Free summaries
Engineering & Technology — page 3
409 public-domain engineering & technology books, summarised. Page 3 of 9.
The American Printer: A Manual of Typography: Containing practical directions for managing all departments of a printing office, as well as complete instructions for apprentices
Thomas MacKellar
Mastering the craft of the press requires a marriage of tireless discipline and artistic precision. This definitive guide illuminates the mechanical and professional standards that defined the nineteenth-century printing house.
Farm Mechanics: Machinery and Its Use to Save Hand Labor on the Farm
Herbert A. Shearer
This guide to early twentieth-century agricultural efficiency serves as a comprehensive manual for transforming the manual labor of the farm into a streamlined, machine-assisted operation. It acts as an essential bridge between traditional, muscle-heavy methods and the emerging industrialization of the rural homestead.
On-Line Data-Acquisition Systems in Nuclear Physics, 1969
National Research Council (U.S.). Ad Hoc Panel on On-line Computers in Nuclear Research
In the late 1960s, nuclear physics laboratories underwent a quiet revolution as digital computers moved onto the laboratory floor to process real-time experimental data.
Principles and Practice of Fur Dressing and Fur Dyeing
William E. Austin
Demystifying an industry long shrouded in guild-like secrecy, this groundbreaking treatise translates the art of fur processing into a precise, modern applied science.
Twentieth Century Inventions: A Forecast
George Sutherland
Looking ahead to a new century, a technological journalist measures the gap between technical possibility and practical adoption, forecasting how energy, transport, and industry will evolve.
An Unsinkable Titanic: Every Ship its own Lifeboat
John Bernard Walker
A fatal compromise between luxury and safety sent the ocean's greatest ship to the Atlantic floor. Naval design must return to forgotten structural principles to prevent such a tragedy from happening again.
The Art of Paper-Making: A Practical Handbook of the Manufacture of Paper from Rags, Esparto, Straw, and Other Fibrous Materials, Including the Manufacture of Pulp from Wood Fibre
Alexander Watt
From the precise sorting of global rags to the chemical secrets of wood pulp and bleaching, nineteenth-century paper manufacture reveals itself as an intricate, rigorous science where industrial innovation transforms crude vegetable fibres into smooth white sheets.
The Radio Amateur's Hand Book: A Complete, Authentic and Informative Work on Wireless Telegraphy and Telephony
A. Frederick (Archie Frederick) Collins
A clear, practical guide to early twentieth-century wireless technology, teaching the home hobbyist how to build, wire, tune, and operate radio receiving and transmitting equipment from scratch.
American Inventions and Inventors
William A. (William Augustus) Mowry
The ingenuity of the human spirit takes center stage in this historical survey, illustrating how necessity and curiosity have continuously reshaped the American landscape. It traces the evolution of daily existence from primitive survival to modern complexity, celebrating the breakthroughs that defined an era.
The Library of Work and Play: Working in Metals
Charles Conrad Sleffel
A master instructor provides a comprehensive, hands-on technical manual for crafting domestic objects and tools from copper, brass, silver, and iron. It is an essential guide for anyone wishing to master the forge and bench.
Animal Proteins
Hugh Garner Bennett
The chemistry of animal-derived materials is a precise, industrial dance. This technical manual explores the transformation of hides into leather and the extraction of gelatine and glue, bridging the gap between raw biological matter and commercial utility.
Modern ships of war
Reed, Edward J. (Edward James), Sir
The iron hulls of the late nineteenth century represent a pivotal, often perilous, transition in maritime power. This technical survey examines the race between armor and ordnance that defined the era’s naval architecture.
A New Century of Inventions: Being Designs & Descriptions of One Hundred Machines, Relating to Arts, Manufactures, & Domestic Life
James (Civil engineer) White
A century of mechanical ingenuity unfolds here, where the precision of geometry meets the practical demands of early nineteenth-century industry and domestic life. These designs bridge the gap between abstract theory and the physical realization of labor-saving machines.
A Course In Wood Turning
Archie Seldon Milton
Mastering the lathe requires a steady hand and a keen eye for the geometry of curves. This technical manual serves as a structured curriculum for wood turning, moving from basic spindle techniques to the complex artistry of spiral carving.
Inventions of the Great War
A. Russell (Alexander Russell) Bond
The Great War transformed the landscape of combat through a rapid, desperate race of technological ingenuity. This account chronicles how mechanical innovation redefined the battlefield, the sky, and the sea.
Tube, Train, Tram, and Car
Arthur H. (Arthur Henry) Beavan
The modern world arrived in a blur of sparks and steel at the turn of the twentieth century. This survey captures the dawn of that electrified era, detailing the transformation of daily transit through early underground tubes, street-level trams, and the first motorized carriages.
Motion Picture Operation, Stage Electrics and Illusions: A Practical Hand-book and Guide for Theater Electricians, Motion Picture Operators and Managers of Theaters and Productions
Henry Charles Horstmann
This essential 1914 technical guide provides a rigorous blueprint for the early theater electrician, detailing the complex intersection of electrical safety, projection mechanics, and stage illusion.
The Panama Canal: A history and description of the enterprise
J. Saxon (John Saxon) Mills
This historical account chronicles the engineering triumph of the Panama Canal, framing the monumental construction project as a decisive shift in global commerce and geopolitical power. It captures the transition from failed dreams to technological mastery at the dawn of the twentieth century.
Langley Memoir on Mechanical Flight, Parts I and II: Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge, Volume 27 Number 3, Publication 1948, 1911
S. P. (Samuel Pierpont) Langley
Mechanical flight is a problem of physics, engineering, and sheer persistence, requiring the slow mastery of balance, power-to-weight ratios, and the unpredictable behavior of air. This record documents the arduous, decade-long transition from small, steam-powered model gliders to the ambitious development of a…
Lightships and Lighthouses
Frederick Arthur Ambrose Talbot
These sentinels of stone and steel stand against the fury of the sea, marking the most treacherous points of the coast to guide vessels safely through the dark.
The Chemistry of Hat Manufacturing: Lectures Delivered Before the Hat Manufacturers' Association
Watson Smith
This technical volume serves as a bridge between Victorian industrial craftsmanship and the nascent power of applied science. It provides a detailed, practical guide to the chemical processes underpinning a once-dominant trade.
The evolution of the steam locomotive (1803 to 1898)
George Augustus Nokes
This technical history documents the rapid transformation of steam-powered rail travel from experimental novelty to the iron backbone of British industry between 1803 and 1898.
The Romance of Industry and Invention
Unknown
The nineteenth century stands as a monument to human ingenuity, where the relentless drive of the inventor transformed the primitive tools of the past into the industrial backbone of a global empire. This collection chronicles the pivotal breakthroughs in steel, communication, and manufacturing that defined an era…
Lighthouses and Lightships: A Descriptive and Historical Account of Their Mode of Construction and Organization
W. H. Davenport (William Henry Davenport) Adams
Standing as sentinels against the chaos of the sea, lighthouses represent a remarkable triumph of human engineering over the most unforgiving elements. This account explores their history, construction, and the evolution of the brilliant lamps that guide mariners home.
Little Masterpieces of Science: Invention and Discovery
Unknown
Before the modern world was built, a small circle of investigators had to discover how force, light, and electricity actually behave. This volume captures their own accounts of how those foundational breakthroughs were made.
The New York Subway, Its Construction and Equipment
Interborough Rapid Transit Company
A sprawling metropolis reaches a breaking point where surface transit can no longer carry its millions, forcing engineers to carve an unprecedented, high-speed rail corridor through the rocky earth beneath its crowded streets.
Handbook for Light Artillery
A. B. (Alexander Brydie) Dyer
A precise, step-by-step manual detailing every technical element required to mobilize, fire, manage, and sustain light artillery units in late nineteenth-century military operations.
Metal Spinning
C. Tuells
A quiet, rigorous examination of industrial technique, where cold metal yields to muscle, leverage, and friction at the lathe.
The Steam Engine Familiarly Explained and Illustrated: With an historical sketch of its invention and progressive improvement
Dionysius Lardner
An accessible Victorian guide illuminates the physics of steam power, tracing its journey from early experimental boilers to high-speed locomotives and transatlantic shipping lines.
The Story of the Atlantic Telegraph
Henry M. (Henry Martyn) Field
A twelve-year struggle of snapping cables, political fights, and mid-ocean storms ends when a steamship hooks a lost line from a two-mile-deep seabed to wire two continents together.
LRL Accelerators, The 184-Inch Synchrocyclotron
Lawrence Radiation Laboratory
Inside a concrete vault in Berkeley, 4,000 tons of magnet steel and two synchronized tuning forks bend atomic particles to eighty-two percent of light speed, unlocking the fundamental secrets of subatomic nature.
The Dominion of the Air: The Story of Aerial Navigation
John M. (John Mackenzie) Bacon
Upward bound, humanity spends centuries trying to conquer the sky, progressing from myths and dangerous leaps to scientific aerial navigation.
Scientific American, Volume 40, No. 13, March 29, 1879: A Weekly Journal of Practical Information, Art, Science
Various
A rare glimpse into nineteenth-century ingenuity captures an era when industrial ambition, theoretical physics, and grassroots tinkering collided to shape the modern landscape.
Hawkins Electrical Guide v. 01 (of 10): Questions, Answers, & Illustrations, A progressive course of study for engineers, electricians, students and those desiring to acquire a working knowledge of electricity and its applications
N. (Nehemiah) Hawkins
A practical manual turns the invisible forces of nature into manageable machinery through direct questions and structured answers.
Ford Manual for Owners and Operators of Ford Cars and Trucks (1919)
Ford Motor Company
This essential guide offers a clear, mechanical blueprint for the early twentieth-century driver, demystifying the internal combustion engine for the layperson. It remains a testament to the pursuit of simplicity in automotive design.
How It Flies
Richard Ferris
The sky is no longer a void, but a frontier. This chronicle captures the precise moment when humanity finally mastered the mechanics of flight, transforming a centuries-old dream into a tangible, soaring reality.
Steam, Steel and Electricity
James W. Steele
This chronicle captures the late nineteenth-century fervor for industrial mastery, tracing the evolution of steam, steel, and electricity from crude experimental toys to the engines of modern civilization.
Hawkins Electrical Guide v. 07 (of 10): Questions, Answers, & Illustrations, A progressive course of study for engineers, electricians, students and those desiring to acquire a working knowledge of electricity and its applications
N. (Nehemiah) Hawkins
Harnessing the complexity of alternating current, this technical manual offers a systematic breakdown of power distribution, protective apparatus, and the essential instrumentation required to manage high-voltage electrical systems safely and efficiently.
Pumps and Hydraulics, Part 1 (of 2)
N. (Nehemiah) Hawkins
The mastery of fluid motion is a triumph of human reason, transforming the silent, heavy weight of water into the driving force of modern industry.
Pistol marksmanship
United States. Marine Corps
HOOK This technical manual outlines the precise mechanical operations and tactical discipline required to master the M9 service pistol in high-stakes combat environments.
The Classification of Patents
United States. Patent Office
To build a system capable of organizing the infinite ingenuity of human invention requires more than just filing cabinets; it demands a rigorous, logical philosophy of how machines, processes, and ideas relate to one another.
The Romance of Aircraft
Laurence Yard Smith
The dawn of flight is captured here as a breathless race against gravity, human limitation, and the encroaching shadow of global war. It marks the transition from fragile, experimental curiosity to the roaring, metal-clad reality of the early twentieth century.
Bowling Catalog E
Narragansett Machine Company
Precision engineering elevates the game of bowling from a pastime to a science. This archival catalog details the construction of the "Standard" alley, where industrial durability meets the demands of nineteenth-century competition.
Water Supply: the Present Practice of Sinking and Boring Wells: With Geological Considerations and Examples of Wells Executed
Ernest Spon
Finding reliable water in a thirsty, growing world is a feat of engineering patience, demanding both a deep knowledge of the earth’s hidden strata and the precision of a master craftsman. This volume serves as a technical manual for the nineteenth-century professional, mapping the complex relationship between…
American Rural Highways
T. R. (Thomas Radford) Agg
Building a functional nation requires more than just ambition; it demands the literal, physical infrastructure to connect field to market and community to community. This technical manual serves as a foundational blueprint for developing the American rural highway system.
Paper-Cutting Machines: A Primer of Information about Paper and Card Trimmers, Hand-Lever Cutters, Power Cutters and Other Automatic Machines for Cutting Paper
Gray, Niel, Jr.
This foundational technical manual provides a rare, definitive look at the history and mechanical operation of the industrial paper-cutting machine at the dawn of the twentieth century.
Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Volume 2, No. 12, May, 1851
Various
The industrial ambitions and cultural preoccupations of the mid-nineteenth century converge in this anthology, capturing the earnest spirit of an era defined by steam-powered progress and a growing fascination with global human experience.
Hawkins Electrical Guide v. 08 (of 10): Questions, Answers, & Illustrations, A progressive course of study for engineers, electricians, students and those desiring to acquire a working knowledge of electricity and its applications
N. (Nehemiah) Hawkins
This practical manual serves as a definitive 1915-era handbook for engineers and electricians, detailing the design, installation, and maintenance of alternating current power stations and their associated switchboard infrastructure.