American Iron, 1607-1900

Erscheinungsjahr 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4214-3500-8
Verlag: Johns Hopkins University Press

Buch, Englisch, Band 19, 362 Seiten, Format (B × H): 178 mm x 254 mm, Gewicht: 684 g

Reihe: Johns Hopkins Studies in the History of Technology

Winner of the Professional and Scholarly Publishing Award for General Engineering from the Association of American Publishers

Originally published in 1996. By applying their abundant natural resources to ironmaking early in the eighteenth century, Americans soon made themselves felt in world markets. After the Revolution, ironmakers supplied the materials necessary to the building of American industry, pushing the fuel efficiency and productivity of their furnaces far ahead of their European rivals.

In American Iron, 1607-1900, Robert B. Gordon draws on recent archaeological findings as well as archival research to present an ambitious, comprehensive survey of iron technology in America from the colonial period to the industry's demise at about the turn of the twentieth century. Closely examining the techniques—the "hows"—of ironmaking in its various forms, Gordon offers new interpretations of labor, innovation, and product quality in ironmaking, along with references to the industry's environmental consequences. He establishes the high level of skills required to ensure efficient and safe operation of furnaces and to improve the quality of iron product. By mastering founding, fining, puddling, or bloom smelting, ironworkers gained a degree of control over their lives not easily attained by others.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Gordon, Robert B

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Amerikanische Geschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Wirtschaftsgeschichte
• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Wirtschaftswissenschaften Wirtschaftsgeschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter 1. Iron
Chapter 2. Ore, Fuel, and Other Natural Resources
Chapter 3. The Rise of American Iron, 1720-1860
Chapter 4. Smelting with Charcoal
Chapter 5. Converting Pig Iron to Wrought Iron
Chapter 6. Coal-Fired Blast Furnaces
Chapter 7. Steel
Chapter 8. Shaping Iron and Steel
Chapter 9. Iron Quality
Chapter 10. Ironmaking Eclipsed, 1860-1900
Chapter 11. The Industrial Archaeology of Iron
Appendix A. Metallography
Appendix B. Iron Production Data
Notes
Glossary
Essay on Early Treatises and Primary Sources
Index

Über Autor(innen)

Gordon, Robert B
Robert B. Gordon is a professor of geophysics and applied mechanics at Yale University. His books include The Texture of Industry, Toward a New Iron Age?, and A Landscape Transformed.