of an engineer and an archaeologist.
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The wind is a fickle source of power. Windspeeds are frequently too low to be of any practical use, so that windpower has generally remained a marginal resource. Since the inception of windpower around 1000 AD, technology has been deployed to obtain the most economical power from wind. The author traces its technical evolution, concentrating on the growth in understanding of wind and charting crucial developments in windmill design. The history of the windmill is focused on North Western Europe, drawing on the origins of the first horizontal windmills in Persia, Tibet and China. Industrial applications such as in textiles, papermaking and mining are examined. Gradually, windmills were improved but were finally eclipsed by steam engines in the nineteenth century due to increased levels of industrialisation. The book concludes with a look at the recent re-emergence of windpower as a viable source of power in the wake of the energy crisis.
"Funny, clear, deep, and right on target. [Siegfried] lets us get a handle on ideas that are essential for understanding the evolving world." -K. C. Cole, author of The Universe and the Teacup "An eager, ambitious book. A stimulating, accessible introduction to scientific theory." -Dallas Morning News An award-winning journalist surveys the horizon of a new revolution in science Everything in the universe, from the molecules in our bodies to the heart of a black hole, is made up of bits of information. This is the radical idea at the center of the new physics of information, and it is leading to exciting breakthroughs in a vast range of science, including the invention of a new kind of quantum computer, millions of times faster than any computer today. Acclaimed science writer Tom Siegfried offers a lively introduction to the leading scientists and ideas responsible for this exciting new scientific paradigm.
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"This book presents those in geodesy and related sciences, including applied mathematics: many new results of high intellectual value that keep them on top of the latest happenings in the field."--BOOK JACKET.
The Dictionary of Canadian Biography is the definitive biographical reference work in Canadian history. "No serious student of Canada's past can function without access to this thorough, balanced and reliable source." R. Hall, Globe and Mail.