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Essays in Industry and Technology in the Eighteenth Century: England and France book cover

1st Edition

Essays in Industry and Technology in the Eighteenth Century England and France

By John Harris Copyright 1992
    240 Pages
    by Routledge

    This collection of essays is devoted to the industrial history of England and France in the 18th century and concentrates in particular on transfers of technology between them. There are specific studies of technical transfer in the steel, glass and hardware industries, and on the place of the skills of the workmen in the diffusion of technology. Industrial espionage, too, early had its place, and one essay investigates why it was resorted to and how it was carried out. In the new introductory chapter, John Harris surveys the rise of a new range of technologies in England, based on dramatic increase in the use of coal, and emphasises that this was basic to British industrial leadership and a main reason for her expertise being desired abroad. Throughout, the part played by individuals - from inventors and entrepreneurs to managers, ministers and skilled workers - is regarded as essential to the process of industrial development. Ce recueil est voué à l’histoire industrielle de l’Angleterre et de la France au 18e siècle et se concentre plus particulièrement sur les transferts de technologie entre les deux pays. Certaines études traitent spécifiquement des échanges techniques dans l’industrie de l’acier et celle du verre, ainsi que de l’importance de la compétence des ouvriers quant à la diffusion de la technologie. L’espionage industriel, qui lui aussi a rapidement vu jour, fait le sujet d’un article enquêtant sur sa raison d’être et les méthodes employées. Dans le nouveau chapître d’introduction, John Harris évalue l’essor d’un nouvel éventail de technologie en Angleterre, basé sur l’augmentation dramatique de la consommation de charbon; il insiste que ce fait était à la base de la préponderance industrielle britannique et l’une des raisons principales pour lesquelles son expertise était si recherchée à l’étranger. Le rôle joué par l’individu - de l’inventeur à l’administrateur en passant par les e

    Contents: Introduction; Skills, coal and British industry in the eighteenth century; Saint Gobain and Ravenhead; Attempts to transfer English steel techniques to France in the eighteenth century; Michael Alcock and the transfer of Birmingham technology to France before the Revolution; Industrial espionage in the eighteenth century; Copper and shipping in the eighteenth century; The origins of the St Helens glass industry; Recent research on the Newcomen engine and historical studies; Index.
    'Essays in Industry and Technology in the Eighteenth Century is important particularly in its stress on the significance of craft skills and diffusion in the Industrial Revolution. By publishing this anthology, Harris has made a major and timely contribution to the history of technology.' Edwin T. Layton, Technology and Culture. '...this volume can be highly recommended for the insights it gives into the minutiae of international industrial skulduggery in the 18th century....' History '...Harris has provided a series of reliable and excellently argued case studies which together comprise a commentary on the Industrial Revolution of which any contemporary scholar would be proud' The Newcomen Bulletin
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