Copyright (c) 1991, 1993 by David G. Hays
(c) 1995 by Janet Hays
FIGURES
LIST OF FIGURES
Fig. 2.1. Characteristics of the Ranks: Lore, Practice, Engi-
neering, Systemics
Fig. 2.2. Paideias: Chronologies listing a few significant
events in some of Naroll's paideias, omitting the
Western.
Fig. 3.1. Energy Summary: Innovations in order by date of most
significant event, most recent at top.
Fig. 3.2 Ergonomics in Rank 1
Fig. 3.3 Ergonomics in Rank 2
Fig. 3.4 Steam Engines: Chronology, with events attributed to
rank 2, 3, or 4.
Fig. 3.5 Ergonomics in Rank 3
Fig. 3.6 Ergonomics in Rank 3++
Fig. 4.1 Chronology of calculation.
Fig. 5.1 Legitimation of Polity by Rank
Fig. 5.2 Growth Curves for Governance
Fig. 5.3 Types of Polity by Rank
Fig. 6.1 Investment: Chronology from Earliest Times through
Most of the Nineteenth Century.
Sources for facts in the figures
=======================================================
Fig. 2.1 -- Characteristics of the Ranks
Rank 1
LORE
Thinking is analogous to action.
Child learns from parent by example.
Skills belong to families.
An innovation is an intuitive leap.
Rank 1.5
Ideas from one craft applied in another.
Rank 2
LORE PRACTICE
Apprenticeship Thinking is at the level of 1st order
opens crafts relations over actions. Each culture
to recruits. makes its own choice of relations.
Handbooks summarize as much as can be
put into words.
Some teaching of technology is from books.
Contemplation of written descriptions
leads to new methods.
Rank 2.5
Knowledge from natural philosophy is
acquired by practitioners.
Renaissance is the first time application
is fruitful.
Rank 3
LORE PRACTICE ENGINEERING
Elementary Supervisors in Thinking is at the level of
education advanced 2nd order relations:
produces industry keep Causality, in the West.
trainable records of
workers, who operations. Arithmetic and experiment
acquire a guide development of new
little lore on Innovations devices and processes.
the job. are reported
in written Innovation is deliberate.
Craft skills media.
are necessary
in biological
fields (both
agriculture
and medicine).
Rank 3.5 Knowledge obtained by science
is taught to engineers.
Rank 4
LORE PRACTICE ENGINEERING SYSTEMICS
Computer Thinking is at the level of
models help 3rd order relations.
operation and
installation Theories of particular
of systems. cases are created for
control and innovation.
=======================================================
Fig. 2.2 -- Paideias
Chronologies listing a few significant events in
some of Naroll's paideias, leaving only the West-
ern for a later chapter.
Mesopotamia
-4000 Irrigated agriculture
-2500 Cities appear; writing (RN: paideia starts)
-2300 Hammurabi's law code
-609 End of Assyrian Empire (Toynbee). Necho II of Egypt con-
quers Palestine-Syria; Battle of Megiddo; CHW 155 (RN:
paideia ends -600)
-539 Babylonia incorporated in Achaemenian Empire and serves
as its economic base
Egypt
-4000 Crafts
-3500 Calendar
-3000 Writing; Old Kingdom (RN: paideia starts)
-2000 Libraries
-605 Battle of Carchemish; Egyptians under Necho, defeated by
Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar II, retreat to Egypt.
CHW 155, TTHy (RN: paideia ends -600)
China
-6000 Agriculture of simplest kind
-2700 Agriculture
-2000 Astronomy; writing
-1500 Sinic civilization
-600 First period of Chinese literature ends. TTHy (RN:
paideia starts)
-551 Confucius born. Traditional date. FW, CHW 108
Hebrew
-1000 David becomes king of united Judah and Israel, with
Jerusalem as capital; returns Ark of Covenant and Deca-
logue to the city. He rules most of Palestine and Trans-
jordan. Saul's brief rule ends in defeat. TTHy, CHW 137
-900 King Asa of Judah acts against the worship of gods other
than Yahweh; development of heroic legend in Greece and
among the Israelites; biography of David, Hebrew histori-
ography. CHW 137 (RN: Start)
Extant writings of Prophets of Israel and Judah; through
6th or 5th century.
-608 Nebuchadnezzar II makes Judah tributary; beginning of
Babylonian Captivity (Lamentations of Jeremiah); Josiah
ends rule in Judah. TTHy (RN: paideia ends -600)
-586 Nebuchadnezzar's Neo-Babylonian Empire destroys Jerusalem
and liquidates the Kingdom of Judah
Greco-Roman
-2000 Greeks move from Caspian Sea to eastern Mediterranean.
Through -1000. TTHy
-1300 Volkerwanderung of north-west-Greek-speaking war bands
into the Aegean Civilization's domain. Through -1100.
Toynbee.
-780 Alphabetic writing begins in Greece (Phoenician alpha-
bet). CHW 146
-650 Greece in the last 75 years has learned coinage from
Lydia, stone architecture and sculpture from Egypt,
bronze, and fabric. EtAC 45
-593 Solon's reforms in Athens. CHW 155 (RN: paideia starts
-600)
-400 Golden Age of Athens ends.
476 Fall of Rome. (RN: paideia ends 450)
Hindu
-500 Ganges civilization acquires iron and coinage from Per-
sia; adopts Black Polished pottery, and begins expansion
into all India. Wheeler, quoted AA 64:890
-323 Maurya Empire (first universal state in India) (RN:
paideia starts -300)
-273 Emperor Acoka (Asoka) in India; adopts Buddhism in 261,
rules until -232 Toynbee, CHW 96
-260 First writing found in India. HDSI
Islamic
600 RN: paideia starts
622 Muhammad driven out of Mecca. Arab expansion under Islam
begins almost immediately.
661 Umayyad dynasty founded in Damascus.
750 Abbasid dynasty founded in Baghdad.
970 Seljuk Turks enter Persia.
1055 Seljuk Turks take Baghdad.
1290 Ottoman Turks originate as a war band.
1393 Tamerlane ravages Baghdad.
1918 Ottoman Empire broken up.
Russian
1341 Ivan I Kalita becomes Grand Duke of Russia and founds the
Muscovite state. CHW 463, TTHy. (RN: paideia starts
1350)
1483 The Russians begin to explore Siberia. TTHy
1556 Russia (Muscovy) takes Kazan and Astrakhan; peasants move
in and their old lands are taken by Germans. CHW 463,
FBCC 102
1598 Conquest of Siberia complete; begun 1581. TTHy
1638 Russian fur traders reach the Pacific Ocean. ACSD. They
"advance the frontier of Orthodox Christendom to the
coast of the Pacific at Okhotsk." Toynbee
1689 Peter I the Great becomes tsar of Russia. Interested in
shipbuilding, western technology; accelerating effort to
modernize Russia. ACSD, MMIA 126
1917 Communist Revolution.
=======================================================
Fig. 3.1 - Energy Summary
In order by main date (when the most significant
innovation occurred), most recent at top.
Ranks
-------------
Early Main 1 2 3 4
1957 1968 3 - 4 Manned spaceflight
1952 1965 3 - 4 Commercial jet
1948 1964 3 Mechanization of coal mining: Second
round
1955 1962 3 - 4 Gas turbine, nuclear power for ships
1950 1960 3 Mechanization of farming
1945 1960 3 - 4 Nuclear power
1934 1950 3 Diesel power for railroads
1914 1944 3 - 4 Unmanned rockets
1930 1941 3 - 4 Military jet
1932 1940 3 - 4 Artificial fertilizers
1920 1940 3 Electrification of farms
1930 1935 3 - 4 Catalytic cracking
1912 1930 3 Diesel power for ships
1863 1924 3 Mechanization of coal mining: First
round
1907 1922 3 Gasoline refinery
1886 1920 3 Gasoline engine
1897 1918 3 - 4 Electrochemistry and metallurgy
1890 1915 3 Tractors
1879 1915 3 Electrification of railroads
1903 1914 3 Gasoline engine for airplanes
1884 1910 3 Steam turbines
1897 1904 3 Steam turbine for ships
1875 1895 3 Automobile
1830 1884 3 Electric motors
1859 1880 2 - 3 Petroleum wells
1858 1880 3 Electric lighting
1866 1877 3 Dynamite
1850 1870 2 - 3 Installation: Steam railroads
1780 1860 2 - 3 Coal gas engine
1807 1850 2 - 3 Stationary steam engines on farms
1750 1850 2 - 3 Coal mining grows
1827 1840 2 - 3 Water turbine
1769 1833 2 - 3 Steam carriages
1804 1830 2 - 3 Feasibility of steam railroads
1785 1825 2 - 3 Steam power for factories
1800 1820 3 Electromagnetism
1775 1810 2 - 3 Watt steam engine
1760 1810 2 - 3 Gas lighting
1736 1807 2 - 3 Steam power for ships
1730 1750 2 - 3 Static electricity
1742 3 Franklin stove
1698 1712 2 Newcomen steam engine
1600 1709 2 Coke for iron smelting
1200 1400 2 Coal as fuel
1430 2 Sailing ships
1248 1320 2 Gunpowder
800 1200 1 - 2 Fireplace
1000 1100 1 - 2 Complex waterwheel
800 1 - 2 Horsecollar
-100 400 2 Simple waterwheel
-2500 -200 1 - 2 Basic animal power
-2500 1 - 2 Sailboat
-370k -4k 1 Fire
=======================================================
Figure 3.2 - Rank 1 Erogonomics
Plants Animals Fire Human
Plants Seed Oxygen Oxygen Oxygen
Compost Food Fuel Food
Clothing
Shelter
Animals Carbon Offspring Food
dioxide Food Clothing
Manure
Fire Carbon Heat
dioxide Light
Ash
Human Carbon Offspring
dioxide Transport
Manure
=======================================================
Figure 3.3 - Rank 2 Ergonomics
Weather Plants Animals Coal Fire Machine Human
Weather Water Power
Plants Seeds Oxygen OxygenMatter Oxygen
Compost Food Fuel Food
Clothing
Shelter
Animals Carbon Off- Power Food
dioxide spring Clothing
Manure Food Transport
Coal Fuel
Fire Carbon Heat
dioxide Light
Ash
Machine Plowing Food
Human Care Care Control Offspring
Carbon Power
dioxide
Manure
=======================================================
Fig. 3.4 - Steam Engines
Year Rank 4
1964 Turbogenerators can use as little as 0.5 kg of coal per kwh.
SHTC 69. Electrical generators use 0.86 pounds per kwh.
Average cost for residential use, $0.0231 per kwh. TWC2 249
1963 Turbogenerator with million kW capacity. SHTC 68
1959 May: Saturated steam produced by nuclear reactor fed back
into the reactor to produce dry steam at high temperature to
drive a turbine. Vallecitos, USA. TWC2 272-273
1951 Steam turbo-generators, 125,000 kW, 1500 lb/sq in, 565
C. Sewaren, NJ. SHTC 173
1950 Typical thermal efficiency of steam turbines, 30-35%. SHTC
173
Year Rank 3
1940 The working life of steam condensers in British warships
(using sea water) has increased from 6 months to 7 years
since 1914, thanks to use of traces of arsenic and aluminum
in the brass (copper-zinc) alloy. SHTC 187
1933 Battersea power station, London. 105 mW turbogenerator,
biggest in Europe. SHTC 68
1911 Charles Parsons, turbogenerator operating at 4000 rpm. TToT
1909 Vespasian launched, a cargo ship with reduction gear to
permit high turbine speed and low propellor speed. SHTC
174, TToT
1904 Carville power station, Newcastle 6000 kW turbogenerators,
use 2 kg of coal per kwh. SHTC 68
1903 Under-feed automatic coal stoker. TWC2 227
Year Rank 2
A Cornish beam engine, 173 cm cylinder, built for Dorothea
slate quarry, North Wales. HInv 162
Rank 3
1902 Wilhelm Schmidt, steam superheaters for railway locomo-
tives. Germany. TToT
Electrical generators use 7 pounds of coal per kwh.
Average cost for residential use, $0.162 per kwh. TWC2
249
1900 Charles Parsons supplies 2 1500 kw steam turbogenerat-
ors to Elberfeld, Germany. Biggest in world; axial
flow. Use 8.3 kg of coal per killowatt hour. HInv
163, SHTC 68
1899 Britain makes steam engines up to 180 hp, up to 100
rpm. Up to 3000 hp. Thermal efficiency over 20% in
big triple-expansion engines. Hnv 162
Year Rank 3
1898 Wilhelm Schmidt, superheated steam in locomotive engine to
reduce condensation loss. Kassel, Germany. HInv 178
1896 Curtis, steam turbine. USA. WA
1889 Patent troubles cause Parsons to try radial flow in steam
turbines. HInv 163
Leon Serpollet, flash boiler to permit quick starting of
steam engines. France. TWC2 123
1888 C. A. Parsons's "first turbo-alternator--operating at 4800
revolutions a minute--was installed in the Forth Banks
power-station in Britain ..." SHTC 64
1887 Gustav de Laval, steam turbine; jet against vanes on a
wheel, similar to Branca (1629). Useful for small machines.
HInv 163
Year Rank 3
1884 Sir Charles Algernon Parsons, first workable compound
(multiple-wheel) steam turbine; for ships. 18,000 rpm.
This one is axial flow: Stator with rows of vanes inside;
rotor, vanes alternate to stator. Britain. FW, WA, CHW 849,
HInv 162
1883 Gustav de Laval, a workable but inefficient steam turbine.
SHTC 170
1880 Triple-expansion steam engine. SHTC 252
1874 Charles Brotherhood builds reciprocating steam engines to
run at 1000 rpm. England. HInv 162
1863 Steam engines 168 hp, 350 rpm, built at Philadelphia. Built
under license in England 20 years later. HInv 162
1845 John McNaught, steam engine with a high- pressure, short--
stroke cylinder. HInv 161
Year Rank 3
1841 John Nixon, steam-powered air pumps for ventilation in a
mine, South Wales. HInv 183
1836 Eliphalet Nott, boiler heated with anthracite coal for
steamboats; 50% cost saving against wood. N&BP 208
1834 Patent to J. G. Bodmer for traveling grate for boilers.
MTCo 87
Lancashire and the textile area of Yorkshire have 1400 steam
engines. HInv 162
1825 Sep 17: "I do not give Mr. Watt any credit for his gover-
nors or centrifugal regulators of valves, as some have done.
The principle was borrowed from the patents of my late
friend Mead, who, long before Mr. Watt had adapted the plan
to his steam-engine, had regulated the mill-sails in this
neighbour- hood upon that precise principle, and which con-
trived to be so regulated to this day." Dr. Alderson,
Mechanics Magazine. SHEg 85
Year Rank 2 to Rank 3
1825 Horizontal steam engines appear, as builders realize that
uneven wear does not result. HInv 162
1824 Sadi Carnot, _Reflexions sur la puissance motrice du feu_.
Theoretical maximum efficiency for heat engine. HInv 162
1819 Oliver Evans dies, age 64, prosperous but disappointed. In
15 years he has built 50 steam engines. [Mars Works has
sold almost 100.] His high-pressure engine has been copied
using his description, and modified into a "noncondensing,
direct-acting, horizontal-cylinder affair with cam-action
gear." Louis Hunter, quoted N&BP 83; HInv 161, TIAm 35
1812 Oliver Evans offers high-pressure steam engine equal to 24
horses; can grind 240 bushels of grain in 12 hours. New
Castle County, Delaware. TIAm 18
1811 Dec 21: Oliver Evans to Timothy Pitkin: I discovered the
powerful principles of the high-pressure steam engine in
1775. N&BP 82, 270
Year Rank 2 to Rank 3
1811 Oliver Evans sends his son George to Pittsburgh to build
high-pressure steam engines. N&BP 83
1810 Trevithick returns to Cornwall and designs a higher pressure
steam engine. SHEg 112
Nicholas Roosevelt starts a machine shop in Pittsburgh
to build steam engines for river boats. Moved from NJ.
N&BP 81
1807 Olinthus Gregory, _Treatise of Mechanics_. Describes Oliver
Evans's high-pressure steam engines. Author teaches mathe-
matics at Woolwich. HInv 161
J.B.J.Fourier begins mathematical work on heat conduc-
tion in solids. He is Prefect at Isere, France. SSCB
134
1806 Oliver Evans, Mars Works, to build steam engines. TIAm 35
Year Rank 2 to Rank 3
1805 USA Congress declines to renew Oliver Evans's patents. To
earn money, he publishes prematurely _The Abortion of the
Young Steam Engineer's Guide._ TIAm 35
1804 Oliver Evans builds a high-pressure steam engine to operate
at 8 atmospheres. Double-acting cylinder, 15 cm diameter,
20 cm stroke, 30 rpm. Cylinder and crankshaft under same
end of beam. Straight-line linkage for upper end of piston.
HInv 161, InAm 54
Oliver Evans, _Young Steam Engineeer's Guide_. MTCo 82
1803 Arthur Woolf, Watt engine with high and low-pressure
cylinders in cascade. Cornish mining engineer. HInv 161
William Freemantle, grasshopper engine, steam, no
beam. HInv 161
Year Rank 2 to Rank 3
1802 Richard Trevithick builds a steam engine to work at 10
atmospheres; boiler wall 4 cm thick; cylinder 18 cm diame-
ter, piston stroke 1 m. Coalbrookdale. HInv 160. He
builds a "whirling engine": Steam at 7 atmospheres jets
from ends of 4.5 m spinning tube. HInv 162
1800 500 steam engines from the factory of Matthew Boulton and
Thomas Watt have been installed. RatW 24
"With the coming of steam, the pace of the West in-
creased as if by magic. But the magic can be ex-
plained: it had been prepared and made possible in
advance." FBCC 1:372
1799 Matthew Murray patents improvements in the steam engine:
The short D-slide valve, cast-iron overhead beam, etc. 18CI
1798 Benjamin Thompson, _Enquiry Concerning the Source of Heat
Which is Excited by Friction, to Royal Society. Heat a form
of motion. FW 23:135
Year Rank 2 to Rank 3
1797 Edmund Cartwright builds a steam engine with alcohol
replacing water and a stuffing box with metallic packing.
Not successful. 18CI
1792 Edward Bull builds direct-acting steam engine, placing
cylinder directly over pump rod so as to eliminate the
great beam. Sued by James Watt. 18CI
1791 John Barber, gas turbine. Britain. FW
John Stevens tells his mechanic John Hall to begin con-
struction of a high-pressure double-acting steam engine
with cork piston and wooden cogs. TIAm 42
German engineer Georg Reichenbach visits Soho to spy on
Boulton and Watt. RatW 25-26
1788 James Watt, centrifugal flyball governor. Controls the
throttle valve. Albion Mills installation completed. Great
Britain. FW, 18CI, HInv 160 SHEg 90
Year Rank 2 to Rank 3
1785 J. Rennie begins millwork for a Watt rotative beam engine
with governor and throttle, for Albion Flour Mills. SHEg
90-91
1784 James Watt, parallel motion for steam engines; steam intro-
duced on both sides of piston.
1783 Thomas Mead, centrifugal governor for windmills. As speed
increases the upper grindstone tends to rise; the governor
keeps the gap uniform. Great Britain. 18CI. Patents it,
1787. SHEg 85. This is true feedback.
1781 Jonathan Carter Hornblower, compound steam engine. Some
built and sold, but harried by James Watt. 18CI
First continuously operating steam engine in Germany
installed. 75 hp. Runs until 1845. RatW 7
1778 137 steam engines have been built in the coal fields of
Tyneside. SHEg 87
Year Rank 2 to Rank 3
1777 The first Watt low-pressure engine begins operating at Wheel
Busy, Chacewater. Reduces coal consumption by 2/3 to 3/4
from Newcomen type. SHEg 90
1776 Boulton and Watt found a factory. Watt offers engines for
sale. RatW 3, TIAm 18
"Matthew Boulton was delighted when John Wilkinson bored him
a cylinder for a large steam-engine 'almost without Error
... [it] doth not err the thickness of an old shilling in no
part'." SHTC 180
1775 Jun 1: Watt and Boulton sign a 25-year agreement after
patent extension granted. SHEg 89, HInv 159
Feb 23: Boulton applies for a 25-year extension of Watt's
patent. SHEg 89, HInv 159
James Watt demonstrates his steam engine; cuts fuel use by
2/3 from Newcomen's requirement; sales are good. 18CI
Year Rank 2 to Rank 3
1775 Oliver Evans "discovered the powerful principles of my
[high-pressure] engines", as he writes later. N&BP 82
1774 Nov: Matthew Boulton and James Watt set up a steam engine
at Soho, near Birmingham, England. The engine from Kinneil
House is working again. RatW 23, SHEg 89
James Watt builds full-scale rotary steam engine. 18CI
John Wilkinson obtains a patent, later revoked, for a
cannon-boring machine later used to make cylinders for James
Watt's steam engines. 18CI, SHEg 85
Second Newcomen engine in America pumps water for
public supply in New York. TIAm 17
1773 Watt's development work bankrupts John Roebuck; Matthew
Boulton, with business acumen, takes Roebuck's share. The
first engine did not work well enough, the mines flooded.
Watt moves to Birmingham. SHEg 89
Year Rank 2 to Rank 3
1772 Dec: Oliver Evans learns of a trick: Water in a gunbarrel
drives out a wadding when heated. He conceives of high-
-pressure steam power. Age 17. TIAm 32
1770 John Smeaton improves the design of beam engines. Old
efficiency is 2540 tons of water raised 30 cm for 38 kg of
coal burned. Better boring and other improvements double
this--to 1%. Engine with 2 m cylinder for pumping out the
docks at Kronstadt. HInv 159
1769 Apr 29: James Watt enrolls in the High Court of Chancery
"a particular description" of his steam engine with
separate condenser. Also a steam jacket around the cylinder
and a stuffing box for the piston rod; the piston is driven
by steam, not air pressure. Devises a rotary steam engine.
Britain. FW, 18CI, SHEg 89, RatW 18, HInv 158-9
Jan 5: George III grants a patent to James Watt for a
steam engine. RatW 18, CHW 823
Year Rank 2 to Rank 3
1768 Watt steam engine, financed by John Roebuck, set up at
Kinneil House, near Edinburgh. Called Beelzebub. SHEg 89
1767 Matthew Boulton proposes to become Watt's partner, but
refuses general partnership. SHEg 89
1766 William Blakey, improvements on Newcomen's steam engine.
Later, a water-tube boiler. 18CI
Matthew Boulton asks Benjamin Franklin and Erasmus Darwin
about a Newcomen engine for a factory. SHEg 89
1765 James Watt, working as an instrument maker at Glasgow
University in association with Joseph Black, who studies
heat in chemical reactions, sees the Newcomen steam engine
that he is asked to repair as a heat engine and decides to
separate the condenser. 18CI and others
William Westgarth builds a water pressure engine to pump
water out of a lead mine in Northumberland. 18CI
Year Rank 2 to Rank 3
1764 Watt notices two salient defects in the Newcomen engine.
Fuel is burned to reheat the cylinder after each stroke.
Condensation of steam is not efficient. SHEg 88
1763 James Watt is asked to repair a Newcomen engine at
University of Glasgow. HInv 159
1755 First Newcomen steam engine in America installed at a copper
mine in Newark, NJ. TIAm 18, SHEg 87, HInv 161
1753 First Newcomen engine shipped to USA. HInv 161
1739 Jacob Leupold, _Theatrum Machinarium Generale_. Last of 9
volumes published. One includes a design for a high-pres-
sure noncondensing steam engine; probably not built. HInv
160
1737 Martin Triewald, who helped construct a Newcomen steam
engine at Newcastle, returns to Sweden to build one at
Dannemora. SHEg 81
Year Rank 2
1732 Newcomen engine raises water to drive a waterwheel at
Coalbrookdale Ironworks. SHEg 86
1729 Newcomen dies. His engine is in use in Hungary, France,
Belgium, etc. HInv 159
1724 Jacob Leupold publishes proposal to build a steam en-
gine, with a piston and no vacuum. Probably never
used; too difficult to build at the time. 18CI
1722 Isaac Potter is invited to construct a Newcomen steam engine
for mine drainage at Konigsberg. SHEg 81
1718 At some date since 1713, Newcomen's steam engines have been
fitted with automatic valve gears. SHEg 81
Year Rank 2
1712 After ten years work, "Thomas Newcomen, a Devonshire iron-
monger" built a "successful atmospheric steam engine" [MRTe
129]. "contemporaries were as much surprised as we that a
provincial craftsman who lacked all contact with, or knowl-
edge of, the Savery engine or the scientific researches on
which Savery's work was based, could have solved such a
problem" [MRTe 130].
Ironmonger and blacksmith at Dartmouth, Devonshire,
Great Britain. Asked to advise on maintenance of a
Savery steam pump in Cornwall. The first atmospheric
(steam beam piston pumping) engine was erected at a
colliery near Dudley Castle, Staffordshire (a mine near
Birmingham) (Worcestershire) [HInv 158]. Early cylin-
ders cast of brass. Collaborated with Savery, who had
patented all means of raising water by fire! [18CI].
Ran at 12 strokes per minute, raised 540 litres (120
gallons) of water a minute over 46 m = 153'. 5 hp.
Overall thermal efficiency of 0.5%. SHEg 81, HInv 159,
TIAm 17
Year Rank 2
1712 Thomas Savery installs a steam pump at Campden House, Ken-
sington, which raises 3000 gallons an hour. Others at Syon
House and mines in Cornwall and Staffordshire. SHEg 80. One
for York Buildings Water Works Company, London, which fails.
SHEg 81, HInv 157
1711 Thomas Newcomen begins constructing steam engines. RatW 20
Company of the Proprietors of the Invention for Raising
Water by Fire is formed; Savery and Newcomen. SHEg 80
1707 Denis Papin designs a steam pump: steam enters a chamber,
driving water out; steam condenses, drawing water in. Works,
uneconomically. RatW 15
1706 Denis Papin demonstrates a large steam engine before Karl,
Landgrave of Hesse, at Cassel. RatW 14. Other tests drive
water to a height of 100'. RatW 15
Year Rank 2
1705 Thomas Newcomen, steam engine. Britain. FW. See 1712.
Denis Papin, having seen a sketch of Savery's steam
pump (Leibnitz gave it to him), makes one work on his
1695 plan, with a piston. He adds a safety valve.
18CI, RatW 15
1702 Savery advertises engine for sale, Salisbury Court, London.
HInv 158
1701 Thomas Savery, _The Miner's Friend_. Includes a description
of his steam pump.
1699 Thomas Savery demonstrates a steam engine to Royal Society.
SHEg 80
Year Rank 2
1698 Jul 25: Captain Thomas Savery receives first patent for
engine for raising water "by the impellent Force of Fire".
He also suggests steam power for various machines. No longer
a laboratory model but a working pump. No piston; direct
pressure on water. Requires high pressure. Failed because
metal could not take the pressure he needed. Single boiler
separate from receiver. Maximum lift 25 feet. Great Brit-
ain. MRTe 129, 18CI, HInv 144, 157
Denis Papin writes to Leibnitz: "I have built a small
model of a cart which can be driven by this [steam]
power." RatW16
1697 Denis Papin invents a machine to raise water from mines by
the force of fire. At Cassell. SHEg 79
1696 Denis Papin, professor of mathematics at Marburg, Germany,
suggests using expansion and contraction of steam to form a
partial vacuum below a piston; air pressure would drive the
piston down when the steam condensed.
Year Rank 2
1690 Denis Papin publishes his first design for a steam (atmo-
spheric) engine; Water boiled in 7.5 cm cylinder forces a
piston up. Cylinder evacuated by condensation of steam. Huy-
gens's assistant; also worked with Boyle on air pump. RatW
14, HInv 156
1683 Sir Samuel Morland proposes to Louix XIV a steam-powered
machine to lift water. RatW 12
1675 Huygens introduces Denis Papin to Robert Boyle. SHEg 79
1666 Christiaan Huygens proposes to Colbert of France a compar-
ison of gunpowder and steam power. RatW 12
1663 The second Marquis of Worcester obtains a patent from
Parliament for a steam-driven water pump. He has built a
machine at Vauxhall that raises water 40'. SHEg 71
1661 Otto von Guericke shows that a piston driven by air pressure
into an evacuated cylinder can do work. RatW 12
Year Rank 2
1657 Kasper Schott, _Mechanica-Hydraulica-Pneumatica_. Describes
Otto von Guericke's work with vacuum. Read by Robert Boyle.
SHEg 65
1655 Edward Somerset, Marquis of Worcester, _Century of Inven-
tions_. He made a steam engine that threw a jet of water
40'. RatW 12
1654 Otto von Guericke demonstrates atmospheric pressure. He
exhausts two hollow bronze hemispheres, 50 cm diameter,
through a stop-cock and harnesses a team of 8 horses to
each; they cannot pull them apart. Establishes the power of
a vacuum. Before the Imperial Diet at Ratisbon. The `Magde-
burger Windbuchse' became one of the technical wonders of
the day. Also a piston in a vertical cylinder vs. a team of
50 men. Magdeburg. SHEg 65, HInv 156, MRTe 52
Year Rank 2
1643 Evangelista Torricelli, Galileo's assistant, shows that the
atmosphere has pressure, and that it equals that of a column
of water 9 m high, or mercury 76 cm high. He predicts that
at higher altitudes the columns are shorter. Barometer.
Italy. HInv 156, MRTe 129, FW
1630 David Ramsay patents a steam engine. Great Britain. RatW
12. To drain mines. SHEg 71
1629 Giovanni Branca, a small rolling mill powered by the heat
rising from a forge. MRTe 49. A wheel spun by jets of
steam impinging on vanes. HInv 162
1615 De Caus, _The Reasons for the Moving Forces in Different
Machines_, Frankfurt. He works for the Palatinate Princes
at Heidelberg. His design for a steam engine, a steam ball
or aeolipile with a turbine wheel. RatW 11
1606 Giambattista della Porta proposes "to raise water by steam
alone" MRTe 128
Year Rank 2
1601 Baptista Porta describes a machine for raising a column of
water by condensing steam to create a vacuum into which the
water flows. SHEg 71
(?) Hero, or Heron, of Alexandria, was active at an uncertain
date between the first century B.C. and the third century
A.D. His aelopile was a rotary steam engine. ITIH 1, SHEg
27, HInv 68; also HTIn, RatW, FW
The Greeks and Romans were familiar with all the basic
components of a low-pressure steam engine: piston in a
cylinder, flap valve; steam boiler. "That they failed
to assemble these ... was probably due to the fact that
there was at that time no particular need for it ..."
HInv 68
=======================================================
Figure 3.5 - Rank 3 Ergonomics
Weather Plants Animals Coal Fire Machine Human
Weather Water Power
Plants Seeds Oxygen Oxygen Matter Oxygen
Compost Food Fuel Food
Fiber
Animals Carbon Off- Food
dioxide spring
Clothing
Manure Food
Coal Fuel
Fire Carbon Power Heat
dioxide Light
Ash
Machine Extrac- Food
tion Clothing
Shelter
Transport
Human Care Care Control Offspring
Carbon Power
dioxide
Manure
=======================================================
Figure 3.6 - Rank 3++ Ergonomics
Plants Animals Fossil Fire Machine Human
Weather Water Power
Plants Seeds Oxygen Oxygen Matter Oxygen
Compost Food Fuel Food
Fiber
Animals Carbon Off- Food
dioxide spring Clothing
Manure Food
Fossil Fuel Matter
Fire Carbon Power Heat
dioxide
Ash
Machine Ferti- Off- Extrac- Food
lizer spring tion Clothing
Tillage Care Shelter
Harvest Transport
Light
Human Care Care Control Offspring
Carbon Power
dioxide
Manure
=======================================================
Fig. 4.1 - CHRONOLOGY OF CALCULATION
1617 Henry Briggs, modern decimal system. FW 2:259
1478 First printed arithmetic book. FW 2:259
1345 In Lucca a new school teaches the abacus. [HTIn 570]
1338 In Florence a new school teaches the abacus. [HTIn 570]
1310 In Genoa, a new school teaches the abacus, making numbers
more popular. [HTIn 570]
1202 Leonard of Pisa (Leonardo Fibonacci), _Liber abaci_, popu-
larizes Moslem numbers in Italy. Hindu numerals and posi-
tional reckoning relayed from India to Europe by way of
Islam. MRTe 54, SHEg 54
11?? al-Khwarizmi's book on decimal notation translated into
Latin.
850? al-Khwarizmi dies. FW 2:259
780 al-Khwarizmi born. FW 2:259
1?? Hindus develop decimal notation for numbers. They were
aware of Babylonian and Greek arithmetic. FW 2:258-259
-5?? Pythagoras adds, subtracts, and multiplies graphically.
FW2:258
-1700 Ahmes, a scribe: _Directions for Obtaining the Knowledge
of all Dark Things_; papyrus handbook of arithmetic.
Egypt. Copied from sources as old as -3000. FW 2:258
-3000 Base-60 notation for numbers. Place-value system. Aba-
cus. Babylonia. FW 2:258
=======================================================
Fig. 5.1 - Legitimation of Polity by Rank
RANK
4 ???
|
|
3 Rationality--Relativism
|
|
2 Abstract God __ Ideology or
Elects King Revealed Truth
|
|
1 Kinship and -- God-king
Generalizations
=======================================================
Fig. 5.2 - Growth Curves for Governance
RANK
4 __________
Democracy /
3 \__________/
/ | |
Colonial empire--/ Welfare United
Nation-state--/ State Nations
/
Monarchy--/
2 __________/
/| |
Church-state--/ | Ancient Empire
Petty kingdom--/ |
Chiefdom--/ City-state
Village--/
1 __________/
| | |
| Band Tribe
|
Family
======================================================
Fig. 5.3 - Types of Polity by Rank
Rk NAME SCALE SCOPE ORGANIZATION & LEGITIMACY
1 Nuclear 2-12 Residen- Parental authority over
family ce; sus- children; typically
tenance; male authority over fe-
bearing male; kinship
and
rearing
children
1 Band 12-200 Almost no Individuals respected
authori- for special skills or
ty; may the wisdom of age; kin-
arrange ship is assumed for the
hunts or entire band
control a
common
territory
1 Tribe Thousands Clans, age-grade societies, or
or other associations with
members in all bands; kinship
is assumed for the entire band.
1.2 Village 25-200 Food Leadership varies from
sharing; specialists for hunts,
collec- ceremonies, and fights through
tive the big man who is esteemed in
agreement general to the village chief
to move with power legitimized by
the whole kinship
village
1.4 Chief- 1000- Chief The paramount chief has many
dom 10,000 assigns wives and retainers; each
social village has a chief responsible
rank, to him; kinship or the
controls sponsorship of some god or gods
rites & gives legitimacy
warfare,
and may
regulate
agricul-
ture;
levies
taxes in
kind and
drafts
labor for
projects
1.6 Petty 5,000- Inter- Three levels of administrative
kingdom 500,000 ference hierarchy: State, district, and
in many village. Codified laws in some
aspects instances; claim to authority
of life, of a god or gods
sanc-
tioned by
death
penalty,
torture,
imprison-
ment
1.8 Church- 100,000 Similar Four levels of administrative
state to 1 M to petty hierarchy: Empire, province,
kingdom district, and village or town;
codified laws, systematic
recruitment of officers; claim
to authority of a god or gods
2 City- 5,000 to Organiza- One or two levels of
state 100,000 tion of administrative hierarchy for
produc- the central place and for
tion and villages in the hinterland;
commerce; codified laws; legitimation by
regula- participation of citizens in
tion of legislation and recruitment of
marriage; officials
control
of
internal
violence
and laws;
warfare
2 Ancient Millions Four (or more) levels of
Empire administrative hierarchy;
codified laws; legitimation by
participation of citizens or an
elite council in legislation
and recruitment of officials
2.2 Monarchy 100,000 Two or three levels of
to 1 M administrative hierarchy;
codified laws; legitimation by
the spirit of the people
2.4 Nation- 1 to 100 Organiza- Three or four levels of
state million tion of administrative hierarchy;
educa- codified laws; legitimation by
tion; constitution
regula-
tion of
standard
language;
produc-
tion and
commerce;
control
of inter-
nal crime
and war-
fare
2.6 Modern 100 M to Exploita- Four or more levels of
Empire 1 B tion of administrative hierarchy;
backward codified laws varying among
fringe colonies; legitimation by
for raw constitution and superiority of
materials culture
and
market;
standard
language
extended
to colonies
for admini-
stration
and commerce
3 Democ- Variable Regula- Two to four levels of
racy tion of administrative hierarchy;
educa- codified laws; standard
tion, language; legitimation by
economy, reference to functional
communi- requirements of social life as
cation, understood by all educated
crime, & persons
warfare
3 Welfare Variable Protec- Legitimation by reference to
State tion of the value of individual persons
old,
young,
disabled,
incom-
petent,
etc.
Guarantee
of pensions
3+ United Earth Reduc- Only partially formed by 1993;
Nations tion of reduction of state sovereignty
warfare may lead to increase in number
of administrative levels;
legitimation by abhorrence for
warfare
=======================================================
Fig. 6.1 - Investment
1864 Cyrus Field, transatlantic cable "without a fault". First
abandoned in mid Atlantic; second, at a cost of $3 M,
successful. SHEg 137 [Perhaps an error of date]
1860 Industrial production, USA:
Flour $249 M
Cotton $107 M
Iron and steel $73 M. N&BP 59
Railway mileage:
Britain 16,000 km. HInv 177
USA 48,000 km. HInv 178
Germany 7300 miles. RatW 55
Sewing machines: 110,000 sold per year. HTIA 3, N&BP 152
The largest carriage-makers produce 40,000 to 50,000
carriages a year. Alfred D. Chandler, quoted N&BP 202
1859 Value added by manufacturing exceeds value of
agricultural products sold. CHW 836
1858 Aug 4: 3rd attempt to lay transatlantic telegraph cable
succeeds: 2300 miles. Queen Victoria and President
Buchanan exchange greetings. The cable ceases to carry
signals after 3 weeks. RatW 143. SHTC 299, TWC2 325,
SHEg 137
1856 Cyrus West Field and others found Atlantic Telegraph
Company, London. RatW 143
1854 Cyrus West Field proposes transatlantic cable and founds
New York, Newfoundland and London Telegraph Company.
Persuaded by Frederick N. Gisborne, an English engineer.
229 shares are bought in England at L1000 each; the other
88 are held by Field. RatW 143, SHEg 136, TIAm 106
1850 Investment in railroads, USA: $370 M. N&BP 220
Production, Great Britain:
Iron 1.4 M tons. HInv 153
Steel 60 k tons. HInv 186
Britain consumes 60 M tons of coal per year. HInv 162
100 M acres of land cleared for agriculture in USA. Each
farmer may clear up to 200 acres in his lifetime. TAHI 72
1849 Britain has 5000 miles of railway in use, and 7000 more
sanctioned. Capital has risen from L65 to L200 M. SHEg
129
1847 Railway mania peaks in Britain at midcentury. L250 M
paid-up capital. 250,000 navvies are at work. HInv 177
Major cities from Portland, ME to Charleston, SC to St.
Louis, MO linked by telegraph for transmission of news.
TWC2 325
1843 1 Jan: Less than 2000 miles of railway in use in Britain.
Boom begins. SHEg 129
1837 Samuel Finley Breese Morse patents electromagnetic
telegraph. Proposal by another for semaphore telegraph,
New York - New Orleans. Morse sets out to have electric
instead. He gets scientific advice from Leonard D. Gale
and mechanical assistance from Alfred Vail. InAm 63, AmDs
10, TIAm 103
1833 Grant, production line for sea biscuit. Except for
removing dough from kneader, all tasks performed by
machines. Flour and water measured automatically.
Deptford Victualling Office, England. MTCo 78, 86, 89,
179
1831 Jul: Cyrus Hall McCormick (age 22) demonstrates reaper in
a neighbor's field of oats, Steeles Tavern, VA; his father
had worked on the problem for years. This machine has 7
features still in 20th century machine: a straight
reciprocating knife knife to cut the stalks, iron fingers
or guards, a reel to push stalks in, a catching platform,
main wheel and gearing, front-axle draft traction to drive
the machinery, and a divider to separate standing grain.
Walnut Grove Farm, VA, USA. FW, TIAm 65, 70, InAm 51,
TAHI 74
1829 Cammel Laird, a large shipbuilder in Britain, begins
building iron ships. HInv 171
Britain produces 16 M tons of coal. SHEg 122
1827 John H. Hall has assembled machinery at Harpers Ferry
armory: water-powered drop forge, milling, drilling, and
profiling machines; they have automatic stop mechanisms,
and formed cutters; all-metal construction. With gauges,
he achieves tolerances at 0.001" and makes
interchangeable parts by 1826. TAHI 56
1825 About 75,000 power looms and 250,000 hand looms in
Britain, output half and half. HInv 146
1823 James Muspratt establishs heavy chemical works near
Liverpool for production of alkali from salt, sulphuric
acid, chalk, and coal. SHEg 107
Thomas Blanchard, 14 machines that completely mechanize
gunstock making. Springfield Armory. N&BP 107
1822 Dec 30: John Hall can now produce arms with
interchangeable parts, employing unskilled workmen. To do
so, he introduced fixtures in manufacture. N&BP 111
1816 Simeon North has installed advanced gun-stocking and
barrel-turning machinery at Middletown, CT, where he makes
some of the small lock components with a plain milling
machine. He makes interchangeable parts for pistol locks.
TAHI 55
Baltimore, MD, begins installing street lighting with
manufactured gas; completed 1820. TWC2 223
Water circulated in cast-iron pipes to heat buildings.
England. TWC2 227
1815 Samuel Slater has partnerships in 20+ mills on the
Pawtucket River. The rural scene is beginning to look
industrial. Slater's knowledge of English technology is
applied from New England to Philadelphia. He tries to
start an apprenticeship system, but parents will not send
their children away. He hands wives' and children's wages
to fathers. N&BP 51
Early: Lowell's factory opens. Moody continues making
improvements in machines, and makes them for sale.
Waltham, MA. N&BP 92
1814 _The Times_ of London adopts the steam-driven Konig press.
18CI
Friedrich Konig, sheet-fed cylinder printing press.
Germany. FW
Francis Cabot Lowell builds a large textile factory. Paul
Moody designs all the machines. From cotton in the bale
to cloth of a single kind. Young farm women hired for
short periods at half of men's wages, closely chaperoned.
Waltham, MA. N&BP 89
1812 Textile production in Great Britain (Scotland only?) is
100 times as large as in 1775; switched from linen to
cotton. SSCB 102
1810 J. R. Lambert submits his kneading machine for the prize
offered by the Societe d'Encouragement pour l'Industrie
Nationale. MTCo 170
Britain produces 10 M tons of coal. SHEg 122
1807 Marc Brunel's 45 machines (of 22 types) to mass produce
ship's blocks installed at Portsmouth Dockyard. Saw,
bore, mortise, and shape the shells and pulleys. Ten
unskilled men replaced 110 skilled craftsmen; in 1808 the
installation produced 130,000 blocks. 18CI. Samuel
Bentham (Jeremy's father), Marc Isambard Brunel (from
France), and Henry Maudslay. A ship of the line used 1400
blocks. 44 machines, all powered by one 32 hp steam
engine. TWC2 39. A 74-gun ship of the line required 1400
blocks. SHEg 117. 43 machines and a 30 hp steam engine.
Take in logs. HInv 152
Aug 17, 1 pm: Fulton, initial trial of steamboat
_Clermont_ on the Hudson River begins at New York. For
this occasion, Livingston's powerful clan gather. N&BP
26, 75, 79. Reaches Fulton's estate Claremont on 18th.
To Albany. 18CI, HTIA 2, TIAm 39, HInv 172, RatW 36, CHW
849, SHEg 114
1804 J. M. Jacquard completes a loom. He made it by
rebuilding and improving on the silk loom made by Jacques
de Vaucanson in 1740, which he found in the Conservatoire
des Arts et Metiers. Lyons. SHEg 110, MTCo 36
1801 Jan: After 3 years, Eli Whitney has produced no guns. He
demonstrates to Adams and Jefferson that he can fit 10
different locks to the same musket. They are impressed,
and he becomes notorious. Studies in the 1960s strongly
suggest that he faked the show. Muskets in several modern
collections have parts that cannot be interchanged, and
even the last ones he made are marked. InAm 24, TAHI
47-49, TIAm 59, 61, N&BP 101
1800 Benjamin Gott's woolen factory at Leeds now employs 1000
persons. He has applied cotton techniques and started a
boom in the town. SHEg 111
500 steam engines from the factory of Matthew Boulton and
Thomas Watt have been installed. RatW 24
Britain exports cotton goods worth L5.4 M. HInv 145
Britain uses 6 M tons of coal annually. HInv 162
About 2000 power looms in Britain. HInv 146
1799 Francois Louis Robert, patent issues for fourdrinier
papermaking machine. Not exploited successfully. France.
FW
Charles Tennant, slaked lime impregnated with chlorine as
a nonpoisonous bleach for textiles. The chlorine is made
with sulphuric acid, salt, and manganese oxide. Glasgow,
Great Britain. 18CI
Joseph Huddart, rope-making machinery, second patent. The
object is to put equal stress on all fibres of the rope,
and to make the rope in a small space. Successful. Great
Britain. 18CI
1798 Francois Louis Robert, paper-making machine. His machine
uses wood pulp; a continuous belt of copper or brass wire
mesh revolves over a horizontal frame with metal rollers.
Wood pulp spread over the belt loses water and passes
through felt rollers and is dried. France. 18CI
1797 Henry Maudslay, screw cutting lathe. Scaled up from the
instrument-maker's device. He cuts a lead screw of wood
or soft metal by hand, and uses it on the lathe to cut a
duplicate of iron or steel to replace the first. Great
Britain. 18CI
Charles Newbold, cast iron plow permitting mass
production. It supplants wooden plowshares. TWC2 355,
InAm 49
Dundonald and Losh alkali works founded, Tyneside,
England. SSCB 109
1795 Jacob Perkins, nail-making machine, 200,000 a day. Price
falls from $0.25/lb to $0.08/lb in a generation. N&BP 26,
204
1793 Eli Whitney, cotton gin. Moves to Savannah. Mrs. Greene
asks her guest to examine this problem, and he solves it
in two weeks. Moves to New Haven and gets rich but has to
litigate many infringements. In 1793, USA exports
487,000 lbs of cotton; in 1803, over 40 Mlbs. But the
need for cotton engenders a need for slaves. USA. FW,
18CI, CHW 823, HInv 146, TIAm 52, N&BP 26
1790 Dec 20: Spinning mill begins work. Built for Moses Brown
and associates by Samuel Slater, using machines copied
from the English originals he remembers. Pawtucket, RI.
N&BP 50, InAm 25-26
Crank mill built at Morley, Yorkshire, one of first
powered by steam. HInv 147
Cheap sulfuric acid for textile bleaching, soap making,
and metal refining, due to John Roebuck, and cheap iron,
due to Cort are necessary for the rapid expansion of
British industry beginning about 1790. 18CI 107
1789 Samuel Slater ends apprenticeship with Jedediah Strutt in
England; he has supervised a factory using Arkwright
machines, and acquired knowledge of textile machines. For
opportunity to advance, he emigrates furtively from
England to NY [Philadelphia]. Shortly manages a
manufactory in Pawtucket, RI. N&BP 48, SHEg 116, TIAm 48
1787 Oliver Evans, grist mill. Mechanized continuous-flow
process. Near Philadelphia. TWC2 40
1786 Watt's engines are driving a paper mill, a corn mill, a
cotton spinning mill, and supplying power to a brewery and
Wilkinson's iron works. SHEg 91
1785 Edmund Cartwright, power loom. Improved to commercial
usability 1786 and 1787. Spring-thrown shuttle; power
applied to compress spring. First application of steam
engine to textile factory. Patent. Great Britain. FW,
18CI, SSCB 97, CHW 823
Boulton and Watt steam engine installed in a cotton mill
at Papplewick. Another begins operating at a colliery in
Mansfield. HInv 145, RatW 24-25
J. Rennie begins millwork for a Watt rotative beam engine
with governor and throttle, for Albion Flour Mills. First
use other than pumping. Drive millstones, hoists, fans,
cranes, sifters, and dressers. Rennie introduces wrought
and cast iron wheels. SHEg 90-91
Oliver Evans completes automatic flour mill: Moves grain
and flour with buckets on belts and endless screws.
Redclay Creek valley. TAHI 2, MTCo 82
1784 Henry Cort, iron smelting to remove carbon by dry
puddling: stirring molten iron in a reverberatory furnace
heated with pit coal and then using a tilt hammer. Uses
high-quality iron from Sweden. Develops existing ideas to
make one of the most significant advances in metallurgy.
18CI, HInv 185
Nicholas Leblanc, production of soda: Heat salt and
sulphuric acid to get sodium sulphate which, heated again
with limestone and coke, yields the product. He succeeds
with the process by 1788. SSCB 122
1783 Henry Cort, grooved rollers for making iron bars. Great
Britain. 18CI
Henry Cort patents puddling process. Great Britain. SHEg
86
Thomas Bell, textile printing. 1 to 5 colors in
succession; engraved copper cylinder, 3-4 inches in
diameter. 50-to-1 reduction in labor from block printing.
Great Britain. 18CI
Oliver Evans, model of production line for grain milling.
MTCo 78, 81, TIAm 35
1782 Oliver Evans conceives of automatic grist mill. N&BP 57
1780 Oliver Evans, automatic flour mill. He proposes to solve
the problem of labor shortage by eliminating all manual
stages in the milling operation. USA. 18CI
Samuel Crompton, spinning mule. Improves on the spinning
jenny with spindles on a movable carriage resulting in
finer, more regular thread. No patent, little reward.
Great Britain. 18CI
Jacques Vaucanson, lathe. France. Bed rails turned with
a sharp edge up so that the carriage rests on two faces.
Square-thread screw. First step from wooden-bed lathe for
furniture to the engineering lathe. 18CI
1779 Samuel Crompton completes his spinning mule, embodying
features of Hargreaves's and Arkwright's machines. HInv
145
1778 Crompton, spinning mule. SSCB 97
137 steam engines have been constructed in the coal fields
of Tyneside. SHEg 87
1776 Adam Smith, _Inquiry into the Nature of the Causes of the
Wealth of Nations_. The classic of classical political
economy. MTCo 137, CHW 693, 823
Adam Smith says that the spinning wheel doubles the
productivity of labor. SHTy 97
Nathan Sellers has built machines to make leather carding
brushes. Perforator, wire cutter, bender. He puts out
assembly to 300-400 persons drawn from a roster of 3000
women and children. Philadelphia. N&BP 3. He is
recalled from Army to make paper for money. N&BP 22
1775 Arkwright, carding machine. SSCB 97
James Watt demonstrates his steam engine; reduces fuel
consumption by 2/3 from Newcomen's requirement; sales are
good. 18CI
1770 Richard Arkwright enters partnership with Samuel Need and
Jedediah Strutt, hosiers. They open a water-driven mill
at Cromford. Beginning of the FACTORY SYSTEM. HInv 145
1767 A steel furnace in northeast England can hold as much as
11 tons; heating for 5x24 hours. HInv 185
Peter Woulfe, Experiments on the Distillation of Acid and
Volatile Alkalies (Royal Society): Pass gases through
liquids to produce ammonia, hydrochloric acid, and nitric
acid, and to distill and collect acids in fractions. 18CI
1765 James Watt, working as an instrument maker at Glasgow
University in association with Joseph Black who studies
heat in chemical reactions, sees the Newcomen steam engine
that he is asked to repair as a heat engine and decides to
separate the condenser. 18CI and many others
1757 James Hargreaves, a poor weaver, completes spinning jenny.
MTCo 37
1744 John Roebuck & Samuel Garbett set up metal refinery in
Birmingham. Roebuck switches the making of sulphuric acid
from small glass containers to lead-lined tanks. The cost
goes down and the supply goes up. 18CI
1740 Iron produced in Britain: 17,000 tons. HInv 153
1738 Lewis Paul patents a cotton-spinning machine, but his
carpenter John Wyatt may be the true inventor. Two pairs
of rollers, one pair revolving faster than the other.
First mill at Birmingham powered by donkeys, second at
Nottingham powered by water wheel. Little success, partly
because of transportation costs. 18CI, SHTy 105
John Kay, flying shuttle; nearly doubles the production of
cloth. Great Britain. Kay is persecuted and moves to
Paris. 18CI
1729 Newcomen dies. His engine is in use in Hungary, France,
Belgium, etc. HInv 159
1727 Daniel Defoe writes that the Derby Mill (silk spinning,
with a waterwheel built by George Sorocold) is the only
one of its kind in England. SHEg 80
1720 Britain exports worth L8 M. SHTy 44
Britain produces 17,000 tons of pig iron at 60 blast
furnaces. SHEg 85
1658 Newcastle exports 529,032 tons of coal a year. SHEg 70
1530 German silver mining has quintupled supply since 1460.
Fuggers of Augsburg become the richest family in the west.
SHTy 39
1525 In Germany, 100,000 men are employed in mining and
smelting. SHGe 61
1400 Paved streets in most cities. Europe. HTIn 546
1200 Extent of land cultivated in Europe is increasing, mostly
by clearing of forests; ash of burned forest improves
soil. Metallurgy starts again. HTIn 463
1086 The Domesday Book, survey of assessment for tax, compiled.
It lists 5624 water mills for some 3,000 communities in
England south of the Trent and Severn. 1195 salt works.
Production of iron in England has trebled since Norman
invasion. MRTe 144, 292, SHEg 47-48, HInv 113, TTHy
864 Liming every fifteen years. Mention in decree of Pitres.
Perhaps the explanation was to purify the fields, but lime
is calcium oxide, and calcium is necessary to the health
of animals and us. Rediscovery or reinvention of Roman
lore. HTIn 464
800 Agricultural evolution: Triennial rotation (winter grain,
spring grain, and a year of fallow) practiced a little.
Combines the Germanic lore of spring sowings and use of
iron, and the Roman lore of fallowing. Between Seine,
Loire, and Rhine, Germany. HTIn 462-463, MRTe 140, SHEg
41
Grand Canal, China, 1000 km, carries 2 M tons of cargo per
year. HInv 61
Mercians under Offa build a 200 km Dyke from the Dee to
the Severn to contain the Welsh. HInv 86
-29 Marcus Vitruvius Pollio, _De Architectura_ (-11?).
Prefers earthenware to lead for pipes; the grey pallor of
plumbers indicates toxicity of metal. SHEg 30, HOTM 32,
HInv 60
-220 Flaminian way, Rome-Rimini. EtAC 18
-283 Lighthouse on Pharos island, Alexandria, begun under
Ptolemy Soter by Sostratos of Cnidus. A stepped tower at
least 279 feet high. Brazier and mirror. A Greek
achievement. HTIn 191, SHTy 171
-287 Archimedes of Syracuse born, d. -212. Screw (?), toothed
wheel and gear train, 2-pulley tackle. Lever. With his
machines, 250 kg boulders could be catapulted, according
to A. G. Drachmann. Water screw, specific gravity. SHEg
26, HOTM 26-27, CHW 682
-400 Water control begins. China. Toynbee
Iron molds for making agricultural implements. China.
HInv 76
-500 Iron working best in Celtic areas, esp. Spain: Catalan
furnace with alternating bellows yields malleable iron;
2-story shaft furnaces yield a highly carbonized iron for
forging. SHTy 125-126
Plow painted on a cup. Greece. SHTy 55
Beam press for olives and grapes painted on a vase. Built
in Athens. SHTy 60, HOTM 42
Potter's wheel used as lathe. SHTy 76
Loom 5' wide painted on vase. Greece. SHTy 81
Eupalinos [Eupalinus] builds an aqueduct at Samis [Samos].
2/3 of it is a tunnel 1100 m long, 2.5 m square, through a
hill 300 m high. Herodotus thinks this one of the three
greatest Greek constructions. Alignment of two ends
missed by 16'. HInv 59, SHTy 169
Wheel of pots for raising water. Babylon. Endless chain
of buckets may have been used in Hanging Gardens. HInv
28, 31
-1200 IRON AGE begins. Destruction of Hittite empire scatters
the smiths and loosens the monopoly. Iron begins to come
into common use. Spreads in the Euphrates valley, esp.
Assyrians. Swords of iron are strong. First weapons;
then hoe, axe, and pick. Finally, new tools: tongs,
anvils, dies, frame saws. HInv 18, 73, CHW 137, SHTy 120,
122, SHEg 21.
Close-fitting two-part molds for casting gold, bronze.
Ugarit, Syria, Mesopotamia. SHTy 118-119, HInv 72, 76
Spoked wheel in China. HInv 46
Stone dike to store water. 1.25 miles long. Orontes
valley, Syria. SHTy 53
-1350 Hittite power at zenith; in Anatolia, cities with stone
walls; copper, silver, and lead. Control Syria and
threaten Egypt. Library in capital has tablets in 8
languages. SHEg 21
-1500 Troy, after 5 earlier rebuildings, is a prosperous large
city enclosed by walls with square towers. HInv 86
Rice in paddies, fields with raised banks to hold water.
China. HInv 26
Kaolins, clays which vitrify at lower temperatures, used
in pottery. China. HInv 39
-1600 Walled cities, grid-iron plan. China. HInv 20
Spoked wheel in Egypt. HInv 46
-2000 270,000 km of water conduits in Iran. HOTM 18
Spoked wheel. Mesopotamia. HInv 45, 46
Potter's wheel with kick wheel below; kiln. Mesopotamia.
TTHy, SHTy 76
-2500 Indus Civilization begins to flourish in parts of Western
and Northern India. Principal cities Harappa and
Mohenjo-Daro; 1.25 M sq km. Bronze tools and weapons.
The rest of India in Stone Age. Toynbee, HInv 29, TTHy,
AA 64:889. HDSI 5
Dam across Wadi Gerrawi, eastern Egypt. 90 m thick, 125 m
long. Masonry face. HInv 58
-2700 Ship of Re: 600 pieces of cedar joined with tenons and
thongs, with butt and scarfed joints. No keel, but tall
stem and stern pieces attached to central longitudinal
timber. Cabin on a deck. 5 spear-shaped oars on each
side. Two steering oars at stern. 40 m long. HInv 49,
TTHy
Potter's wheel. SHTy 75
Kilns. Some vertical. Bricks made. Middle East. SHTy
77, HInv 38, 52
Stone building in Egypt. HInv 10
-3250 Potter's wheel in Mesopotamia. The oldest wheel-made pot,
according to Singer. HOTM 26, HInv 10, 36, 38, CHW 50,
TTHy
-3300 Sailboats and animal-drawn plows in Sumer. CHW 50
-3500 Plows in Sumeria; early irrigation; pottery and bricks
fired in kilns in Middle East. Egypt Nile culture. HInv
10, ACSD 20
Wheeled vehicles in Sumeria, Mesopotamia: A cart with 4
solid wheels, depicted on a tablet from Erech. After this
date, an astonishing range of artifacts show wheeled
vehicles. Rim (felloe). HInv 10, 31, 43, 45-46, ACSD 18,
HOTM 26, TTHy
-4000 The jungle and swamp in the lower Nile Valley and its
Delta and in the Lower Tigris-Euphrates Valley are
gradually reclaimed after this date; irrigation begins in
Egypt. Distinct Egyptiac and Sumeric CIVILIZATIONS
emerge. Toynbee, HInv 10
-5000 Agriculture on river terraces in north and northwest
China. Wheat and millet. HInv 26
-6000 Catal Huyuk, a large complex of houses. Walls with
religious paintings, human and animal figures. Wooden
vessels, coiled baskets; polished axes; woolen textiles
for clothing and furnishings; antler and bone ladles,
spoons, and needles. Figure of woman giving birth to a
bull; a couple in embrace. 14 food plants; meat from
hunting. Konya plain, southern Turkey. HDSI 25
-6400 Pesse boat, a dugout canoe 4 m long. Holland. CHW 50,
HInv 10, HInv 47
-6500 Jarmo, village of 25 huts. Clay ovens; bases for silos;
plaited mats. 2-row barley, emmer wheat, peas. HDSI 24
Pottery. AA 64:889
-7000 Pottery begins. Possibly some is fired. ACSD 13, CHW 50
-7500 Extensive settlement at Jericho, weaving, fortification,
remains of cultivated cereals. Ovens. CHW 10, 50, HInv
41
-7700 Catal Huyuk in Turkey first occupied; 13 hectares. Stone
or mud brick houses. Pits for granaries. Obsidian mined
for tools; fertility cult indicates use of domesticated
cattle. Frescoes of hunting scenes and bones of wild
animals. HInv 25, CHW 10, 50
-7800 Pottery at Beldibi, southwestern Anatolia; perhaps. AA
64:889
-8000 AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION begins: Neolithic replaces
Mesolithic. Fertile Crescent: eastern end of
Mediterranean and Mesopotamia, 3000 km. Hunting and
gathering continue in farming groups. HInv 10, 24, 26,
ACSD 10, MMLM 127
Jericho, walled city, 4 hectares. Mud brick wall socketed
to take crossbeams. A town before pottery. HInv 25, SHTy
158, MMLM 155
Jarmo, northern Iraq, town of 100-300 persons in houses
with thin walls of packed mud. Excavated 1948 by Robert
J. Braidwood. ACSD 12
Clay pots for cooking. MMLM 155
SOURCES used in Figures
ACSD Asimov's Chronology of Science and Discovery. 500-1984
BCI2 = HBC2
CHW Columbia History of the World.
DKGS Donald Kennedy, address at centennial, reprinted Harvard
Graduate Society Newsletter, Fall 1989.
E&P Energy and Power. Scientific American.
EETc Energy, Economics, and Technology
EUSA Energy in the United States
FW Funk & Wagnall's New Encyclopedia
GRTC Greek and Roman Technology. K. D. White. Pp. 1-90
HBC2 History of the British Coal Industry, vol. 2.
HEAn History of Education in Antiquity. Marrou. Pp. 1-226
MP&W Mercedes in Peace and War: German Automobile Workers, 1903-
1945. Bernard P. Bellon. Columbia University Press, 1990.
Notes from review by Herbert Mitgang, NYT 900823:C20
NIHF National Inventors Hall of Fame. From UnAl 360 ff
RBF Critical Path. R. Buckminster Fuller. Appendix 1, 2
TCBI Hyde, Charles K. Technological Change and the British Iron
Industry, 1700-1870
TIRv Transatlantic Industrial Revolution. D. J. Jeremy.
TTHy Timetable of History. 1100-1625, 1784-1970
UnAl Universal Almanac
USCI Zimmerman, Martin B. The U.S. Coal Industry
WA Information Please Almanac.
WCEP Gordon, Richard L. World Coal: Economics, Policies and
Prospects
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