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Engineering & Technology — page 5
368 public-domain engineering & technology books, summarised. Page 5 of 8.
Electric Bells and All About Them: A Practical Book for Practical Men
Selimo Romeo Bottone
This guide offers a foundational look at the mechanical and electrical principles required to install, maintain, and troubleshoot the signaling systems common to late 19th-century buildings. It serves as a technical manual for those tasked with the practical application of electric bell circuitry.
Scientific American Supplement, No. 595, May 28, 1887
Various
This collection captures the restless, practical curiosity of the late nineteenth century, offering a snapshot of a world rapidly being rewired by engineering and scientific inquiry. It serves as a dense, fascinating archive of Victorian technological optimism.
Some Mooted Questions in Reinforced Concrete Design: American Society of Civil Engineers, Transactions, Paper No. 1169, Volume LXX, Dec. 1910
Edward Godfrey
A fierce attack on sloppy structural math comparison, this 1910 civil engineering paper challenges early twentieth-century building norms with relentless logic, urging a young industry to shed bad habits borrowed from other trades.
Economy of the Round Dairy Barn
Wilber J. (Wilber John) Fraser
A single architectural choice can slice construction costs by nearly half while cutting the endless daily steps required to feed and tend a dairy herd.
Gas-Engines and Producer-Gas Plants: A Practice Treatise Setting Forth the Principles of Gas-Engines and Producer Design, the Selection and Installation of an Engine, Conditions of Perfect Operation, Producer-Gas Engines and Their Possibilities, the Care of Gas-Engines and Producer-Gas Plants, with a Chapter on Volatile Hydrocarbon and Oil Engines
Rodolphe Edgard Mathot
Mastering the mechanical precision of internal combustion requires navigating intricate engineering trade-offs, where subtle choices in ignition, governing, and gaseous fuels dictate industrial success.
Scientific American Supplement, No. 514, November 7, 1885
Various
This collection of late-nineteenth-century industrial and scientific intelligence captures the relentless ingenuity of an era obsessed with mechanizing the world. It serves as a comprehensive snapshot of Victorian-era progress across engineering, chemistry, and maritime safety.
Outspinning the Spider: The Story of Wire and Wire Rope
John Kimberly Mumford
A fine strand of drawn metal can outspin the spider, carrying the weight of modern civilization on invisible, unbreakable threads.
Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers, Vol. LXVIII, Sept. 1910: The New York Tunnel Extension of the Pennsylvania Railroad
Bertram Henry Majendie Hewett
Beneath the silt and currents of the Hudson River, engineers and laborers drove two massive iron tubes to connect New Jersey rail lines directly into the heart of Manhattan.
Friction, Lubrication and the Lubricants in Horology
W. T. (William T.) Lewis
HOOK This technical guide argues that even the most masterfully crafted timepiece is destined to fail if its lubrication is neglected or poorly understood.
A Manual of the Hand Lathe: Comprising Concise Directions for Working Metals of All Kinds, Ivory, Bone and Precious Woods
Egbert P. (Egbert Pomeroy) Watson
HOOK This guide serves as an intimate, practical apprenticeship for the home craftsman, demystifying the art of turning metal, ivory, and exotic woods on the foot-powered lathe.
The calculating engine
Charles Babbage
The calculating engine documents the birth of automated computation, detailing the ambitious attempt to replace fallible human labor with mechanical precision. It stands as a foundational text in the history of technology, capturing the transition from manual arithmetic to machine-governed logic.
The 'Pioneer': Light Passenger Locomotive of 1851: United States Bulletin 240, Contributions from the Museum of History and Technology, paper 42, 1964
John H. White
The Pioneer locomotive, a rare survivor of the mid-19th-century American rails, serves as both a functional machine and a historical record of early passenger transportation.
The Pioneer Steamship Savannah: A Study for a Scale Model: United States National Museum Bulletin 228, 1961, pages 61-80
Howard Irving Chapelle
The *Savannah* occupies a legendary place in maritime history as the first steamship to cross the Atlantic, yet for decades, the only physical evidence of her appearance was a flawed and inaccurate model.
The Telephone: An Account of the Phenomena of Electricity, Magnetism, and Sound, as Involved in Its Action
A. E. (Amos Emerson) Dolbear
This book serves as a foundational guide to the mechanics of sound and electromagnetism, bridging the gap between theoretical physics and the then-novel invention of the speaking telephone. It provides a clear, technical look at how human speech is captured, transmitted, and recreated through wire.
The Train Wire: A Discussion of the Science of Train Dispatching: (Second Edition)
John Alexander Anderson
Precision is the bedrock of safety on the rails, where the difference between a clear track and a collision rests entirely upon the clarity of a written telegraphic order. This technical manual codifies the rigorous discipline required to move trains across single-track lines without incident.
Scientific American Supplement, No. 363, December 16, 1882
Various
This issue of a late-nineteenth-century technical weekly serves as a vivid time capsule of Victorian ingenuity, capturing the era’s restless drive to measure, refine, and master the physical world. It is a collection of reports on industrial progress and laboratory discovery.
Artificial Limbs
Auguste Broca
This clinical manual offers a rigorous, practical guide to the design and fitting of artificial limbs for soldiers injured during the First World War. It prioritizes functional utility over aesthetic imitation to ensure that disabled men can return to meaningful work.
Building with Logs
Clyde P. Fickes
This practical guide provides the essential technical blueprints and methods for constructing durable, traditional log buildings, emphasizing structural integrity and timeless craftsmanship.
The Borghesi Astronomical Clock in the Museum of History and Technology: Contributions from the Museum of History and Technology, Paper 35
Silvio A. Bedini
In the heart of the 18th century, a singular astronomical clock bridges the gap between mechanical genius and the celestial dance of the stars. This study captures the intersection of craftsmanship, theology, and the relentless human desire to map eternity.
Tunnel Engineering: A Museum Treatment
Robert M. Vogel
The evolution of tunneling is a masterclass in human perseverance against the unpredictable forces of earth and water. It is a story of shifting from brute, dangerous manual labor toward a marriage of precision engineering and mechanical innovation.
Letters of a Radio-Engineer to His Son
John Mills
This technical correspondence demystifies the vacuum tube and the electron, transforming the arcane science of early radio into a conversational masterclass for the curious amateur.
Scientific American Supplement, No. 561, October 2, 1886
Various
Technical progress defined the Victorian era, and this collection of dispatches captures a moment when the world seemed solvable through steam, chemistry, and rigorous observation. It remains a fascinating snapshot of late-nineteenth-century industrial ambition.
The Advance of Science in the Last Half-Century
Thomas Henry Huxley
Science has fundamentally reshaped the modern world, transforming industry, communication, and our very understanding of the physical universe. This overview examines that seismic shift, tracking the evolution of knowledge from ancient philosophies to the Victorian era.
Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers, vol. LXVIII, Sept. 1910: The New York Tunnel Extension of the Pennsylvania Railroad
Charles M. (Charles Mattathias) Jacobs
This clinical account details the monumental engineering feat of burrowing the Pennsylvania Railroad beneath the Hudson River, forever altering the physical and logistical landscape of New York City at the dawn of the twentieth century.
Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers, Vol. LXVIII, Sept. 1910: The New York Tunnel Extension of the Pennsylvania Railroad
James H. Brace
HOOK This technical chronicle details the immense logistical and engineering feat of excavating the Cross-Town Tunnels, the critical subterranean link for the Pennsylvania Railroad’s expansion into Manhattan.
Artificial and Natural Flight
Hiram S. (Hiram Stevens) Maxim
This account of pioneering aeronautical research details the practical experiments required to achieve mechanical flight at the dawn of the twentieth century. It serves as a pragmatic, hard-won guide to the physics of wings, screws, and engines.
Rudimentary Treatise on the Construction of Locks
George Dodd
A meticulous examination of the mechanical evolution of locks, this text dissects the perpetual arms race between the locksmith’s craft and the persistent ingenuity of the lock-picker.
Scientific American Supplement, No. 711, August 17, 1889
Various
A window into the Victorian era’s boundless curiosity, this collection captures the intersection of industrial ambition and scientific inquiry at the height of the nineteenth century.
The Miner's Friend
Thomas Savery
An early manual for a steam-powered pump, this text serves as a technical blueprint and a persuasive argument for revolutionary technology in the British mining industry.
Hertzian Wave Wireless Telegraphy
Fleming, J. A. (John Ambrose), Sir
The spark of a laboratory experiment becomes a global bridge in these lectures, tracing the transformation of invisible electric waves into a reliable, long-distance medium for human communication.
Signalling across space without wires: being a description of the work of Hertz & his successors
Lodge, Oliver, Sir
At the dawn of the wireless age, a leading physicist explains how invisible waves in space were first captured and harnessed to send messages across the void.
The Introduction of Self-Registering Meteorological Instruments
Robert P. Multhauf
HOOK The quest to automate weather observation stalled for two centuries, not because of a lack of mechanical ingenuity, but due to the absence of organized scientific institutions to manage the data.
![Cover of Scientific American, Vol. XXXIX.—No. 24. [New Series.], December 14, 1878: A Weekly Journal of Practical Information, Art, Science, Mechanics, Chemistry, and Manufactures](https://cdn.myebooksbuy.com/c/scientific-american-vol-xxxix-no-24-new-series-december-14-1878-a.webp)
Scientific American, Vol. XXXIX.—No. 24. [New Series.], December 14, 1878: A Weekly Journal of Practical Information, Art, Science, Mechanics, Chemistry, and Manufactures
Various
Industrial ingenuity, legal disputes, and the everyday mechanics of Gilded Age America converge in this December 1878 issue of a legendary weekly periodical.
Scientific American Supplement, No. 360, November 25, 1882
Various
A late-nineteenth-century window into applied science captures an era when industrial ingenuity and precise observation were actively reshaping daily life, manufacturing, and trade.
Synthetic resins and their raw materials: A survey of the types and uses of synthetic resins, the organization of the industry, and the trade in resins and raw materials, with particular references to factors essential to tariff consideration. Under the general provisions of section 332, title III, part II, Tariff act of 1930
United States Tariff Commission
An exhaustive government survey traces how laboratory chemistry transformed raw coal, gas, and agricultural byproducts into the ubiquitous synthetic materials of modern life.
The Radio Amateur's Hand Book: A Complete, Authentic and Informative Work on Wireless Telegraphy and Telephony
A. Frederick (Archie Frederick) Collins
A comprehensive guide to early twentieth-century radio technology transforms complex electrical physics into accessible instructions for building, tuning, and operating home wireless stations.
Moxon's mechanick exercises, volume 1 (of 2)
Joseph Moxon
A hand-carved piece of wood, a measure of melted lead, and a millimeter of brass become the quiet foundation of human knowledge.
Scientific American Supplement No. 819, September 12, 1891
Various
A single weekly issue of a nineteenth-century journal captures an era's relentless urge to measure the heavens, industrialize manufacture, and master the physical world.
The Aeroplane Speaks
H. (Horatio) Barber
When the principles of flight gather after hours to air their grievances, the mechanics of early aviation acquire a surprisingly human voice.
The story of paper-making
Frank Osgood Butler
Humanity’s quest for a lasting record began with stone tablets and animal skins, but it found its true vessel in the humble, transformative power of paper. This account traces that journey from ancient scrap to the industrial marvels of the turn of the twentieth century.
Modern shipbuilding and the men engaged in it
David Pollock
This technical survey captures the rapid evolution of 19th-century British maritime engineering, documenting the transition from iron to steel and the rise of the high-speed transatlantic passenger trade. It serves as a meticulous industrial record of a transformative era.
The Theory and Practice of Model Aeroplaning
V. E. (Valentine Edward) Johnson
Building a stable flying model requires more than just spirit and balsa wood; it demands a rigorous, scientific understanding of aerodynamics.
Oxy-Acetylene Welding and Cutting: Electric, Forge and Thermit Welding together with related methods and materials used in metal working and the oxygen process for removal of carbon
Harold P. (Harold Phillips) Manly
Mastering the fusion of metals requires a precise balance of intense heat, chemical knowledge, and mechanical discipline. This comprehensive technical manual serves as a definitive guide for the early 20th-century metalworker to the principles and practices of industrial welding and cutting.
Time and Time-Tellers
Benson, James W., active 1857-1887
The history of human ingenuity is written in the steady, rhythmic pulse of the clock. This guide explores the mechanical evolution of time-keeping, from ancient celestial observations to the precision of the modern age.
Laboratory Manual of Glass-Blowing
Francis C. (Francis Cowles) Frary
Mastering the flame requires equal parts patience, steady hands, and a deep, intuitive understanding of how glass behaves under pressure and heat.
Type Cases and Composing-room Furniture: A Primer of Information About Type Cases, Work Stands, Cabinets, Case Racks, Galley Racks, Standing Galleys, &c
A. A. (Alexander A.) Stewart
HOOK This technical primer provides a foundational look at the physical architecture of the early twentieth-century printing office, detailing the essential storage and workstations required for the craft.
Scientific American Supplement, No. 601, July 9, 1887
Various
This midsummer dispatch captures the relentless pulse of Victorian innovation, chronicling everything from the mechanics of naval torpedoes to the architectural evolution of brickwork in a rapidly industrializing world.
The Passaic Flood of 1903
Marshall Ora Leighton
An intense, rain-driven catastrophe ravages the New Jersey landscape in October 1903. This technical report details the destruction of the Passaic River Valley and outlines engineering solutions to prevent future ruin.