Bøger i Cambridge Library Collection - Technology serien

Responsible for the generation of most of the world's electricity, and with applications to sea and land transport, the steam turbine may be regarded as a pivotal invention in the creation of a technologically advanced modern society. Charles Parsons (1854-1931) built the first practical steam turbine in 1884, and he remained at the forefront of its development for nearly fifty years, as he saw his invention become first the prime means by which thermal energy could be turned into electricity, and then the power behind pioneering cruise liners and warships. Alexander Richardson (1864-1928), an engineer and politician, had access to the inventor's papers when writing this account of the turbine's history. Published in 1911, and featuring more than 170 illustrative plates, it provides a valuable insight into the development of a technology that revolutionised power generation, marine transport and naval warfare.

One of the great Victorian engineers, Sir William Fairbairn (1789-1874) had started his career as a millwright's apprentice, going on to become a civil engineer, a designer of industrial machinery and an expert on the failure of materials and structures. The present work distils a lifetime's experience of mechanical design into two highly illustrated parts. First published in 1861 and 1863, they are here reissued in a single volume. Part 1 gives a general overview of mechanisms such as gears, cranks and cams, and then moves on to the design of prime movers: waterwheels and turbines, steam engines and boilers, and windmills. Part 2 covers the design of mechanisms in more detail, and discusses power transmissions and their components: shafts, gears, bearings, couplings and so on. Lastly, Fairbairn gives overviews of the most important types of industrial mill - including cotton, wool, paper, iron and gunpowder - and their machinery.

This account of the waterways and railways of Great Britain covers those transport routes and systems of inland navigation that had been completed or were in construction at the time of publication in 1831. Not to be confused with his polymath namesake, Joseph Priestley (1766-1852) entrenched his expertise as manager of the Aire and Calder Navigation. Here he provides alphabetical entries ranging from the Aberdare Canal in Glamorganshire to the Wyrley and Essington Canal in the Midlands. Details are given regarding location, construction, relevant Acts of Parliament, and even tonnage rates. Published to accompany a huge map of British inland navigation (a smaller version is featured here as the frontispiece), the book became a standard reference work in its day. Shedding light on the development of commercially crucial infrastructure, it remains valuable to readers and researchers interested in the history of British transport and technology.

An industrious journalist and editor of periodicals, Peter Lund Simmonds (1814-97) wrote across a range of subjects, including natural history and applied science. An active member of the Royal Society of Arts, he first published this dictionary in 1858. Reissued here in its revised and enlarged edition of 1867, it contains more than 22,000 entries. The curious can discover within that a calcar is a furnace in a glassworks, or that the best kind of Cuban tobacco is known as calidad. Readers will also learn that the hautboy can be either eaten or played, being the name for both a wild strawberry and a form of oboe. Testifying to the proliferation of manufactured goods in the nineteenth century, and the contemporary desire to diffuse 'sound and useful knowledge among the masses', this work will appeal to readers interested in the history and lexicon of trade and technology.

Over the course of three decades, the English businessman and inventor Thomas Hancock (1786-1865) took out sixteen patents relating to the potential applications of natural rubber. Hancock's fascination with this material, the properties of which had not been fully appreciated in England, drove him to experiment extensively with manufacturing methods. This led to the development of the mechanical process of 'mastication' and the chemical process of vulcanization, the end product of which was used by Macintosh to create waterproof garments. This illustrated account of Hancock's discoveries and methods was first published in 1857. It covers the origin of his interest in natural rubber and his subsequent experiments and patents. Also included are details about the plants from which natural rubber is extracted. The result is an informed chronicle of the commercial exploitation of a versatile and lucrative resource.

An accomplished telegraph engineer in his own right, Sir Charles Bright (1863-1937) was the son of Sir Charles Tilston Bright (1832-88), who had achieved greatness in laying the first transatlantic cable in 1858. The younger Bright worked alongside his father for a time, continued his research, and became an authority on the subject. Examining the history, construction and working of submarine telegraphs, this 1898 treatise traces both technical and commercial developments, looking also at the labour involved. Bright addresses the laying of cables across the globe, giving accounts of projects in India, South America and beyond. Illuminating the many commercial uses for submarine cables, Bright provides an informed survey of the early standardisation of telegraphy systems. Replete with detailed illustrations and technical drawings, this work remains an indispensable resource on the history of telecommunications and electrical engineering.

The mining engineer and petrologist Frederick Henry Hatch (1864-1932) left the Geological Survey of Great Britain in 1892, relocating to South Africa. He worked for De Beers and with John Hays Hammond for Cecil Rhodes, finding important new gold fields in Matabeleland and Mashonaland. Control of the gold mines was a significant factor in the tension between Dutch and English settlers that would result in the Second Boer War in 1899. Prior to this, Rhodes and Hammond were behind the abortive Jameson Raid, but Hatch had returned to England briefly and was not implicated. This 1895 work, written with South African mining engineer J. A. Chalmers, reveals the extent of gold reserves in the Transvaal, and the engineering skills needed to exploit them. It deals with geological, economic and legal aspects of the mining industry, remaining of interest to historians of South Africa and the British Empire.

One of the world's leading electrical engineers and involved in projects across the globe, Sir Philip Dawson (1866-1938) was at the forefront of the new technology of electric locomotion. Published in 1897, less than twenty years after the first successful demonstration of an electric passenger locomotive and just seven years after the opening of London's first electrified underground line, this handbook covers all aspects of the building and running of a successful electric railway, ranging from the construction of the permanent way and different means of delivering current through to financial accounting, staff organisation and discipline. Impressed by the speed of American progress, Dawson is keen to impress upon his reader the need for Europe to keep up. With some 500 illustrations, this work offers a uniquely revealing picture of the earliest days of a technology that is now taken for granted.

From the fifteenth century, the silk industry developed in France to rival that of Italy. Taking off during the reign of Henri IV, sericulture was historically centred on Tours and Lyon. In the eighteenth century, attempts were made to introduce it to the north-east of France, to compensate for the decline of viticulture, which had until then represented the region's main economic activity. Agronomist and director of the Royal Academy of Metz, Charles-Bruno Le Payen (1715-82) was the first to breed silkworms on local mulberry leaves in 1754. He also invented a new type of silk-weaving mill. In this work of 1767, he gives a detailed and illustrated description of the structure and functioning of his mill. Le Payen also shares his views on the challenges of breeding silkworms and mulberry trees in the colder climate of Metz.

Officially opened in 1682, the Canal du Midi, designed and built by the engineers Pierre-Paul Riquet and Francois Andreossy, stretched from Toulouse to the Mediterranean. The present work was written by Andreossy's descendant, Antoine-Francois Andreossy (1761-1828), a French general and diplomat. A member of the Academie des Sciences, he analyses here the terrain of the south of France to show how and why the canal was built. Notably, the work became known for the author's argument that Riquet had usurped the glory that really belonged to his ancestor. Concluding with original documents from the period of the canal's construction, along with an appendix giving details on the canal's route, the book is reissued here in its first edition of 1800. A second edition appeared in 1804, and a third edition was begun but never completed.

An important figure in British business history, the civil engineering contractor Thomas Brassey (1805-70) stood at the forefront of railway construction across the globe in the nineteenth century. He was also instrumental in the development of the Victoria Dock and part of London's sewer system. Originally published in 1872 and reissued here in its 1888 seventh edition, this first biography of Brassey was written by his personal friend, the public servant and author Sir Arthur Helps (1813-75). It describes Brassey's many remarkable achievements as a prolific contractor working in Europe, Asia, Australia and the Americas. A brilliant businessman, representing the best of British skill, leadership and organisation, Brassey employed tens of thousands of men around the world at the peak of his career. Having collaborated with prominent engineers such as Joseph Locke and Robert Stephenson, he secured for himself a long-lasting reputation for integrity and dedication.

Sir Isaac Lowthian Bell (1816-1904) was a leading metallurgist and industrialist who served as president of both the Iron and Steel Institute and the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. He combined business skills with scientific expertise and was recognised as a world authority on blast furnace technology. His major works reveal both technical know-how and commercial awareness, and show that he was conscious of the threat to Britain's early lead in industrialisation from foreign competition. He supported free trade, and believed that British industry needed a firm scientific base in order to maintain its global position. Although his posthumous reputation has been eclipsed by that of his contemporaries, he was highly respected in his lifetime, receiving a baronetcy in 1885 for his contribution to industry. This book was first published in 1884 and deals with the economics of iron production in Britain and abroad as well as the processes themselves.

First published in 1891, this memoir describes the life of the metallurgist and inventor Sidney Gilchrist Thomas (1850-1885), best-known for discovering the method of eliminating phosphorus from pig iron which revolutionised the commercial production of steel. Professing a desire to give a 'true' account of a life in contrast to the somewhat hagiographic approach of some contemporary writers, Thomas' biographer, R. W. Burnie, sets out to construct 'a brief history of a very striking and individual character'. The details of Thomas' short life are narrated in 22 chapters, beginning with his early education, his work as a schoolmaster and police clerk whilst studying law and chemistry at night, his career, and his work-related travels, which took him everywhere from central Europe to New Zealand. The memoir also includes a postscript which reveals that Thomas left his considerable fortune to workers in steel production.

Thomas Stevenson (1818-1887) was the son of the engineer Robert Stevenson, and father of the writer Robert Louis Stevenson. Like his brothers David and Alan, he became a lighthouse designer, being responsible for over thirty examples around Scotland. Throughout his career he was interested in the theory as well as the practice of his profession, and published over sixty articles on engineering and meteorology. He was an international expert on lighthouses, and advised on projects in India, China, Japan, New Zealand and Canada. Lighthouse Construction and Illumination, published in 1881, was an expanded version of his Lighthouse Illumination of 1859, and remained a standard text. Many of his improvements in illumination came into universal use. According to his son, as a result of Thomas' work 'the great sea lights in every quarter of the world now shine more brightly'.

Silvanus P. Thompson (1851-1916) was a physicist and electrical engineer. A professor by the age of 27, he taught at University College, Bristol, and the City and Guilds Finsbury Technical College in London, and was a leading expert on the newly emerging subject of electrical lighting. This work, first published in 1884, is considered a classic in the field. In this third edition (1888), Thompson explains that he has updated much of the work, and made an important amendment in Chapter XIV about the introduction of magnetic circuits into theoretical arguments about energy production. The book begins with an explanation of how dynamos turn mechanical power into electricity, and moves on to discuss some historical background and theoretical aspects before giving detailed descriptions and illustrations of the many types of dynamo. It is an important source document for the field of electrical engineering at the end of the nineteenth century.

James Moore Swank (1832-1914) was a US expert on iron and steel, and wrote widely about the industry. In 1873 he became secretary of the American Iron and Steel Association. This second edition (1892) of his influential book on iron manufacture was significantly expanded compared to the 1884 original, with 132 more pages, 15 extra chapters, and revisions throughout the text. Swank aimed to move away from the highly technical approach and European focus that had dominated previous works. Instead, he would emphasise names, dates, facts and results, and give special attention to the growth of the industry in the United States while providing an international context. He includes every country and US state that produced iron. The book is organised chronologically, and provides a fascinating account of the manufacture of iron from the ancient Egyptian period through early modern Britain to late nineteenth-century America.

Stephen Michell's 1881 work covers the full range of engines and steam-pumps available for draining mines in the nineteenth century. An expert on contemporary mining technology, Michell co-authored the essays 'The Best Mining Machinery' and 'The Cornish System of Mine Drainage' prior to writing this comprehensive survey. Mine Drainage represents the first attempt to gather in one book information previously located in various journals (and therefore difficult to find), and documentation about engines by their (possibly biased) manufacturers. The book also contains almost 140 illustrations of the diverse pumps and engines discussed. After a short introduction, the material is organised into two main sections, focusing on horizontal and vertical engines. Within those categories it discusses rotary and non-rotary engines, and simple and compound steam-pumps. The book will interest historians of technology, science, engineering, and mining in the Victorian period.

The discovery of gold in the Witwatersrand hills and the Transvaal region of South Africa sparked a rush in the late 1880s. Competition between the British and Boer settlers for access and control of this valuable commodity was one of the underlying causes of the second Anglo-Boer war (1899-1902) in which the British eventually won control of the territory. In this work, published in 1898, the mining engineer and Fellow of the Geological Society of London John Yates outlines the state of the booming industry on the eve of war. He discusses the work of key companies and includes technical specifications and illustrations of the equipment used in the new gold mines, such as the shafts, mills and cyanide works. An appendix by his fellow engineer Hennen Jennings addresses the question of government assistance in subsidising the huge start-up costs of these mining projects.

Charles Wilkins (1831-1913) was a Welsh postmaster and librarian who had a deep interest in local and regional history, especially of the town of Merthyr Tydfil where he lived. He wrote prolifically for many of the local newspapers, and produced histories of the town, Welsh literature, and the region's coal trade before tackling this work, published in 1903, which examines the rise of the iron and steel industries across the region, and gives a lively account of the notable families who were behind this industrial expansion from the eighteenth century onwards. Wales was a hub of steel, iron and tin production, which became much in demand during the Industrial Revolution. Wilkins also considers the workers' lives, devoting space to the riots of 1831, and paints a broad social and economic portrait of Wales at a time of great transition.

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894), novelist and poet, was descended from a famous Scottish engineering family. His grandfather Robert, his father Thomas, two uncles and a cousin were all noted engineers, particularly known for their lighthouses. This family history, focusing particularly on his grandfather, was written while R. L. Stevenson was living in Samoa, and was published posthumously in 1912. It first outlines the history of the name 'Stevenson' from the thirteenth century. Chapter 1 begins in the mid-eighteenth century, and records Robert Stevenson's birth in 1772, and his father's death. The young Robert worked with his stepfather for the Northern Lighthouse Board and was its sole Engineer from 1808 to 1843. Chapter 2 describes his experiences in that role. Chapter 3 reproduces substantial extracts from Robert's own diary of the construction (1807-1811) of his most famous structure, the Bell Rock lighthouse off Arbroath, which revolutionised lighthouse design.

Sir Edward James Reed (1830-1906) was an innovative naval architect who, after attending the Central School of Mathematics and Naval Architecture in Portsmouth, was appointed chief constructor of the Navy in 1863. This was a crucial time for the navy, as traditional wooden sailing ships began to be armoured or rebuilt in iron in response to more powerful weaponry. Reed pioneered the methodical use of scientific calculations to determine a ship's weight, strength and stability, and was responsible for a number of revolutionary designs. He later founded his own consultancy and designed ships for other countries including Germany, Chile and Brazil. This textbook, first published in 1869, contains a comprehensive overview of the design and construction of the various classes of iron ships of the time, and the new features they incorporated. It also includes descriptions of procedures in Royal Dockyards and various civilian shipyards.

Sir Edward James Reed (1830-1906) was an innovative naval architect who, after attending the Central School of Mathematics and Naval Architecture in Portsmouth, was appointed chief constructor of the Navy in 1863. This was a crucial time for the navy, as traditional wooden sailing ships began to be armoured or rebuilt in iron in response to more powerful weaponry. Reed pioneered the methodical use of scientific calculations to determine a ship's weight, strength and stability, and was responsible for a number of revolutionary designs. He later founded his own consultancy and designed ships for other countries including Germany, Chile and Brazil. This illustrated handbook, first published in 1869, contains a comprehensive overview of the various classes of iron-clad ships of the time - the new features they incorporated, their capabilities, performance, and their cost. It also deals with converting existing wooden battleships into iron-clads.

In the early 1850s the French diplomat and engineer Ferdinand de Lesseps (1805-1894) revived earlier French plans to build a canal through the Isthmus of Suez, and, thanks to his good relations with the Viceroy of Egypt, won approval for the project in the face of British and Turkish opposition. This 1870 lecture reveals de Lesseps' enchantment with the desert and its people, his determination to complete the canal, and his annoyance at British antagonism. By 1875, when this English translation by Sir Henry Wolff was published, the canal had been open for six years and the British position had shifted dramatically. The government bought Egypt's shares in the Canal Company, and Wolff was chosen by Disraeli to speak in Parliament in support of the purchase. De Lessep's book remains an invaluable source on the canal, the politics of the major powers, and European attitudes towards the Middle East.

Robert Willis (1800-1875) was a scientist, inventor and architectural historian of international repute. As Jacksonian Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy at Cambridge, he demonstrated specially made mechanical devices to huge audiences. First published in 1841, Principles of Mechanism provided the theory behind the demonstrations. He defined mechanism as the means by which any relations of motion could be realised. The book was extremely influential, with all books in English, French, and German on the subject for the next generation adopting Willis' classification and nomenclature. He worked closely with William Whewell, whose Mechanics of Engineering was published in the same year. These two books established the science of mechanism, and provided study materials for the rapidly growing engineering profession. The work became a standard textbook for engineering and mathematics students, with a second edition issued in 1870.

This work by William Scoresby (1789-1857) was edited by Archibald Smith (1813-1872) and published posthumously in 1859. It is the account of Scoresby's final voyage and last scientific study, which took place between February and August 1856. Scoresby made his Australian voyage on board the Royal Charter, owned by the Liverpool and Australia Steam Navigation Company. He wished to observe the changes that take place in the magnetic state of iron ships travelling on a north-to-south magnetic latitude, and to assess how magnetic changes affect the working of a compass so that he could discover the most reliable location for it on board ship. The first part of the work is an exposition of magnetic principles, followed by the results and conclusions of Scoresby's experiments. The second part contains a travel account of the actual voyage. It is a key work of nineteenth-century navigation science.

To mark the centenary of Richard Trevithick (1771-1833) H. W Dickinson and Arthur Titley published a fascinating book on the engineer and his work. They succeed in producing a work which appeals to the scientist, the historian and the general reader, without feeling obliged to over-simplify the technical details. Today best remembered for his early railway locomotive, Trevithick worked on a wide range of projects, including mines, mills, dredging machinery, a tunnel under the Thames, military engineering, and prospecting in South America. The book and other centenary activities helped to restore Trevithick's rather neglected reputation as a pioneering engineer of the Industrial Revolution, although his difficult personality and financial failures caused him to be overshadowed by his contemporaries such as Robert Stephenson and James Watt. The book places his achievements in their historical context, and contains many illustrations of his inventions.

This autobiography was first published in 1883, and recounts the life of the Scottish scientist and inventor James Nasmyth (1808-1890), who was arguably the last of the early pioneers of the machine tool industry, most famously remembered for his invention of the steam hammer. He also produced and manufactured several other important machine tools, including a hydraulic press which used water pressure to force tight-fitting machine parts together. All of these machines became popular in manufacturing, and all are still in use today in modified forms. Nasmyth retired from business in 1856 at the age of just 48, and pursued his various hobbies including astronomy; he was co-author of The Moon: Considered as a Planet, a World, and a Satellite (1874) with James Carpenter. This autobiography follows a chronological order, and a list of Nasmyth's inventions is given at the end of the book.

This 1939 work gives deserved recognition to the achievements of the engineer and businessman Matthew Boulton. Boulton's importance has generally been overshadowed by that of his partner James Watt, but he was a significant figure in his own right, particularly in relation to the Soho Foundry and his production of coins and medals. He belonged to a network of highly significant men of the period, including Josiah Wedgwood, Erasmus Darwin and Benjamin Franklin, and was a founding member of the Lunar Society of Birmingham. An engineer by profession, H. W. Dickinson researched widely, and published highly readable works on the history of the steam engine, Watt, and Trevithick, also reissued in this series. He succeeds in producing a work which appeals to the scientist, the historian and the general reader, without feeling obliged to over-simplify the technical details.

This 1936 book, published to celebrate the bicentenary of Watt's birth, examines his career as a craftsman and engineer, rather than offering a purely narrative biography. Watt began his life as a maker of mathematical instruments, and throughout his working life enjoyed the challenge of such skilled work. Watt's inventions did much to power the Industrial Revolution and its economic and social consequences. However, he owed much of his commercial success to his long partnership with Matthew Boulton, a far more astute businessman, and a considerable portion of the book is devoted to the achievements of this period. An engineer by profession, H. W. Dickinson researched widely, and published highly readable works on the steam engine, Watt, Boulton and Trevithick. He succeeds in producing a work which appeals to the scientist, the historian and the general reader, without feeling obliged to over-simplify the technical details.

During his long and varied career, which included academic posts at the universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh, John Robison (1739-1805) contributed many articles to the Encyclopaedia Britannica. Published in 1822, this four-volume collection, edited by his pupil David Brewster (1781-1868), includes these and other insightful scientific writings.