A History of Western Technology

This volume offers a view of technology from the time of Graeco-Roman antiquity through the early twentieth century, as seen through the writings of technologists, churchmen, naturalists, poets, economists, and statesmen. These writings reveal how historical circumstances altered the direction of technical development and how intellectual forces were in turn modified by technical progress. Topics covered include the position of technology in ancient Greece; early Christianity and technology; Islamic technology; engineering artists in the Renaissance; technological undertakings during the Baroque period; eighteenth-century England's lead in technology ; the factory system of the industrial age; and automation in the twentieth century. Each section of the book contains numerous illustrations.