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Tables of Contents for A Social History of American Technology
Chapter/Section Title
Page #
Page Count
Acknowledgments
xiii
I IN THE BEGINNING
1
66
A Social History of American Technology
2
3
The Land, the Natives, and the Settlers
5
23
The Land and the Native Inhabitants
6
4
The European Settlers
10
6
The Colonial Economy
16
6
Colonial Economic Policy and Technological Change
22
3
Conclusion: Quickening the Pace for Technological Change
25
2
Notes
27
1
Suggestions for Further Reading
27
1
Husbandry and Huswifery in the Colonies
28
17
Types of Farms in the Colonial Period
29
2
The Technological System of Colonial Agriculture
31
8
Conclusion: The Myth of Self-Sufficiency
39
4
Notes
43
1
Suggestions for Further Reading
44
1
Colonial Artisans
45
22
The Apprenticeship System and Labor Scarcity
46
4
Printshops and Printers
50
4
Mills, Millwrights, and Millers
54
3
Iron Foundries and Iron Workers
57
6
Conclusion: Reasons for the Slow Pace of Technological Change
63
2
Notes
65
1
Suggestions for Further Reading
65
2
II INDUSTRIALIZATION
67
154
The Early Decades of Industrialization
69
24
Oliver Evans, Steam Engines, and Machine Shops
73
3
Eli Whitney and the Cotton Gin
76
2
The Armament Industry and the American System of Manufacture
78
4
Samuel Slater and the Factory System
82
7
Conclusion: The Unique Character of American Industrialization
89
2
Notes
91
1
Suggestions for Further Reading
91
2
Transportation Revolutions
93
26
Transportation Difficulties
94
3
Toll Roads and Entrepreneurs
97
2
Canal Building and State Financing
99
6
Steamboats: Steam Power and State Power
105
7
Railroads: Completing a National Transportation System
112
5
Notes
117
1
Suggestions for Further Reading
118
1
Inventors, Entrepreneurs, and Engineers
119
30
The Patent System: The Public History of Invention
120
4
Inventors: Changes between 1820 and 1920
124
6
Entrepreneurs: Innovation and Diffusion
130
8
Engineers: Changes between 1820 and 1920
138
9
Notes
147
1
Suggestions for Further Reading
147
2
Industrial Society and Technological Systems
149
24
Industrialization, Dependency, and Technological Systems
150
1
The Telegraph System
151
2
The Railroad System
153
3
The Petroleum System
156
3
The Telephone System
159
3
The Electric System
162
3
The Character of Industrialized Society
165
6
Conclusion: Industrialization and Technological Systems
171
1
Suggestions for Further Reading
171
2
Daily Life and Mundane Work
173
28
Farmers and Unexpected Outcomes
173
5
Skilled and Deskilled Workers
178
9
Unskilled Workers
187
6
Housewives and House Servants
193
5
Conclusion: Was Industrialization Good or Bad for Workers?
198
1
Notes
199
1
Suggestions for Further Reading
199
2
American Ideas about Technology
201
20
Technology and Associated Ideas
203
2
Precursers to Industrialization
205
3
Technology and Romanticism
208
1
Acceptance of Romanticism by Advocates of Industrialization
209
4
Technology and Art
213
4
Conclusion: The Cultural Meanings of Technology
217
1
Notes
218
1
Suggestions for Further Reading
219
2
III TWENTIETH-CENTURY TECHNOLOGIES
221
108
Blessing or Curse?
222
2
Automobiles and Automobility
224
25
Who Invented the Automobile?
225
3
Henry Ford and the Mass-Produced Automobile
228
2
Alfred P. Sloan and the Mass-Marketed American Automobile
230
3
Automobility and the Road System before 1945
233
3
Automobility and the Road System after 1945
236
3
The Unexpected Consequences of Automobility
239
8
Conclusion: The Paradox of Automobility
247
1
Notes
247
1
Suggestions for Further Reading
248
1
Taxpayers, Generals, and Aviation
249
24
The Early Days of Aircraft and the Aircraft Industry
250
6
World War II: A Turning Point
256
4
The Military-Industrial-Academic Complex
260
2
Civilian Spin-offs and the Race into Space
262
7
Conclusion: Costs and Benefits of Military Sponsorship
269
1
Notes
270
1
Suggestions for Further Reading
271
2
Communications Technologies and Social Control
273
28
Wireless Telegraphy
273
2
Wireless Telephony
275
4
Government Regulation of Wireless Communication
279
4
Wireless Broadcasting: Radio
283
6
Television
289
3
Electronic Components: The Vacuum Tube and the Transistor
292
2
Computers
294
4
Conclusion: The Ultimate Failure of Efforts to Control Electronic Communication
298
1
Notes
299
1
Suggestions for Further Reading
300
1
Biotechnology
301
28
Science, Technology, and Technoscience
302
1
Hybrid Corn
303
7
Penicillin
310
8
The Birth Control Pill
318
7
Conclusion
325
1
Note
326
1
Suggestions for Further Reading
327
2
Index
329