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The spread of the industrial revolution, both in terms of geography and in terms of social, economic, cultural, and technological significance, is one of the key defining phenomena of modern history. As early as the first half of the nineteenth century, the significance of this was observed and commented on, from a range of perspectives. One of the earliest informed commentaries was that of Andrew Ure, whose Philosophy of Manufactures first appeared in 1835. You should begin by reading this excerpt from Ure.
The History of Railroads is a large, complicated, and interesting topic. One way of approaching it is through a site that compiles many other railroad history sites, such as www.rrhistorical.com. Begin with this site and branch out to explore the resources in railroad history.
The creation of scientific industries in such areas as electricity and chemicals is another large and complicated subject. There are some famous cases in chemical industry that you should take a further look at. Look at at least two of the following:
William Henry Perkin and the Discovery of Coal Tar Dyes
Charles Goodyear and Vulcanization
LeBlanc and the Alkali Industry
Beginnings of Electrochemistry
Here are the outlines of this week's lectures:
There
are two assignments: (1) Bring a print-out from your exploration of Railroad history
and be ready to explain why you found it useful and (2) Write a paragraph explaining
which two chemical industry sites you read and suggesting how they illustrate
the growing linkage between science and industry in the 19th century.