A political and social reformer, Samuel Smiles (1812 1904) was also a noted biographer in the Victorian period. Following the engineer's death in 1848, Smiles published his highly successful Life of George Stephenson in 1857 (also reissued in this series). His interest in engineering evolved and he began working on biographies of Britain's most notable engineers from the Roman to the Victorian era. Originally published in three volumes between 1861 and 1862, this work contains detailed and lively accounts of the educations, careers and pioneering work of seven of Britain's most accomplished...
A political and social reformer, Samuel Smiles (1812 1904) was also a noted biographer in the Victorian period. Following the engineer's death in 1848...
From the fifteenth century, the silk industry developed in France to rival that of Italy. Taking off during the reign of Henri IV, sericulture was historically centred on Tours and Lyon. In the eighteenth century, attempts were made to introduce it to the north-east of France, to compensate for the decline of viticulture, which had until then represented the region's main economic activity. Agronomist and director of the Royal Academy of Metz, Charles-Bruno Le Payen (1715 82) was the first to breed silkworms on local mulberry leaves in 1754. He also invented a new type of silk-weaving mill....
From the fifteenth century, the silk industry developed in France to rival that of Italy. Taking off during the reign of Henri IV, sericulture was his...
A respected hydraulic engineer, William Henry Wheeler (1832 1915) established himself as an authority in the fields of low-lying land reclamation and drainage, embanking, and the improvement of tidal rivers and harbours. Based on articles written for The Engineer in 1887, he published this more substantial work in 1888 to provide a practical point of reference for those working on existing drainage systems or designing and implementing new schemes. Drawing on first-hand knowledge of the low-lying fens of England and the polders of Holland, Wheeler describes the processes of drainage by...
A respected hydraulic engineer, William Henry Wheeler (1832 1915) established himself as an authority in the fields of low-lying land reclamation and ...
A respected hydraulic engineer, William Henry Wheeler (1832 1915) established himself as an authority in the fields of low-lying land reclamation and drainage, embanking, and the improvement of tidal rivers and harbours. First published in 1868, Wheeler's historical work on the Fens of South Lincolnshire is reissued here in its much expanded second edition of 1896. It discusses in detail the reclamation of the fenland in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The coverage includes a history of each of the districts, the Acts of Parliament involved, the pumping machinery used, the...
A respected hydraulic engineer, William Henry Wheeler (1832 1915) established himself as an authority in the fields of low-lying land reclamation and ...
Joseph Yelloly Watson (1817 88) produced this short work for private circulation in 1843. For many years a mining agent with the London firm of Watson and Cuell, he became a fellow of the Geological Society and wrote on mining and historical subjects. Drawing chiefly on data from Cornwall, the present work gives details of mining processes, the layout of mines, the working conditions of miners (including figures for wages and working hours), and the typical management structure of a mine, with information on shareholders, profits and accounting. The work includes coverage of individual mining...
Joseph Yelloly Watson (1817 88) produced this short work for private circulation in 1843. For many years a mining agent with the London firm of Watson...
An important figure in British business history, the civil engineering contractor Thomas Brassey (1805 70) stood at the forefront of railway construction across the globe in the nineteenth century. He was also instrumental in the development of the Victoria Dock and part of London's sewer system. Originally published in 1872 and reissued here in its 1888 seventh edition, this first biography of Brassey was written by his personal friend, the public servant and author Sir Arthur Helps (1813 75). It describes Brassey's many remarkable achievements as a prolific contractor working in Europe,...
An important figure in British business history, the civil engineering contractor Thomas Brassey (1805 70) stood at the forefront of railway construct...
An electrical engineer, university teacher and wide-ranging writer, Fleeming Jenkin (1833 85) filed thirty-five British patents in the course of his career. Edited by Sidney Colvin (1845 1927) and J. A. Ewing (1855 1935) and first published in 1887, this two-volume work brings together a selection of Jenkin's varied and engaging papers. The collection ranges from notes on his voyages as a marine telegraph engineer, to a critical review of Darwin's On the Origin of Species, essays on literature, and thoughts on technical education. A memoir written by Robert Louis Stevenson, his former...
An electrical engineer, university teacher and wide-ranging writer, Fleeming Jenkin (1833 85) filed thirty-five British patents in the course of his c...
An electrical engineer, university teacher and wide-ranging writer, Fleeming Jenkin (1833 85) filed thirty-five British patents in the course of his career. Edited by Sidney Colvin (1845 1927) and J. A. Ewing (1855 1935) and first published in 1887, this two-volume work brings together a selection of Jenkin's varied and engaging papers. The collection ranges from notes on his voyages as a marine telegraph engineer, to a critical review of Darwin's On the Origin of Species, essays on literature, and thoughts on technical education. A memoir written by Robert Louis Stevenson, his former...
An electrical engineer, university teacher and wide-ranging writer, Fleeming Jenkin (1833 85) filed thirty-five British patents in the course of his c...
An accomplished telegraph engineer in his own right, Sir Charles Bright (1863-1937) was the son of Sir Charles Tilston Bright (1832-88), who had achieved greatness in laying the first transatlantic cable in 1858. The younger Bright worked alongside his father for a time, continued his research, and became an authority on the subject. Examining the history, construction and working of submarine telegraphs, this 1898 treatise traces both technical and commercial developments, looking also at the labour involved. Bright addresses the laying of cables across the globe, giving accounts of projects...
An accomplished telegraph engineer in his own right, Sir Charles Bright (1863-1937) was the son of Sir Charles Tilston Bright (1832-88), who had achie...
By the late nineteenth century, charges imposed on Manchester companies for the use of Liverpool's docks and the connecting railway had created an atmosphere of resentment within the business community. The Manchester Ship Canal was to play a major part in the city's regeneration following the depression of the 1870s, but it took a lengthy battle for the scheme to gain the backing of Parliament and for construction to begin in 1887. In this two-volume work of 1907, Sir Bosdin Leech (1836 1912) traces the canal's conception, planning and construction. Volume 1 discusses the historical and...
By the late nineteenth century, charges imposed on Manchester companies for the use of Liverpool's docks and the connecting railway had created an atm...
