A short history of technology : from the earliest times to A.D. 1900 / by T.K. Derry and Trevor I. Williams

PART I. FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO A.D. 1750. I. GENERAL HISTORICAL SURVEY. - Man before civilization. - Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations. - The rise of Greece and Rome. - The Roman Empire. - The earlier Middle Ages. - The later Middle Ages. - The Renaissance. - The emergence of the modern world. 2. THE PRODUCTION OF FOOD. - Domestication of animals. - Origins of agriculture. - Irrigation. - Growth of tillage in Europe. - Preparation of food and drink. - Fisheries. - Effects of the geographical discoveries. - Progress of agriculture, C. .D. 1500-1750. - Land reclamation. 3. PRODUCTION FOR DOMESTIC NEEDS. - Early pottery. - Early textiles. - Ivory, wood, leather, glass. - The contribution of the Greek and Roman world. - The Middle Ages. - Medieval textiles and leather-work. - Furniture. - Textiles and glass, 1500-1750. 4. THE EXTRACTION AND WORKING OF METALS. - The earliest use of metals: the Bronze Age. - The early Iron Age of Greece and Rome. - Metal-working in the Middle Ages. - Extension of the use of metals, 1500-1750. - Further developments of the iron industry. - Armaments. - Instrument-making. 5. BUILDING CONSTRUCTION. - The early empires. - Greek and Roman builiding. - The Middle Ages. - Building from the Renaissance to the eighteenth century. 6. TRANSPORT. - Beginnings: the wheel and the horse. - The Graceo-Roman period. - Transport in the Middle Ages. - The period of the great geographical discoveries. - Development form 1600 to 1750. 7. COMMUNICATION AND RECORD. - Speech and record. - Measurement. - Cartography. - Paper. - Origins of printing. - Developments, 1500-1750. 8. EARLY SOURCES OF POWER. - Man and animal power. - The water-wheel. - The windmill. 9. THE BEGINNINGS OF THE CHEMICAL INDUSTRY. - The chemical industry in ancient times. - Chemiestry and the textile industry. - The manufacture of gunpowder. - The alchemists and the iatrochemists. - The beginning of modern chemistry. PART II. THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION TO A. D. 1900. 10. HISTORICAL SURVEY (1750-1900). - General Introduction. - The quickening tempo of industry, 1750-92. - The period of the great French wars, 1792-1815. - From Waterloo to the Great Exhibition, 1815-51. - The period of nationalist wars, 1851-71. - The age of materialism, 1871-1900. 11. THE STEAM-ENGINE. - Introduction. - Pioneers of the steam-engine. - Watt and Trevithick. - The steam-engine applied to transport. - Locomotivies and stationary steam-engines. - Later development of the steam-engine. - Steam-turbines. - The theoretical background. 12. MACHINE-TOOLS AND THEIR PRODUCTS. - Introduction. - Growth of precision work. - The succession of poineers. - The "American System". - Further developments, 1850-1900. 13. MODERN TRANSPORT. - The last era of sail. - The era of iron adn steel steamships. - The growth of railways. - The road-steammer and the bicycle. - The early motor-car. - Initiation of the conquest of their air. 14. BUILDING CONSTRUCTION: REQUIREMENTS OF URBAN COMMUNITIES. - The civil engineer. - Building materials. - Furniture. - New uses of wrought iron, stee, and concret. - Improvement of water-supply. - Drainage and sanitation. 15. BUILDING CONSTRUCTION: REQUIREMENTS FOR TRANSPORT. - Road making. - Canals and river-improvements. - Railways: the permanent way. - Bridges. - Tunnels. - Land works facilitating sea traffic. 16. COAL AND THE METALS. - Coal-mining. - Cast and wrought iron. - The coming of cheap sttel. - Exploitation fo non-ferrous metals, 1750-1900. - New metal products. - Armaments. 17. NEW MATERIALS: COAL-GAS, PETROLEUM, AND RUBBER. - Origins of gas-lighting. - The gas age. - Early exploitation of bituminous depostis. - The oil-well industry. - Early rubber manufacture. - Vulcanization and wider uses of rubber. - Plantation rubber. 18. THE RISE OF THE MODERN CHEMICAL INDUSTRY. - The chemical industry and the industrial revolution. - Later developments in the manufacture of soda and sulphuric acid, 1930-1900. - Synthetic dyes. - Explosives. - Some electrochemical processes. - Artificial fertilizers. - Other developments, 1830-1900. - Some chemical contributions to medicine. 19. TEXTILES. - Spinning-machinery, 1760-1850. - Improvements in weaving. - Spread of textile machinery, to 1850. - Hosiery and lacemaking. - The sewing-machine. - The textile industries, 1850-1900. 20. POTTERY AND GLASS. - The pottery industry in the eighteenth century. - Nineteenth century developments. - Progress of gass-making. - Glassmaking, 1845-1900. 21. THE INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE. - Introduction. - Gas-engines. - Oil-engines. - Petrol-engines. - Conclusion. 22. THE ELECTRICAL INDUSTRY. - Historial Introduction. - The generatino of electricty. - Distribution. - Telegraphy and telephony. - Electrical lighting. - The electrical-motor. 23. PRINTING, PHOTOGRAPHY, AND THE CINEMA. - The casting and setting of type. - The typewriter. - The modern printing-press. - Paper-making, binding and illustrating. - Early history of photography. - Photography for the amateur and the illustrator. - Development of cinematography. 24. AGRICULTURE AND FOOD. - Agriculture: the implements. - Agriculture: the products. - Agriculture: world changes, 1850-1900. - Food management: fish supplies and whaling. - Processing and preservation of food. - Canning and refrigeration. 25. EPILOGUE: TECHNOLOGICAL AND GENERAL HISTORY.