Lives of the Engineers 3 Volume Set

With an Account of their Principal Works; Comprising Also a History of Inland Communication in Britain
Erscheinungsjahr 2012
ISBN: 978-1-108-05295-5
Verlag: Cambridge University Press

Medienkombination, Englisch, 1576 Seiten, Format (B × H): 143 mm x 217 mm, Gewicht: 2178 g

Reihe: Cambridge Library Collection - Technology

A political and social reformer, Samuel Smiles (1812–1904) was also a noted biographer in the Victorian period. Following the engineer's death in 1848, Smiles published his highly successful Life of George Stephenson in 1857 (also reissued in this series). His interest in engineering evolved and he began working on biographies of Britain's most notable engineers from the Roman to the Victorian era. Originally published in three volumes between 1861 and 1862, this work contains detailed and lively accounts of the educations, careers and pioneering work of seven of Britain's most accomplished engineers. These volumes stand as a remarkable undertaking, advancing not only the genre, but also the author's belief in what hard work could achieve.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Smiles, Samuel

Fachgebiete

• Technische Wissenschaften Technik Allgemein Technikgeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtswissenschaft Allgemein Biographien & Autobiographien: Historisch, Politisch, Militärisch
• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaften: Allgemeines Geschichte der Naturwissenschaften, Formalen Wissenschaften & Technik

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Volume 1: Preface; Part I. Early Works of Embanking and Draining: 1. Ancient British earthworks; 2. Water the chief element; 3. Cornelius Vermuyden; 4. Vermuyden undertakes to drain the Great Level of the Fens; 5. Breaches in the Thames Embankment; Part II. Life of Sir Hugh Myddleton: 1. Water supply of London in early times; 2. The Myddleton family in north Wales; 3. Myddleton elected representative of Denbigh in Parliament; 4. Method of constructing the New River works; 5. Brading Haven; 6. Sir High enters upon his mining enterprise in Wales; Part III. Early Roads and Modes of Travelling: 1. Uses and influence of roads; 2. Ordinary modes of conveyance in early times; 3. Influence of roads on manners and customs; 4. Improvements in travelling; 5. Memoir of John Metcalf; Part IV. Bridges, Harbours and Roads: 1. Old fords; 2. Thames ferry between London and Southwark; 3. Memoir of William Edwards; 4. Insignificant character of the English navy in early times; 5. Inland navigation; Part V. Life of James Brindley: 1. Brindley's native district; 2. Begins business as a wheelwright; 3. Lancashire navigations; 4. The Duke's first canal acts; 5. Brindley surveys an extension of the Duke's canal; 6. Brindley constructs the Duke's canal to Runcorn; 7. The Duke of Bridgewater's pecuniary difficulties; 8. The Grand Trunk Canal; 9. Brindley's opinion as to the use of rivers; 10. Brindley's domestic life; Index. Volume 2: Part VI. Life of John Smeaton: 1. John Smeaton's birth and education; 2. Placed in an attorney's office; 3. Dangers of the Eddystone Rock; 4. Lord Macclesfield's recommendation of Smeaton; 5. Smeaton appointed receiver for the Derwentwater estates; 6. Smeaton's home at Austhorpe; Part VII. Life of John Rennie: 1. Rennie born at Phantasssie, East Lothian; 2. Fletcher of Saltoun introduces barley-mills; 3. The Rennie family; 4. London in 1785; 5. Recommends the employment of the steam-engine in fen drainage; 6. Dr Robison visits Rennie in London; 7. Growth of the trade of London; 8. Dangers of the Bell Rock; 9. Rennie extensively employed by the government; 10. Plymouth Sound; 11. Rennie's extensive and various employments; Part VIII. Life of Thomas Telford: 1. Eskdale; 2. Telford apprenticed to a stonemason; 3. Telford a working man in London; 4. Superintends repairs of Shrewsbury Castle; 5. Advantages of mechanical training to an engineer; 6. Course of the Ellesmere Canal; 7. Use of iron in bridge-building; 8. Progress of Scotch agriculture; 9. Highland harbours; 10. Canal projected through the Great Glen of the Highlands; 11. Increase of road-traffic; 12. Bridges projected over the Menai Straits; 13. Résumé of English engineering; 14. Telford's residence in London; Index. Volume 3: Preface; 1. The colliery districts of the north; 2. Wylam colliery and village; 3. Jolly's Close, Newburn; 4. Sobriety and studiousness; 5. Self-improvement; 6. Various expedients for facilitating coal-haulage; 7. Frequency of colliery explosions; 8. The Killingworth mine-machinery; 9. The Bishop Auckland coal-field; 10. Insufficiency of the communications between Liverpool and Manchester; 11. The Liverpool and Manchester bill before Parliament; 12. George Stephenson appointed engineer; 13. Robert Stephenson mining engineer in Colombia; 14. The railway finished; 15. The London and Birmingham railway projected; 16. Projection of new lines; 17. George Stephenson's views on railways and coal-traffic; 18. Robert Stephenson's career; 19. George Stephenson surveys a line from Chester to Holyhead; 20. George Stephenson's life at Tapton; 21. Characteristics of the Stephensons; Appendix; Index.