Drawing on entirely new evidence, The English Renaissance Stage: Geometry, Poetics, and the Practical Spatial Arts in England 1580-1630 examines the history of English dramatic form and its relationship to the mathematics, technology, and early scientific thought during the Renaissance period. The book demonstrates how practical modes of thinking that were typical of the sixteenth century resulted in new genres of plays and a new vocabulary for problems of poetic representation. In the epistemological moment the book recovers, we find new ideas about form and language that would become central to Renaissance literary discourse; in this same moment, too, we find new ways of thinking about the relationship between theory and practice that are typical of modernity, new attitudes towards spatial representation, and a new interest in both poetics and mathematics as distinctive ways of producing knowledge about the world. By emphasizing the importance of theatrical performance, the book engages with continuing debates over the cultural function of the early modern stage and with scholarship on the status of modern authorship. When we consider playwrights in relation to the theatre rather than the printed book, they appear less as "authors" than as figures whose social position and epistemological presuppositions were very similar to the craftsmen, surveyors, and engineers who began to flourish during the sixteenth century and whose mathematical knowledge made them increasingly sought after by men of wealth and power.

The Origins of Agriculture in Europe takes a look at current ideas in the light of a considerable mass of literature and archaeological evidence; examining the transition to agriculture through the comparison of social and economic developments across Europe.
In this volume, I.J.Thorpe manages to evaluate various alternative explanations in detailed examples, whilst also succeeding in addressing the broader theoretical questions which form the nucleus of contemporary debates. This clearly written and accessible text is an extremely valuable resource for students of European prehistory.

In a provocative new interpretation of a transforming era in American history, Maury Klein examines the forces that turned the United States from a rural agricultural society to an urban industrial one. Integrating social, economic, and business history, he stresses the driving role of technology and the emergence of a complex society of many cultures, lacking a cohesive center. The rise of a corporate economy, described by Mr. Klein, resulted in productive miracles unequaled elsewhere-but at the cost of great social dislocation in American life. Gradually there arose a society that organized and formalized traditional American values in new and unexpected ways. This transformation produced a surprising new center for the diverse and fragmented American social order: the consumer economy. The new order flowered after the turn of the century and was advanced by the consequences of World War I, which left the United States as the world's major power. The Flowering of the Third America is a vivid and authoritative portrait of the making of modern America.

Human factors/ergonomics (HFE) as a discipline has grown by accretions rather than having been developed systematically and deliberately. Therefore, this book's goal creates a formal conceptual structure for HFE. It is intended as a contribution to cultural history because (a) ours is a technological civilization, and (b) one cannot understand technology outside of the various disciplines that make up that technology. A disciplinary history is highly specialized, but the author maintains that HFE is distinctive in being the only discipline that relates humans to technology. Other behavioral disciplines like anthropology have little connection with technology, and this is what makes HFE important in the present historical era.

Human factors/ergonomics (HFE) as a discipline has grown by accretions rather than having been developed systematically and deliberately. Therefore, this book's goal creates a formal conceptual structure for HFE. It is intended as a contribution to cultural history because (a) ours is a technological civilization, and (b) one cannot understand technology outside of the various disciplines that make up that technology. A disciplinary history is highly specialized, but the author maintains that HFE is distinctive in being the only discipline that relates humans to technology. Other behavioral disciplines like anthropology have little connection with technology, and this is what makes HFE important in the present historical era.

Technical and Military Imperatives: A Radar History of World War II is a coherent account of the history of radar in the second World War. Although many books have been written on the early days of radar and its role in the war, this book is by far the most comprehensive, covering ground, air, and sea operations in all theatres of World War II. The author manages to synthesize a vast amount of material in a highly readable, informative, and enjoyable way. Of special interest is extensive new material about the development and use of radar by Germany, Japan, Russia, and Great British. The story is told without undue technical complexity, so that the book is accessible to specialists and nonspecialists alike.

Contents:
Introduction
Part One: Ancient Cities 1. Urban origins: a review of theories Harold Carter 2. Bricks and Brickmaking in Mud and Clay P.R.S.Moorey 3. History Herodotus 4. Deir el-Medina A.R. David 5. Heavy Transport in Classical Antiquity A. Bruford 6. Ancient Greek Water Supply Alfred Burns 7. Lifting in Early Greek Architecture J.J. Coulton 8. The Construction of Fortified Towns Vitruvius 9.The Organization and Supply of Roman Building James c. Anderson jr. 10. On the Water Supply of the City of Rome Frontinus 11. A Model of Agricultural Change Neville Morley 12. The Transformation of the Roman Suburbium Neville Morley
Part Two: Medieval and Early Modern Cities 13. Water Supply in Early Medieval Italy Bryan Ward-Perkins 14. From Polis to Madina: Urban Change in Late Antique and Early Islamic Syria Hugh Kennedy 15. Medieval Technology and Social Change Lynn White 16. Fuelling the city: production and distribution of firewood and fuel in London's region, 1290-1400 James A. Galloway 17. Road Improvement in Thirteenth-century Pisa David HerlihyL 18. Town and Hinterland in Medieval Scotland Elizabeth Ewan 19. Building Renaissance Florence: materials, techniques, organization Richard A Goldthwaite 20. Repositioning the Vatican Obelisk Domenico Fontana 21. Urbanization in Early Modern Europe: Change or Continuity? Christopher R. Friedrichs 22. Technology and the Built Environment of the Early Modern City Christopher R. Friedrichs 23. A Golden Age: Innovations in Dutch Cities, 1648-1720 Jonathan Israel 24. Fire-fighting Technology in Early Modern England Stephen Porter 25. Technological Innvation in Seventeenth-century Paris Leon Bernard 26. Rebuilding London after the Great Fire of 1666 John Evelyn 27. Technological Change in a Traditional Society: The Case of the Desagiie in Colonial Mexico Louisa Schell Hoberman
Part Three: Pre-Industrial Cities of China and Africa 28. Building in 'The Book of Odes' 29. Meanings of Walls and Gates Nelson I. Wu 30. Water-pipes, Fountains and Clocks Joseph Needham and Wang Ling 31. Tiles, Bricks and Coal Sung Ying-Hsing 32. Guilds and Property Development in Hankou William T. Rowe 33. Fire Brigades and Ferries in Hankou William T. Rowe 34. A Description of Hankou in 1850 Evariste Regis Huc 35. Hausa Building Techniques J.C. Moughtin 36. Building-types of the Hausa People: characteristics and formative influences J.C. Moughtin
Part Four: The Sjoberg Model 37. The Pre-Industrial City Gideon Sjoberg 38. Some Reflections on the Pre-Industrial City Peter Burke

This is the story of the most successful pilot training jet ever produced: Northrop T-38 Talon. The history od the aircraft is broken down by the roles it has played in over thirty years of service including development and testing, pilot training, flight test support, NASA program support, air combat aggressor, aerial target, Thunderbird-USAF air demonstration team aircraft, companion trainer, and civilian test support. All units flying the T-38, their markings, and paint schemes are covered in over 300 color photographs-including a chart of colors used listing Federal Standard(RS) color numbers. Don Logan is also the author of Rockwell B-1B: SACs Last Bomber, and The 388th Tactical Fighter Wing: At Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base 1972(both titles are available from Schiffer Publishing Ltd.)

In the light of new archival material the editors take a fresh look at Russian aviation in the twentieth century. Presenting a comprehensive view of Russian aviation, from its genesis in the late czarist period to the present era, the approach is essentially chronological with a major emphasis on the evolution of military aviation. The contributions are diverse, with appropriate attention to civilian and institutional themes.

In the light of new archival material the editors take a fresh look at Russian aviation in the twentieth century. Presenting a comprehensive view of Russian aviation, from its genesis in the late czarist period to the present era, the approach is essentially chronological with a major emphasis on the evolution of military aviation. The contributions are diverse, with appropriate attention to civilian and institutional themes.

Peoples of the distant past lived comfortably in cities that boasted well-conceived urban planning, monumental architecture, running water, artistic expression, knowledge of mathematics and medicine, and more. Without the benefits of modern technology, they enjoyed all the accoutrements of modern civilization. Technology of the Ancient Near East brings together in a single volume what is known about the technology behind these acheivements, based on the archaeological, textual, historic, and scientific data drawn from a wide range of sources, focusing on subjects such as warfare, construction, metallurgy, ceramics and glass, water management, and time keeping. These technologies are discussed within the cultural, historic, and socio-economic contexts within which they were invented and the book emphasises these as the foundation upon which modern technology is based. In so doing, this study elucidates the ingenuity of ancient minds, offering an invaluable introduction for students of ancient technology and science.

Covers the aircraft and many pilots of JG 3, JG 5, JG 51, JG 52, JG 54 and JG 77.

History of Engineering and Technology provides an illustrated history of engineered technology from the Stone Age to the Nuclear Age. Examining important areas of engineering and technology, this second edition contains:

New contributions on
o Airships and zeppelins
o Highways and economics
o Early hydroelectricity
o Chemical engineering
o Technology and history
o Brunel and the Royal Navy
o Stealth and the submarine
o Computer history
o Deepwater engineering
o Science fiction and the evolution of modern engineering
o Art and engineering
o Electric motors, radio, and batteries

Expansion of these existing chapters
o Mining and the Location of Minerals
o Water Distribution: Qanots to Acequias
o Biomedical Engineering
o Communication Engineering: Shannon to Satellites
o Personalities and the Auto: Ford and Ferrari
o Failures in Engineering: Chernobyl, Titanic, Tacoma Narrows, Challenger
o Cold Fusion, Electric Cars, and Other "Humbug"

This introductory book presents the persons, concepts, and events that made salient contributions to the engineering narrative, reporting a compelling story spanning millennia and encouraging a sense of history for its readers.

In this volume, scholars from these two very different traditions are brought together. Never before has a single volume contained such a distinguished and diverse group of historians of technology.

Used in combat in WWII, the Ar 234 was a major development in aircraft design.

Toward the end of the nineteenth century, the hegemony of the printed word was shattered by the arrival of new media technologies that offered novel ways of communicating and storing data. Previously, writing had operated by way of symbolic mediation--all data had to pass through the needle's eye of the written signifier--but phonography, photography, and cinematography stored physical effects of the real in the shape of sound waves and light. The entire question of referentiality had to be recast in light of these new media technologies; in addition, the use of the typewriter changed the perception of writing from that of a unique expression of a literate individual to that of a sequence of naked material signifiers.
Part technological history of the emergent new media in the late nineteenth century, part theoretical discussion of the responses to these media--including texts by Rilke, Kafka, and Heidegger, as well as elaborations by Edison, Bell, Turing, and other innovators--"Gramophone, Film, Typewriter" analyzes this momentous shift using insights from the work of Foucault, Lacan, and McLuhan. Fusing discourse analysis, structuralist psychoanalysis, and media theory, the author adds a vital historical dimension to the current debates over the relationship between electronic literacy and poststructuralism, and the extent to which we are constituted by our technologies. The book ties the establishment of new discursive practices to the introduction of new media technologies, and it shows how both determine the ways in which psychoanalysis conceives of the psychic apparatus in terms of information machines.
"Gramophone, Film, Typewriter" is, among other things, a continuation as well as a detailed elaboration of the second part of the author's "Discourse Networks, 1800/1900" (Stanford, 1990). As such, it bridges the gap between Kittler's discourse analysis of the 1980's and his increasingly computer-oriented work of the 1990's.

This study sets out to provide coverage of the role of indigo in the Arab world, from its earliest history to the present day. It is based on fieldwork in all the principal countries concerned, as well as library and museum research, discussion with those working in related fields and personal experience of dyeing with indigo. The author surveys the story of indigo in antiquity, and then examines the record in the Arab world before Islam, during the Great Age of Islam, and in the subsequent centuries. She looks at all aspects in each period: technical, commercial, economic, and social, with reference to its importance in international trade and the impact of indigo products on Europe. The work covers each stage of indigo production, as well as the botanical and agricultural usages of indigo in the textile industry throughout the whole period, and the sundry purposes outside the field of textiles to which indigo has been put. The study ends with a brief look at indigo's future prospects.

The Origins of Agriculture in Europe takes a look at current ideas in the light of a considerable mass of literature and archaeological evidence; examining the transition to agriculture through the comparison of social and economic developments across Europe.
In this volume, I.J.Thorpe manages to evaluate various alternative explanations in detailed examples, whilst also succeeding in addressing the broader theoretical questions which form the nucleus of contemporary debates. This clearly written and accessible text is an extremely valuable resource for students of European prehistory.

Each volume in this new series is a collection of seminal articles on a theme of central importance in the study of transport history, selected from the leading journal in the field. Each contains between ten and a dozen articles selected by a distinguished scholar, as well as an authoritative new introduction by the volume editor. Individually they will form an essential foundation to the study of the history of a mode of transport; together they will make an incomparable library of the best modern research in the field.

This important volume reviews the history of the telecommunication superhighway pointing out its beginnings in the interactive TV and broadband highway of the wired cities more than two decades ago. It explains the technological uncertainties of the superhighway and many of its futuristic services, and also gives an understandable review of the technological principles behind today's modern telecommunication networks and systems.
Recognizing that technology is only one factor in shaping the future, the author, a well-recognized telecommunications expert, analyzes the financial, policy, business, and consumer issues that undermine the superhighway. The book concludes by showing that today's switched telephone network and CATV systems already form a telecommunication superhighway carrying voice, data, image, and video communication for a wide variety of services that enable us to stay in contact with anyone anywhere on our planet.
"Highway of Dreams" is written clearly with understandable explanations for nonspecialists. It challenges the technological utopia offered by the promoters of the superhighway and suggests that consumer needs, finance, corporate culture, and policy often have far greater impact on the future than technology alone.

This text gathers together examples of the current thinking on methodology and the theoretical perspectives that are increasingly of concern to historians of technology, whilst at the same time presenting other papers which reflect the key areas of historical debate. The volume emphasizes the need both to establish a common forum for theoretical and empirical research and also to delineate the shared concerns of what are often reflected as conflicting rather than mutually supportive approaches to the writing of the history of technology.

This book delivers an in-depth analysis of Hercule Florence, who is virtually unknown despite being among the world's photographic pioneers. Based on the texts of various manuscripts, letters, diaries, notes, and advertisements, this book answers numerous questions surrounding Florence's work, including the materials, methods, and techniques he employed and why it took more than a century for his discovery to come to light. Kossoy's groundbreaking research establishes Florence's use of "photographie" to describe the product of his experiments, half a decade before Sir John Herschel recommended "photography" to Henry Fox Talbot. This book aims to change the fact that despite its cultural and historical importance, Florence's photographic breakthrough remains largely unknown in the English-speaking world.

The history of Brown & Sharpe turns out to be not only an important technological and economic story, but also a fascinating human story. Joseph Brown, the founder, was a skilled clockmaker-turned-machine-maker who invented new machines, and new ways to make things, as needed. Samuel Darling was an eccentric inventor from Maine, a one-time competitor who joined the firm and brought with him his prized dividing engine. The Sharpes-Lucian, his son Henry, and grandson Henry, Jr.- guided the firm for more than a century, and shaped not only the company, but also the global machine tools industry. Gerald Carbone's history of Brown & Sharpe tells these stories, bringing the people to life, putting them into the context of Rhode Island's and the nation's history, and the history of technology and the political economy of the United States. Brown & Sharpe's story is the story of the American Industrial Revolution. But Carbone does much more than tell a dry story of machines and money, of innovative design and engineering, profit and loss. The real story here is the human one, encompassing more than a century-and-a-half of technological change, labor history, and public policy, culminating in history's longest strike. How did the owners and managers negotiate the ever-changing economy, rapid technological change, changing expectations about work and pay? How did the men and women who worked at the firm learn their skills and organize their work to produce and market a dazzling array of measuring devices, sewing machines, machine tools? How did the firm help shape the city, the nation, indeed modernity as we live it today?