Structures of change in the mechanical age : technological innovation in the United States, 1790-1865 / Ross Thomson.

Main entry:

Thomson, Ross.

Title & Author:

Structures of change in the mechanical age : technological innovation in the United States, 1790-1865 / Ross Thomson.

Publication:

Description:

xiv, 432 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Series:

Johns Hopkins studies in the history of technology

Notes:
Includes bibliographical references (pages 403-422) and index.
Structure and change -- Paths of initial mechanization, 1790-1835 -- Ongoing mechanization, 1836-1865 -- Contours of innovation -- Machinists as a technological center -- Science, mechanicians, and invention -- The patent system and the inventive community -- The social basis of innovation -- Technological leadership -- Fruition -- The first innovation system.

Summary:

The United States registered phenomenal economic growth between the establishment of the new republic and the end of the Civil War. Ross Thomson's fresh study accounts for the unprecedented technological innovations that helped propel antebellum growth. Thomson argues that the transition of the United States from an agrarian economy in 1790 to an industrial leader in 1865 relied fundamentally on the spread of technological knowledge within and across industries. Essential to this spread was a dense web of knowledge-diffusing institutions--new occupations and industries, the patent office, machine shops, mechanics' associations, scientific societies, public colleges, and the civil engineering profession. Together they composed an integrated innovation system that generated, disseminated, and employed new technical knowledge across ever-widening ranges of the economy. To trace technological change in fourteen major industries and the economy as a whole, Thomson analyzes 14,000 patents, the records of two dozen machinery firms, census data for 1,800 companies, and hundreds of business directories. This exhaustive research leads to his interesting interpretation of technological diffusion and development. Thomson's impressive study of the infrastructure that fueled and supported the young country's economic and industrial successes will interest students of economic, technological, and business history. --Publisher description.

Resources:
Table of contents
Table of contents

ISBN:

9780801891410 (hardcover ; alk. paper)
0801891418 (hardcover ; alk. paper)

Subject:

Technological innovations United States History 18th century.
Technological innovations United States History 19th century.
Innovations États-Unis Histoire 18e siècle.
Innovations États-Unis Histoire 19e siècle.
Technological innovations
Innovation
Technologie
Technik
Technologie USA Geschichte 19. Jh.
Erfindung USA Geschichte 19. Jh.
Mechanisierung USA Geschichte 19. Jh.
Technik USA Geschichte 19. Jh.
United States
USA

Form/genre:

History

Added entries:

Johns Hopkins studies in the history of technology (Unnumbered)

Holdings:

Location: Library main 262811
Call No.: BIB 193942
Status: Available

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