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

This is the fascinating story of the single-engine Lockheeds flown by Charles Lindbergh, Wiley Post and Will Rogers, Amelia Earhart, and Jimmy Doolittle.

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.

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.

Among the makers of these unusual aircraft were Focke-Wulf, Flettner and Wiener-Naustdter.

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.

Few people have changed the world like the Nobel Prize winners. Their breakthrough discoveries have revolutionised medicine, chemistry, physics and economics. Nobel Life consists of original interviews with twenty-four Nobel Prize winners. Each of them has a unique story to tell. They recall their eureka moments and the challenges they overcame along the way, give advice to inspire future generations and discuss what remains to be discovered. Engaging and thought-provoking, Nobel Life provides an insight into life behind the Nobel Prize winners. A call from Stockholm turned a group of twenty-four academics into Nobel Prize winners. This is their call to the next generations worldwide.

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?

Dr Chaloner considers economic history to be a branch of what the French call the historical sciences and believes that it is impossible to treat usefully of the rise, decline and metamorphosis of industries and economics without some consideration of the part played by the efforts of individual men and women in these processes. In this collection of essays, first published in 1963, he provides biographies of certain entrepreneurs, inventors and engineers together with historical surveys of some vital industries.

'It's rare for a book to make you see the world differently, but this ... does exactly that on almost every page' Guardian

Standard histories of technology give tired accounts of the usual inventions, inventors, and dates, framing technology as the inevitable march of progress. They split history into ages - electrification, motorisation, and computerisation - and rarely ask whether anyone bothered to use these inventions at the time. Shock of the Old is not one of those histories.

I Letters exist alongside emails and outlasted telegrams; we still make physical books and magazines despite the rise of the Internet - a belated rise considering that the technologies that made it possible was invented in 1965, and bookshops thrive despite Amazon. More horses were used in the Second World War than any other war in history and propeller planes continue to take off from the same runways as jets.

Shock of the Old forces us to reassess the significance of old inventions such as corrugated iron and sewing machines and rethink the relative importance we place on the invention of something new, its application, and its widespread adoption. It challenges the idea that we live in an era of ever increasing change and, interweaving political, economic and cultural history, teaches us to think critically about technology.

Pliny's World offers readers a translation of the Natural History's opening books unprecedented for its completeness, accuracy and accessibility. Here, in quirky, often breathless style, Pliny lays the foundation of a hugely influential encyclopedia with coverage of the universe, stars, planets and moon, followed by earth's climate and then its physical and human geography. From Rome as ruling centerpoint, Pliny surveys the known world and its countless peoples in a vast arc from the Atlantic to Sri Lanka, embracing the Danube, Euphrates and Nile lands, Atlas and Caucasus mountains, Germany, Africa, Arabia, India. Passages from later books further illustrating his geographical grasp are appended, on topics as varied as wine, water, trees, birds and fish. Throughout, Pliny's frank expression of strong opinions about religion, distorted human values, abuse of the environment (and more) reveals uncannily modern preoccupations. His work remained an inspirational resource through the Renaissance, and still fascinates today.

The automobile continues to be the privileged product of the culture of mass consumption, yet there has been little scholarly attention to what concerns consumers most-- the appearance of cars. "Auto-Opium" is the first comprehensive history of the profession and aesthetics of American automobile design. David Gartman reveals how the appearance of vehicles became an integral part of the system of mass production and mass consumption forged in the struggles of American society.
The book traces the development of automobile design, from the first utilitarian cars around the turn of the century to the most modern of symbol-laden cultural icons. The author shows that the aesthetic qualities of vehicles were shaped by the social conflicts generated by the process of mass production. These conflicts became channeled into the realm of mass consumption, where working Americans demanded beautiful, stylish, and constantly improving cars to compensate them for the deprivations of mass production. Combining a unique blend of business, social, and cultural history, "Auto-Opium" connects the social struggles of designers within firms and the marketplace struggles between auto firms.

This much needed book is the first to provide a comprehensive history of the profession and aesthetics of American automobile design. The author reveals how the appearance of the automobile was shaped by the social conflicts arising from America's mass production system. He connects the social struggles of American society with the organizational struggles of designers to create symbol-laden substitutes for the American dream. Theoretically sophisticated, lucid and compelling, Auto-Opium will appeal to all interested in the American obsession with the car.

An immersive account of a tragedy at sea whose repercussions haunt its survivors to this day, lauded by New York Times bestselling author Ron Suskind as "an honest and touching book, and a hell of a story." In March of 1984, the commercial fishing boat Wind Blown left Montauk Harbor on what should have been a routine offshore voyage. Its captain, a married father of three young boys, was the boat's owner and leader of the four-man crew, which included two locals and the blue-blooded son of a well-to-do summer family. After a week at sea, the weather suddenly turned, and the foursome collided with a nor'easter. They soon found themselves in the fight of their lives. Tragically, it was a fight they lost. Neither the boat nor the bodies of the men were ever recovered. The downing of the Wind Blown has since become interwoven with the local folklore of the East End's year-round population. Its tragic fate will never be forgotten. In this "riveting man-vs.-nature story and compelling tribute to those who perished" (Kirkus Reviews, starred review), journalist Amanda M. Fairbanks seeks out the reasons why an event more than three decades old remains so startlingly vivid in people's minds. She explores the ways in which deep, lasting grief can alter people's memories. And she shines a light on the powerful and sometimes painful dynamics between fathers and sons, as well as the secrets that can haunt families from beyond the grave.

India, especially coastal India, has a long history of shipbuilding and navigation dating back to the Indus Valley Civilization. Indian shipwrights and the labour force associated with various aspects of shipbuilding excelled in naval architecture. Their native wisdom was adopted by the Europeans engaged in shipbuilding in coastal India. Similarly some of the techniques of navigation followed by Indians were emulated by the European mariners. A comprehensive peep into the science of naval architecture and navigation is attempted in this work making a comparative study of Indian and Portuguese architecture and navigation. The volume discusses the importance of the timber grown in the monsoon-fed forests of the Malabar coast and its appreciation by the Portuguese shipwrights and theoreticians of naval architecture. The work shows that increase of the tonnage of ocean-going vessels and the appearance of hostile mariners from other quarters of Western Europe compelled the Portuguese to adopt enhanced technology in naval architecture and navigation. The fact that the use of canons for defence against intruders made the Portuguese vessels stronger than the Indian ships which, for centuries, were accustomed to considerably peaceful navigation is also brought out in this much anticipated volume.

Though the C-135 was originally designed over forty years ago as an aerial refueling tanker, (749 of the 820 were built as tankers), more than 600 of all types of C-135s are still flying. Boeing's C-135 series has been the most successful military jet ever built. This book, Don Logan's sixth, tells the story of the Boeing C-135 series including: tankers, reconnaissance, airborne command post, weather, test, and special purpose models. All C-135 aircraft types, along with their operating units are covered. Tables and serial number lists are included listing all C-135 configurations by serial number. Re-engine programs and facts including serial numbers of the C-135s and the identity of the donor aircraft in the airline re-engine program (E-model types). Also included: a listing of all C-135 losses, including date and reason for loss; three views of C-135 major configurations; selected aircraft nose art; and all USAF, ARFES, and Air National Guard unit markings. Don Logan is also the author of Rockwell B-1B: SAC's Last Bomber, The 388th Tactical Fighter Wing; At Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base 1972, Northrop's T-38 Talon, Northrop's YF-17 Cobra, and Republic's A-10 Thunderbolt II. (all available from Schiffer Publishing Ltd.)

Spurred by their commanders during the Korean War to be "tigers," aggressive and tenacious American fighter pilots charged headlong into packs of fireball-spewing enemy MiGs, relying on their keen eyesight, piloting finesse, and steady trigger fingers to achieve victory. But by the 1980s, American fighter pilots vanquished their foes by focusing on a four-inch-square cockpit display, manipulating electromagnetic waves, and launching rocket-propelled guided missiles from miles away. In this new era of automated, long-range air combat, can fighter pilots still be considered tigers? Aimed at scholars of technology and airpower aficionados alike, Steven A. Fino's Tiger Check offers a detailed study of air-to-air combat focusing on three of the US Air Force's most famed aircraft: the F-86E Sabre, the F-4C Phantom II, and the F-15A Eagle. Fino argues that increasing fire control automation altered what fighter pilots actually did during air-to-air combat. Drawing on an array of sources, as well as his own decade of experience as an F-15C fighter pilot, Fino unpacks not just the technological black box of fighter fire control equipment, but also fighter pilots' attitudes toward their profession and their evolving aircraft. He describes how pilots grappled with the new technologies, acutely aware that the very systems that promised to simplify their jobs while increasing their lethality in the air also threatened to rob them of the quintessential-albeit mythic-fighter pilot experience. Finally, Fino explains that these new systems often required new, unique skills that took time for the pilots to identify and then develop. Eschewing the typical "great machine" or "great pilot" perspectives that dominate aviation historiography, Tiger Check provides a richer perspective on humans and machines working and evolving together in the air. The book illuminates the complex interactions between human and machine that accompany advancing automation in the workplace.

Since 2000, the National Science Foundation has depended upon its pioneering FastLane e-government system to manage grant applications, peer reviews, and reporting. In this behind-the-scenes account Thomas J. Misa and Jeffrey R. Yost examine how powerful forces of science and computing came together to create this influential grant-management system, assessing its impact on cutting-edge scientific research. Why did the NSF create FastLane, and how did it anticipate the development of web-based e-commerce? What technical challenges did the glitch-prone early system present? Did the switch to electronic grant proposals disadvantage universities with fewer resources? And how did the scientific community help shape FastLane? Foregrounding the experience of computer users, the book draws on hundreds of interviews with scientific researchers, sponsored project administrators, NSF staff, and software designers, developers, and managers.

Covers airfield vehicles, ordnance loading equipment, refueling equipment and a wide variety of apparatus used by the Luftwaffe.

When the paper industry moved into the South in the 1930s, it confronted a region in the midst of an economic and environmental crisis. Entrenched poverty, stunted labor markets, vast stretches of cutover lands, and severe soil erosion prevailed across the southern states. By the middle of the twentieth century, however, pine trees had become the region's number one cash crop, and the South dominated national and international production of pulp and paper based on the intensive cultivation of timber. In The Slain Wood, William Boyd chronicles the dramatic growth of the pulp and paper industry in the American South during the twentieth century and the social and environmental changes that accompanied it. Drawing on extensive interviews and historical research, he tells the fascinating story of one of the region's most important but understudied industries. The Slain Wood reveals how a thoroughly industrialized forest was created out of a degraded landscape, uncovers the ways in which firms tapped into informal labor markets and existing inequalities of race and class to fashion a system for delivering wood to the mills, investigates the challenges of managing large paper making complexes, and details the ways in which mill managers and unions discriminated against black workers. It also shows how the industry's massive pollution loads significantly disrupted local environments and communities, leading to a long struggle to regulate and control that pollution.

First Published in 1991. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Why have cesarean sections become so commonplace in the United States? Between 1965 and 1987, the cesarean section rate in the United States rose precipitously-from 4.5 percent to 25 percent of births. By 2009, one in three births was by cesarean, a far higher number than the 5-10% rate that the World Health Organization suggests is optimal. While physicians largely avoided cesareans through the mid-twentieth century, by the early twenty-first century, cesarean section was the most commonly performed surgery in the country. Although the procedure can be lifesaving, how-and why-did it become so ubiquitous? Cesarean Section is the first book to chronicle this history. In exploring the creation of the complex social, cultural, economic, and medical factors leading to the surgery's increase, Jacqueline H. Wolf describes obstetricians' reliance on assorted medical technologies that weakened the skills they had traditionally employed to foster vaginal birth. She also reflects on an unsettling malpractice climate-prompted in part by a raft of dubious diagnoses-that helped to legitimize "defensive medicine," and a health care system that ensured cesarean birth would be more lucrative than vaginal birth. In exaggerating the risks of vaginal birth, doctors and patients alike came to view cesareans as normal and, increasingly, as essential. Sweeping change in women's lives beginning in the 1970s cemented this markedly different approach to childbirth. Wolf examines the public health effects of a high cesarean rate and explains how the language of reproductive choice has been used to discourage debate about cesareans and the risks associated with the surgery. Drawing on data from nineteenth- and early twentieth-century obstetric logs to better represent the experience of cesarean surgery for women of all classes and races, as well as interviews with obstetricians who have performed cesareans and women who have given birth by cesarean, Cesarean Section is the definitive history of the use of this surgical procedure and its effects on women's and children's health in the United States.

In this eagerly-awaited new book from the author of the best-selling Nostalgia Nerd's Retro Tech, Peter Leigh takes a fun, informative and irreverent romp through the history of more than forty pieces of personal tech, charting the successes, failures and oddities from over five decades of our obsession with gadgetry. From the Teasmade to the TomTom, mankind has been on a constant hunt for gimmicks that make life easier, faster and more entertaining, and as yesterday's 'must-haves' become today's museum pieces, there's no better time to take a nostalgic trip through tech's back catalogue.