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A History of Engineering

Abstract

THOUGH there are many biographies of engineers and historical works in various branches of engineering, no attempt appears to have been made to write a general history of engineering. The reasons for this are perhaps not far to seek. No one but an engineer could write such a book, and engineers, as a rule, are actively engaged in the exercise of their profession and are concerned more with the present and the future than with the past. It is true many engineers possess the necessary literary ability and a few the wide knowledge and experience, but the opportunities for historical studies are but few. A step in the right direction was taken a few years ago when the Newcomen Society was founded, and the researches by its members will prove a mine of informa tion for the future historian. But the subject is a vast one; the materials are there in profusion, and the task of selection is by no means easy. Of the sources of information, none are perhaps of more value than the transactions of the various engineering societies, the addresses of the presidents often containing historical reviews of great importance; those of Sir John Rennie in 1846 and of Sir William White in 1903 to the Institution of Civil Engineers being two notable examples.

A History of Engineering.

By A. P. M. Fleming H. J. Brocklehurst. (The Histories of English Industries Series.) Pp. vii + 312. (London: A. and C. Black, Ltd., 1925.) 12s. 6d. net.

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A History of Engineering . Nature 117, 75–76 (1926). https://doi.org/10.1038/117075a0

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