A HISTORY OF MECHANICAL INVERTIONS

Usher, Abbott Payson

ISBN 10: 048625593X / ISBN 13: 9780486255934

Edité par Dover Publications, New York, 1988

A propos de cet article

(1988), 450pp, illus., slight shelfwear to cover, slight soiling to pg edges, sticker remains to rear cover, contents clean.

N° de réf. du vendeur 14-1021

Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: A HISTORY OF MECHANICAL INVERTIONS
• Éditeur: Dover Publications, New York
• Date de parution: 1988
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN à 10 chiffres: 048625593X
• ISBN à 13 chiffres: 9780486255934
• Reliure: Trade Paperback
• État de l'article: Very Good -
• État de la jaquette: No Jacket

A propos de ce titre

Synopsis

"The book is without peer in its field." -- American Scientist
In this completely revised and enlarged edition of a classic work in the history of technology, a noted scholar explores the importance of technological innovation in the cultural and economic history of the West.
Following an introductory discussion of the place of technology in economic history, the author offers a penetrating historical analysis of social change. Within this context he develops a theory of invention based on Gestalt psychology and a concept of social evolution as continuous development from antiquity to the present. Emphasis is placed on the role of economic forces in the development of technology, with scientific concepts also playing an important role in bringing about change.
The latter part of the book focuses on the production and control of power in general, and in particular on a number of important operative mechanisms. Thus we read thought-provoking accounts of the technology of textile manufacture from primitive times, of water wheels and windmills, water clocks, and mechanical clocks, and the work of Leonardo da Vinci. The development of printing is carefully studied, not only for its intrinsic interest, but because of its importance for the history of science. Other topics include the production and application of power (1500-1830), machine tools and quantity production, the production and distribution of power since 1832, and the role of Asia Minor as a source of techniques which dominated the Middle Ages and the modern period as well.
Thoroughly researched and cogently reasoned, A History of Mechanical Inventions belongs in the library of anyone interested in the history of science and invention, as well as the relationship of technology to economic and social history.
"Throughout the book there is constant proof of the author's wide learning and varied intellectual interests." -- The New York Times

Présentation de l'éditeur

Preface This study of technology is an outcome of interests of many years standing. They found some outlet in the volume on the Industrial History of England, but many of the problems were not then clearly perceived, and there was no space for adequate presentation of the larger aspects of the problem. Subsequent experience in teaching has made it evident that the whole matter must be taken up systematically if the significance of technical innovation is to become an integral part of the historical analysis of economic phenomena. As the interests of the economic historian are merely those of the general reader, it is hoped that this study will be of interest to engineers and to the general public. No attempt has been made to point out the full economic consequences of the technical progress recorded, and though the general chronology of the development has been given much attention the importance of the conclusions for the interpretation of the so-called Industrial Revolution is not developed in the present essay. The significance of the history of the inventions is obvious in many individual instances; the larger results, however, call for such extensive revisions of common judgments that adequate critical discussion of the problems raised would run to great length, and have little interest for many readers. It has seemed best to separate the history of the inventions from the discussion of their significance. My obligations to the writings of Professor R, M. Ogden are acknowledged in the text, but I also owe much to personal discussion of these problems with him at an early stage in the preparation of the Manuscript. His suggestions were essential to the formulation of a concept of the process of innovation which is much more significant for historical work than any view suggested by the other groups of psychologists. From my colleagues Professors F. W. Ta
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