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Original Articles

Engineering History, or the History of Engineering? Re-Writing the Technological Past

Pages 163-180 | Published online: 31 Jan 2014

REFERENCES

  • Throughout this lecture, I have used the following abbreviations: EcHR, Economic History Review HoT, History of Technology T&C, Technology and Culture TNS, Transactions of the Newcomen Society
  • Dictionary of National Biography, 1951–1960 (Oxford, 1971), pp. 300–01; C. Singer, 'The HappyScholar: The First Dickinson Memorial Lecture', TNS, vol. 29 (1953–55), pp. 123–36; J. Foster Petree, 'Some Reflections on Engineering Biography: The Eighth Dickinson Memorial Lecture', TNS, vol. 40 (1967–68), pp. 147–57.
  • A. Titley, 'Presidential Address', TNS, vol. 1 (1920–21), pp. 65–76; L.St.L. Pendred, 'Presidential Address — The Value of Technological History', TNS, vol. 4 (1923–24), pp. 9–10.
  • E.W. Hulme, 'Introduction to the Literature of Historical Engineering to the Year 1640', TNS, vol. 1(1920–21), p. 11. See also S.B. Hamilton, 'Why Engineers Should Study History', TNS, vol. 25 (1945–47), p. 9.
  • S.B. Hamilton, 'Sixty Glorious Years: The Impact of Engineering on Society in the Reign of Queen Victoria', TNS, vol. 31(1957–59), pp. 182–94; C.E. Lee, 'Railway Engineering: Its Impact on Civilisation', TNS, vol. 36 (1963–64), pp. 109–131; L.T.C. Rolt, 'The History of the History of Engineering', TNS, vol. 42 (1969–70), pp. 149–58; W.H. Chaloner, Was there a Decline of the Industrial Spirit in Britain, 1850-1939?', TNS, vol. 55 (1983–84), pp. 211–18; H. Ford, 'Energy — The Key to the History of Engineering', TNS, vol. 63 (1991–92), pp. 209–16; R. Fox, 'Diversity and Diffusion: the Transfer of Technologies in the Industrial Age', TNS, vol. 70 (1998–99), pp. 185–96.
  • C.E. Lee, 'Fourth Biennial Dickinson Memorial Lecture: Introductory Remarks by the President', TNS, vol. 32(1959–60), p. 112.
  • L.T.C. Rolt, Isambard Kingdom Brunel (London, 1965); idem, Thomas Telford (London, 1958); idem, George and Robert Stephenson (London, 1960).
  • T.P. Hughes, 'The Order of the Technological World', HoT, vol. 5 (1980), pp. 1–17; cf. D. MacKenzie, 'Marx and the Machine', T&C, vol. 25 (1984), pp. 473–503.
  • A. Titley, 'Presidential Address', TNS, vol. 1(1920–21), p. 65.
  • The literature on these controversies is vast. I found the following especially helpful: R.L. Heilbroner, `Do Machines Make History?', T&C, vol. 8 (1967), pp. 335–45; N. Rosenberg, 'Technology and the Environment: An Economic Exploration', T&C, vol. 12 (1971), pp. 543–62; Technology in Western Civilisation, eds M. Kranzberg and C.W. Russell, Jr, 2 vols (New York, 1967); Does Technology Drive History? The Dilemma of Technological Determinism, eds L. Marz and M. Roe Smith (Cambridge, MA, 1994).
  • A.R. Hall, 'Where is the History of Technology?', HoT, vol. 22 (2000), pp. 203–09; R.A. Buchanan, 'Reflections on the Decline of the History of Technology in Britain', ibid., pp. 211–21; H.S. Torrens, 'Some Thoughts on the History of Technology and its Current Condition in Britain', ibid., pp. 223–32.
  • C. Singer, Technology and History (L.T. Hobhouse Memorial Lecture, no. 21, London, 1952); A History of Technology, eds C. Singer et al., 5 vols (Oxford, 1954–58).
  • T.C. Barker, 'The Beginnings of the Economic History Society', EcHR, 2nd. ser., vol. 30 (1977), pp. 1–19; Social Change and Revolution in England, 1540–1640, ed. L. Stone (London, 1965); The Standard of Living in Britain in the Industrial Revolution, ed. A.J. Taylor (London, 1975).
  • M. Kranzberg, 'At the Start', T&C, vol. 1(1959–60), pp. 1–10; J.M. Standenmaier, Technology's Storytellers: Reweaving the Human Fabric (Cambridge, MA, 1985), pp. 1–14, 202-09.
  • R.S. Woodbury, 'The Scholarly Future of the History of Technology', T&C, vol. 1 (1959–60), pp. 345–48; E.T. Layton, 'Technology as Knowledge', T&C, vol. 15 (1974), pp. 31–41.
  • For three valuable surveys, see: T.P. Hughes, 'Emerging Themes in the History of Technology', T&C, vol. 20 (1979), pp. 697–711; D.A. Hounshell, 'On the Discipline of the History of American Technology', Journal of American History, vol. 67 (1981), pp. 854–65; J. Standenmaier, 'Recent Trends in the History of Technology', American Historical Review, vol. 95 (1990), pp. 715–25.
  • N.B. Harte, 'Trends in Publications on the Economic and Social History of Great Britain and Ireland, 1925-74', EcHR, 2nd ser., vol. 30 (1977), pp. 20–41; D.C. Coleman, History and the Economic Past: An Account of the Rise and Decline of Economic History in Britain (Oxford, 1987), pp. 93–127.
  • J. Simmons, 'Technology in History', HoT, vol. 3 (1978), pp. 1–12; R.A. Buchanan, 'History of Technology in the Teaching of History', ibid., pp. 13–27. For the involvement of Hall, Harris and Buchanan in the affairs of the Newcomen Society, see their contributions cited below in note 20.
  • L.T.C. Rolt, op. cit. (5), p. 156; P. Mathias, The Transformation of England: Essays in the Economic and Social History of England in the Eighteenth Century (London, 1979), p. 40. See also J.R. Harris, Industry and Technology in the Eighteenth Century: Britain and France (Birmingham, 1973), p. 3; S. Lilley, 'Technological Progress and the Industrial Revolution', in The Fontana Economic History of Europe, ed. C. Cipolla, vol. 3, The Industrial Revolution (London, 1973), p. 254.
  • 'The Newcomen Society: Diamond Jubilee: A Symposium to Commemorate the Sixtieth Anniversary of the Founding of the Society', TNS, vol. 51(1979–80), pp. 193–228. See especially the following articles: D.G. Tucker, 'Interpretations of the History of Technology and the Newcomen Society Tradition', pp. 197–201; A.R. Hall, 'The History of Technology in Relation to the History of Science', pp. 206–09; J.R. Harris, 'Economic History and the History of Technology', pp. 210–13; R.A. Buchanan, 'Industrial Archaeology in Relation to the History of Technology', pp. 214–19. See also D.G. Tucker, 'Conference Report: Diamond Jubilee of the Newcomen Society: the Science Museum, London, November 18,1980', T&C, vol. 23 (1982), pp. 73–77.
  • D.C. Coleman, History and the Economic Past (Oxford, 1987), pp. 126–48; R.J. Evans, In Defence of History (London, 1997), pp. 278–79; M.J. Daunton, 'What is Economic History', in What is History Today?, ed. J. Gardiner (London, 1988), pp. 37–38.
  • A. Roland, 'What Hath Kranzberg Wrought?', T&C, vol. 38 (1997), p. 698; H.S. Torrens, op. cit. (11), pp. 224–25.
  • See, for example, the following essays in Marx and Roe Smith, Does Technology Drive History? (Cambridge, MA, 1994): P. Scranton, 'Determinism and Indeterminacy in the History of Technology', pp. 143–68; R. Williams, 'The Political and Feminist Dimensions of Technological Determinism', pp. 217–35; L. Marx, 'The Idea of "Technology" and Postmodern Pessimism', pp. 237–57.
  • D. Edgerton, 'Reflections on the History of Technology in Britain', HoT, vol. 22 (2000), pp. 181–87; G. Gooday, 'The Flourishing of History of Technology in the United Kingdom: A Critique of Antiquarian Complaints of Neglect', ibid., pp. 189–201; I. Inkster, 'Pursuing Big Books: Technological Change in Global History', ibid., pp. 233–53.
  • R.A. Buchanan, 'Theory and Narrative in the History of Technology', T&C, vol. 32 (1991), pp. 365–76.
  • P. Hudson, The Industrial Revolution (London, 1992), pp. 9–10; C. MacLeod, 'James Watt, Heroic Invention and the Idea of the Industrial Revolution', in Technological Revolutions in Europe: Historical Perspectives, eds M. Berg and K. Bruland (Cheltenham, 1998), pp. 96–115.
  • Hudson, Industrial Revolution, pp. 13–15, 25; P. Mantoux, The Industrial Revolution in the Eighteenth Century (London, 1928), pp. 42–43; N. Rosenberg, Schumpeter and the Endogeneity of Technology: Some American Perspectives (London, 2000), pp. 1–18; T.S. Ashton, The Industrial Revolution, 1760–1830 (Oxford, 1948), p. 48.
  • D. Cannadine, 'The Present and the Past in the English Industrial Revolution, 1880-1980', Past & Present, no. 103 (1984), pp. 133–37.
  • J.H. Clapham, An Economic History of Modern Britain, 3 vols (Cambridge, 1926–38), vol. 1, TheEarly Railway Age, 1820–1850, pp. viii, 41,66,142-45,155. See also R. Jenkins, 'Presidential Address: Observations on the Rise and Progress of Manufacturing Industry in England', TNS, vol. 7 (1926–27), p. 13.
  • D. Cannadine, op. cit. (28), pp. 149–56.
  • D. Landes, The Unbound Prometheus: Technological Change and Industrial Development in Western Europe from 1750 to the Present (Cambridge, 1969), pp. 41–42; P. Deane, The First Industrial Revolution (Cambridge, 1967), pp. 118, 119-24,127-33.
  • E.J. Hobsbawm, Labouring Men: Studies in the History of Labour (London, 1964), pp. 64–125; E.P. Thompson, The Making of the English Working Class (London, 1965), esp. pp. 314–49.
  • H.J. Habakkuk, American and British Technology in the Nineteenth Century: The Search for Labour-Saving Inventions (Cambridge, 1967); A.E. Musson and E. Robinson, Science and Technology in the Industrial Revolution (Manchester, 1969); Science, Technology and Economic Growth in the Eighteenth Century, ed. A.E. Musson (London, 1972); Mathias, Transformation of England (London, 1979), pp. 21–87.
  • D. Cannadine, op. cit. (28), pp. 159–67.
  • G.R. Hawke, Railways and Economic Growth in England and Wales, 1840–1870 (Oxford, 1970), esp. pp. 196, 405; G.N. von Tunzelman, Steam Power and British Industrialisation to 1870 (Oxford, 1978), p. 8, chs 5–7; E.L. Jones, Growth Recurring: Economic Change in World History (Oxford, 1988), pp. 19, 54.
  • D.S. Landes, The Wealth and Poverty of Nations: Why Some are So Rich and Some So Poor (London, 1998), pp. 45–59, 186–9; idem, 'The Fable of the Dead Horse; or, the Industrial Revolution Revisited', in The British Industrial Revolution: An Economic Perspective, ed. J. Mokyr, 2nd edn (Boulder, CO, 1999), pp. 128–59; J. Mokyr, 'Technological Change, 1700-1830', in The Economic History of Britain since 1700, eds R. Floud and D. McCloskey, 2nd edn, 3 vols (Cambridge, 1994), vol. 1, pp. 41–43.
  • C. Sabel and J. Zeitlin, 'Historical Alternatives to Mass Production', Past & Present, no. 108 (1985), p. 141; M. Berg, The Age of Manufactures: Industry, Innovation and Work in Britain, 1700–1820 (London, 1985); M. Berg and P. Hudson, 'Rehabilitating the Industrial Revolution', EcHR, 2nd ser., vol. 45 (1992), p. 34.
  • G.R. Hawke, 'Reinterpretations of the Industrial Revolution', in The Industrial Revolution and British Society, eds P.K. O'Brien and R. Quinault (Cambridge, 1993), p. 60.
  • P. Mathias and J.A. Davis, 'Editors' Introduction', in Innovation and Technology in Europe: fromthe Eighteenth Century to the Present Day, eds P. Mathias and J.A. Davis (Oxford, 1991), pp. 1–5.
  • E.J. Hobsbawm, Industry and Empire: From 1750 to the Present Day (Harmondsworth, 1969), pp. 13–20; M. Adas, 'Introduction', in Technology and European Overseas Enterprise, ed. E.J. Hobsbawm (London, 1996), pp. xv—xxvi.
  • L.St.L. Pendred, op. cit. (4), p. 7; L.J. Colley, Captives: Britain, Empire and the World, 1600–1850 (London, 2002), pp. 367–68.
  • D.R. Headrick, 'The Tools of Imperialism: Technology and the Expansion of European Colonial Empires in the Nineteenth Century', Journal of Modern History, vol. 51 (1979), pp. 231–34.
  • D.R. Headrick, The Tools of Empire: Technology and European Imperialism in the Nineteenth Century (Oxford, 1981), pp. 17–57; idem, 'Tools of Imperialism', p.260; pp. 83–114; H. Strachan, European Armies and the Conduct of War (London, 1983), pp. 76–89; M. Crowder, 'West African Resistance', in West African Resistance: The Military Response to Colonial Occupation, ed. H. Strachan (London, 1971), pp. 1–19.
  • W. Woodruff, Impact of Western Man: A Study of Europe's Role in the World Economy, 1750–1960 (London, 1966), pp. 223–50.
  • D.R. Headrick, op. cit. (43), pp. 129–56, 165–79; C.E. Lee, op. cit. (5), pp. 119–26; R.A. Buchanan, 'The Overseas Projects of I.K. Brunel', TNS, vol. 54(1982–83), pp. 156–60.
  • C.W. Smith and M. Norton Wise, Energy and Empire: A Biographical Study of Lord Kelvin (Cambridge, 1989), pp. 649–83; D.R. Headrick, The Tentacles of Progress: Technology Transfer in the Age of Imperialism, 1850–1940 (Oxford, 1988), pp. 97–110.
  • J. Morris, Pax Britannica: The Climax of an Empire (London, 1968), p. 361; D.R. Headrick, op. cit. (43), pp. 49–96.
  • D.R. Headrick, op. cit. (46), pp. 145–208,259–303.
  • J. Morris, Farewell the Trumpets: An Imperial Retreat (London, 1978), pp. 338–62; R.G. Irving, Indian Summer: Lutyens, Baker and Imperial Delhi (London, 1981), pp. 194–95.
  • J. Darwin, Britain, Egypt and the Middle East: Imperial Policy in the Aftermath of War (London, 1981), pp. 219, 228–29; M. Gilbert, Winston S. Churchill, vol. 4, 1916–22 (London, 1975), pp. 490–97, 796-819; H. Probert, Bomber Harris (London, 2001), pp. 49–54.
  • A.G. Frank, On Capitalist Underdevelopment (Bombay, 1975); F. Stewart, Technology and Underdevelopment (London, 1977); S. Hill, The Tragedy of Technology (London, 1988); M. Adas, Machines as the Measure of Men: Science, Technology, and Ideologies of Western Dominance (London, 1989).
  • J. Simmons, op. cit. (18), pp. 2–4; J. Schneer, London, 1900: Imperial Metropolis (London, 1999), pp. 184–226.
  • P.M. Kennedy, The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers: Economic Change and Military Conflict from 1500 to 2000 (London, 1988), p. 202.
  • D. Cannadine, Ornamentalism: How the British Saw their Empire (London, 2001), esp. pp. 121–35.
  • P.M. Kennedy, op. cit. (53), pp. 290–99; E.J. Hobsbawm, op. cit. (40), pp. 134–53, 172–94; D. Landes, op. cit. (31), pp. 326–58.
  • D. Cannadine, In Churchill's Shadow: Confronting the Past in Modern Britain (London, 1902), pp. 28–32.
  • S.B. Hamilton, op. cit. (5), p. 193.
  • C.P. Snow, The Two Cultures, intro. S. CoRini (Cambridge, 1998), p. 11; H. Wilson, Purpose in Politics: Selected Speeches (London, 1964), p. 27; B. Pimlott, Harold Wilson (London, 1992), pp. 301–05; P. Ziegler, Wilson: The Authorised Life of Lord Wilson of Rievaulx (London, 1993), pp. 143–44.
  • C. Barnett, The Swordbearers (London, 1963); The Collapse of British Power (London, 1972); The Audit of War (London, 1986).
  • D. Cannadine, op. cit. (56), pp. 37–41. See also J. Walvin, Victorian Values (London, 1987); Victorian Values, Proceedings of the British Academy, ed. T.C. Smout, lxxviii (1992).
  • A.R. Hall, op. cit. (11), pp. 205–09; H.S. Torrens, op. cit. (11), pp. 223–32.
  • D.H. Aldcroft, 'The Entrepreneur and the British Economy, 1870-1914', EcHR, 2nd. ser., vol. 18 (1964), pp. 113–34; A.L. Levine, Industrial Retardation in Britain, 1880–1914 (London, 1967); The Development of the British Economy and Foreign Competition, 1875–1914, ed. D.H. Aldcroft (London, 1968); D.H. Aldcroft and H.W. Richardson, The British Economy, 1870–1939 (London, 1969).
  • D.N. McCloskey, Economic Maturity and Entrepreneurial Decline: British Iron and Steel, 1870–1913 (Cambridge, MA, 1973); idem, Enterprise and Trade in Victorian Britain (London, 1981); L.G. Sandberg, 'The Entrepreneur and Technological Change', in The Economic History of Britain since 1700, eds R. Floud and D. McCloskey, 2 vols (Cambridge, 1981), pp. 99–120.
  • M. Sanderson, The Universities and British Industry, 1850–1970 (London, 1972), esp. pp. 1–30.
  • D. Edgerton, 'The "White Heat" Revisited: The British Government and Technology in the 1960s', Twentieth-Century British History, vol. 7 (1996), pp. 53–82; J. Tomlinson, 'Inventing "Decline": The Falling Behind of the British Economy in the Post-War Years', EcHR, 2nd ser., vol. 49 (1996), pp. 731–57; idem, 'The British "Productivity" Problem in the 1960s', Past & Present, no. 175 (2002), pp. 188–210.
  • E. Ashby, Technology and the Academics (London, 1958), pp. 50–66, 75-88.
  • W.H. Chaloner, op. cit. (5), pp. 211–18. For further critiques of (respectively) Weiner and Barnett, see: J. Raven, 'Viewpoint: British History and the Enterprise Culture', Past & Present, no. 123 (1989), pp. 178–204; J. Harris, 'Enterprise and the Welfare States: A Comparative Perspective', Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, 5th ser., vol. 40 (1990), pp. 183–91.
  • For a persuasive and provocative general survey, see D. Edgerton, Science, Technology and British Industrial 'Decline', 1870–1970 (Cambridge, 1996). See also British Culture and Economic Decline, eds B. Collins and K. Robbins (London, 1990); F.M.L. Thompson, Gentrification and the Enterprise Culture: Britain, 1780–1980 (Oxford, 2001), esp. pp. 1–22,143-62.
  • C. Singer, op. cit. (2), p. 132.
  • M.J. Daunton, Progress and Poverty: An Economic and Social History of Britain, 1700–1850 (Oxford, 1995), p. 127.
  • D. Edgerton, op. cit. (68), pp. 3, 69.
  • L.St.L. Pendred, op. cit. (3), p. 9.

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