Science and Technology in Colonial America

Science and Technology in Colonial America PDF

Author: William E. Burns

Publisher: Greenwood

Published: 2005-09-30

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 031333160X

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Science and technology are central to history of the United States, and this is true of the Colonial period as well. Although considered by Europeans as a backwater, the people living in the American colonies had advanced notions of agriculture, surveying, architecture, and other technologies. In areas of natural philosophy—what we call science—such figures as Benjamin Franklin were admired and respected in the scientific capitals of Europe. This book covers all aspects of how science and technology impacted the everyday life of Americans of all classes and cultures. Science and Technology in Everyday Life in Colonial America covers a wide range of topics that will interest students of American history and the history of science and technology: * Domestic technology—how colonial women devised new strategies for day-to-day survival * Agricultural—how Native Americans and African slaves influenced the development of a American system of agriculture * War—how the frequent battles during the colonial period changed how industry made consumer goods This volume includes myriad examples of the impact science and technology had on the lives of individual who lived in the New World.

Science and Technology in Nineteenth-Century America

Science and Technology in Nineteenth-Century America PDF

Author: Todd Timmons

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2005-09-30

Total Pages: 222

ISBN-13: 0313017654

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The 19th Century was a period of tremendous change in the daily lives of the average Americans. Never before had such change occurred so rapidly or and had affected such a broad range of people. And these changes were primarily a result of tremendous advances in science and technology. Many of the technologies that play such an central role in our daily life today were first invented during this great period of innovation—everything from the railroad to the telephone. These inventions were instrumental in the social and cultural developments of the time. The Civil War, Westward Expansion, the expansion and fall of slave culture, the rise of the working and middle classes and changes in gender roles—none of these would have occurred as they did had it not been for the science and technology of the time. Science and Technology in Nineteenth-Century America chronicles this relationship between science and technology and the revolutions in the lives of everyday Americans. The volume includes a discussion of: Transportation—from the railroad and steamship to the first automobiles appearing near the end of the century. Communication—including the telegraph, the telephone, and the photograph Industrialization— how the growing factory system impacted the lives of working men and women Agriculture—how mechanical devices such as the McCormick reaper and applications of science forever altered how farming was done in the United States Exploration and navigations—the science and technology of the age was crucial to the expansion of the country that took place in the century, and The book includes a timeline and a bibliography for those interested in pursuing further research, and over two dozen fascinating photos that illustrate the daily lives of Americans in the 19th Century Part of the Daily Life through History series, this title joins Science and Technology in Colonial America in a new branch of the series-titles specifically looking at how science innovations impacted daily life.

Early American Technology

Early American Technology PDF

Author: Judith A. McGaw

Publisher: UNC Press Books

Published: 2014-01-01

Total Pages: 495

ISBN-13: 0807839981

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This collection of original essays documents technology's centrality to the history of early America. Unlike much previous scholarship, this volume emphasizes the quotidian rather than the exceptional: the farm household seeking to preserve food or acquire tools, the surveyor balancing economic and technical considerations while laying out a turnpike, the woman of child-bearing age employing herbal contraceptives, and the neighbors of a polluted urban stream debating issues of property, odor, and health. These cases and others drawn from brewing, mining, farming, and woodworking enable the authors to address recent historiographic concerns, including the environmental aspects of technological change and the gendered nature of technical knowledge. Brooke Hindle's classic 1966 essay on early American technology is also reprinted, and his view of the field is reassessed. A bibliographical essay and summary of Hindle's bibliographic findings conclude the volume. The contributors are Judith A. McGaw, Robert C. Post, Susan E. Klepp, Michal McMahon, Patrick W. O'Bannon, Sarah F. McMahon, Donald C. Jackson, Robert B. Gordon, Carolyn C. Cooper, and Nina E. Lerman.

Science in Colonial America

Science in Colonial America PDF

Author: Brendan January

Publisher:

Published: 1999

Total Pages: 64

ISBN-13: 9780531115251

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Describes the scientific contributions made by people in colonial America, including natural history, medicine, astronomy, and electricity.

Technology in America

Technology in America PDF

Author: Alan I. Marcus

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2018-04-05

Total Pages: 424

ISBN-13: 1137334878

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Now in a thoroughly updated new edition, this successful textbook surveys the history of technology in America from the 1600s to the 21st century. Alan I Marcus and Howard P. Segal explore the effect society, culture, politics and economics have had upon technological advances, and place the evolution of American technology within the broader context of the development of systems such as transportation and communications. This unique book connects phenomena such as colonial printing presses with the American Revolution; early photographs with the creation of an allegedly unique American character; and high-tech advances in biotechnology with a growing desire for individual autonomy. This is an ideal resource for undergraduate and postgraduate students of the history of technology, the history of science, and American history.

Major Problems in the History of American Technology

Major Problems in the History of American Technology PDF

Author: Merritt Roe Smith

Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing Company

Published: 1998

Total Pages: 556

ISBN-13:

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This entry in the Major Problems in American History series examines the history of technology in America, from colonial times to the present. Each of the 14 chapters contains an introduction, secondary readings, documents, headnotes, and suggested readings.

The Machine in America

The Machine in America PDF

Author: Carroll W. Pursell

Publisher: JHU Press

Published: 1995

Total Pages: 380

ISBN-13: 9780801848186

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From the medieval farm implements brought by the first colonists to the invisible links of the Internet, the history of technology in America is a history of our society as well. Arguing that "the tools and processes we use are a part of our lives, not simply instruments of our purpose," historian Carroll Pursell analyzes technology's impact upon the lives of women and men, their work, politics, and social relationships--and in turn, their influence upon technological development. Pursell shows how both the idea of progress and the mechanical means to harness the forces of nature developed and changed as they were brought from the Old World to the New. He describes the ways in which American industrial and agricultural technology began to take on a distinctive shape as it adapted and extended the technical base of the industrial revolution. He discusses the innovation of an American System of Manufactures and the mechanization of agriculture; new systems of mining, lumbering, and farming, which helped conquer and define the West; and the technologies that shaped the rise of cities. And he shows how the export of technology helped to foster American hegemony both in theWestern Hemisphere and elsewhere in the world. Pursell also argues that American technology has created a social hegemony, not only over the way we live but also over how we evaluate that life. He shows that such developments as scientific management techniques and industrial research changed Americans' lives as much as the mass production of such durable consumer goods as radios and automobiles. In many ways, he concludes, today's military-industrial complex is the legacy of the intense cooperation betweenscience and technology during World War II.

Subject Matter

Subject Matter PDF

Author: Joyce E. Chaplin

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2009-07-01

Total Pages: 430

ISBN-13: 0674029437

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With this sweeping reinterpretation of early cultural encounters between the English and American natives, Joyce E. Chaplin thoroughly alters our historical view of the origins of English presumptions of racial superiority, and of the role science and technology played in shaping these notions. By placing the history of science and medicine at the very center of the story of early English colonization, Chaplin shows how contemporary European theories of nature and science dramatically influenced relations between the English and Indians within the formation of the British Empire. In Chaplin's account of the earliest contacts, we find the English--impressed by the Indians' way with food, tools, and iron--inclined to consider Indians as partners in the conquest and control of nature. Only when it came to the Indians' bodies, so susceptible to disease, were the English confident in their superiority. Chaplin traces the way in which this tentative notion of racial inferiority hardened and expanded to include the Indians' once admirable mental and technical capacities. Here we see how the English, beginning from a sense of bodily superiority, moved little by little toward the idea of their mastery over nature, America, and the Indians--and how this progression is inextricably linked to the impetus and rationale for empire.

Explore Colonial America!

Explore Colonial America! PDF

Author: Verna Fisher

Publisher: Nomad Press

Published: 2009-08-01

Total Pages: 98

ISBN-13: 1934670766

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In Explore Colonial America!, kids ages 6-9 learn about America’s earliest days as European settlements, and how the colonists managed to survive, build thriving colonies, and eventually challenge England for independence. How did the colonists build homes, feed and clothe themselves, and get along with the Native Americans who were already here? This accessible introduction to the colonial period teaches young children about the daily lives of ordinary colonists and offers fascinating stories about those who helped shape the emerging nation. Activities range from creating a ship out of a bar of soap and building a log home out of graham crackers and pretzels to making a wampum necklace. Projects are easy-to-follow, require minimal adult supervision, and use primarily common household products and recycled supplies. By combining a hands-on element with riddles, jokes, fun facts, and comic cartoons, kids Explore Colonial America!, and have a great time discovering our nation’s founding years.