Free summaries
Engineering & Technology — page 4
368 public-domain engineering & technology books, summarised. Page 4 of 8.
The Jacquard Machine Analyzed and Explained: With an appendix on the preparation of jacquard cards, and practical hints to learners of jacquard designing
E. A. (Emanuel Anthony) Posselt
This technical treatise serves as an essential manual for understanding the mechanics and design theory of the Jacquard loom, a pivotal invention in industrial textile manufacturing. It functions as both a blueprint for machine operation and a guide for the aspiring designer.
Protection from fire and thieves : Including the construction of locks, safes, strong-rooms, and fireproof buildings
George Hayter Chubb
Mechanical ingenuity stands as the sole defense against criminal cunning and thermal destruction in an urban world grown increasingly hazardous.
The Story of the Submarine
Farnham Bishop
Submerged beneath the ocean waves lies a hidden revolution in naval warfare, where daring mechanical visionaries risked their lives to reshape global power dynamics and rewrite the rules of combat.
Wireless Telegraphy and Telephony Simply Explained: A Practical Treatise Embracing Complete and Detailed Explanations of the Theory and Practice of Modern Radio Apparatus and Its Present Day Applications, Together With a Chapter on the Possibilities of Its Future Development
Alfred Powell Morgan
A century before wireless connectivity became ubiquitous, early experimenters were learning how to send invisible waves surging through the ether to carry voice and telegraph signals around the world.
Getting Gold: A Practical Treatise for Prospectors, Miners and Students
J. C. F. (Joseph Colin Francis) Johnson
Heavy to get and light to hold, gold demands every ounce of human ingenuity before it yields its fortune to the wilderness.
Leather: From the Raw Material to the Finished Product
K. J. Adcock
An exhaustive technical survey of leather production, tracing every stage from raw hide collection to the finely finished trade good.
The First Quarter-Century of Steam Locomotives in North America: Remaining Relics and Operable Replicas with a Catalog of Locomotive Models in the U. S. National Museum. United States National Museum Bulletin 210
Smith Hempstone Oliver
An essential reference work for transit history enthusiasts, this catalog meticulously surveys the earliest surviving steam engines and operable replicas that forged North America's pioneer rail network.
Records of Steam Boiler Explosions
Edward Bindon Marten
Flawed design, hidden corrosion, and human error turn industrial steam boilers into deadly pressure vessels.
Scientific American Supplement, No. 586, March 26, 1887
Various
This weekly periodical captures the restless curiosity of the late Victorian era, documenting the rapid mechanical and chemical advancements that transformed industrial life across the globe.
Opening Ceremonies of the New York and Brooklyn Bridge, May 24, 1883
William C. Kingsley
This account captures the grand, self-congratulatory spirit of a Gilded Age landmark. It serves as a formal record of the day New York and Brooklyn were physically and symbolically united by a masterpiece of engineering.
Printing Telegraphy... A New Era Begins
Edward E. Kleinschmidt
This history traces the evolution of the printing telegraph from mechanical experimentation to the digital age. It captures the rapid technological shifts that transformed how the world communicates through the written word.
Scientific American, Volume 22, No. 1, January 1, 1870: A Weekly Journal of Practical Information, Art, Science, Mechanics, Chemistry, and Manufactures
Various
This weekly journal captures the restless ingenuity and industrial fervor of post-Civil War America, serving as both a technical record and a window into the era's optimistic belief in mechanical progress.
The Story of American Aviation
Jim Ray
The history of American flight is a chronicle of rapid, relentless invention, transforming a fragile, eight-horsepower machine into a global force of industry and warfare in just four decades.
Wireless Telegraph Construction For Amateurs
Alfred Powell Morgan
Build a radio station from the ground up using nothing but basic tools, patience, and the fundamental laws of electromagnetic waves. This guide turns the complex world of early wireless communication into a reachable hobby.
Theory and Practice of Piano Construction: With a Detailed, Practical Method for Tuning
William Braid White
This technical guide offers an exhaustive look into the anatomy of the piano, blending historical context with the precise mechanical requirements for building and maintaining the instrument. It serves as a foundational manual for those seeking to understand the complex intersection of acoustics and craftsmanship.
The jute industry
Thomas Woodhouse
The jute industry represents the complete mechanical and agricultural journey of one of the world’s most essential fibers, detailing how a humble annual plant becomes the ubiquitous cloth of global commerce.
Practical Hand Book of Gas, Oil and Steam Engines: Stationary, Marine, Traction
John B. Rathbun
This technical manual serves as an exhaustive guide to the mechanics, operation, and maintenance of early twentieth-century power plants. It demystifies the complex inner workings of stationary, marine, and traction engines for the practical operator.
Electricity for the farm: Light, heat and power by inexpensive methods from the water wheel or farm engine
Frederick Irving Anderson
This guide offers a practical, hands-on manual for the early twentieth-century farmer to harness natural water power or small engines for electrification, replacing the dim, dangerous reliance on oil lamps and manual labor with modern, clean energy.
The First Airplane Diesel Engine: Packard Model DR-980 of 1928
Robert B. Meyer
The Packard Model DR-980 was a daring attempt to bring the efficiency of the diesel engine to the skies. This account chronicles the rise and fall of a technological pioneer that promised to revolutionize aviation.
History of electric light
Henry Schroeder
This brief, technical chronicle traces the transformation of electric light from a curious laboratory spark into the foundational technology of the modern world. It is a work of disciplined documentation, mapping the steady march of engineering progress through the early twentieth century.
Scientific American Supplement, No. 365, December 30, 1882
Various
This document serves as a time capsule of Victorian technical ambition, capturing the late nineteenth-century obsession with mechanical precision, industrial progress, and the relentless application of scientific inquiry to the natural world.
Surveying and Levelling Instruments, Theoretically and Practically Described.: For construction, qualities, selection, preservation, adjustments, and uses
William Ford Stanley
This technical reference provides a comprehensive guide to the construction, calibration, and application of the precision instruments required for professional land surveying. It serves as an essential manual for those who maintain or operate nineteenth- and early twentieth-century engineering apparatus.
A Practical Treatise on Gas-light: Exhibiting a Summary Description of the Apparatus and Machinery Best Calculated for Illuminating Streets, Houses, and Manufactories, with Carburetted Hydrogen, or Coal-Gas, with Remarks on the Utility, Safety, and General Nature of this new Branch of Civil Economy
Friedrich Christian Accum
A transformation in human civilization unfolds when night is conquered not by flickering tallow or volatile oil, but by invisible vapor channeled through iron pipes beneath urban streets.
The Story of Electricity
John Munro
Electricity remains one of the most vital forces of modern life, yet its fundamental principles are often obscured by the complexity of their application. This accessible survey demystifies the invisible currents that power our world.
Scientific American Supplement, No. 288, July 9, 1881
Various
A striking index of late-nineteenth-century ingenuity reveals how Victorian minds sought to harness hidden energies, from the molecular chemistry of brewing to the vast mechanical forces powering industrial civilization.
Appletons' Popular Science Monthly, January 1900: Vol. 56, November, 1899 to April, 1900
Various
A shift in human perspective occurs when the tools of precise observation expose the hidden mechanisms of nature, from distant planetary canals to invisible electrical currents corroding beneath city streets.
Rockets, Missiles, and Spacecraft of the National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution
Lynne C. Murphy
Tracing the evolution of rocket engines, orbiting satellites, and lunar landing vehicles, this narrative catalog surveys the technical artifacts that elevated humanity into space and preserved its material legacy.
The A B C of Mining: A Handbook for Prospectors
Charles A. Bramble
Out on the raw frontiers of the nineteenth century, survival and success hinged on understanding the earth’s hidden wealth through precise observation and hard-won practical science.
Rock Blasting: A Practical Treatise on the Means Employed in Blasting Rocks for Industrial Purposes
George G. (George Guillaume) André
The mastery of controlled destruction requires a precise balance of chemistry, physics, and manual ingenuity. This treatise provides an exhaustive guide to the tools and volatile agents that allow engineers to reshape the landscape for industrial advancement.
The Scholfield Wool-Carding Machines
Grace Rogers Cooper
The mechanical secrets of wool processing transformed a young nation’s economy, bridging the gap between laborious hand-carding and the industrial age. This study traces the arrival of two English innovators and the machines that became their legacy.
Invention and Discovery: Curious Facts and Characteristic Sketches
Anonymous
Curious minds will find a treasure trove of scientific anecdotes, historical quirks, and mechanical marvels gathered in this collection of informative sketches. It serves as a fascinating bridge between the intellectual pursuits of the past and the enduring questions of human innovation.
The Modern Clock: A Study of Time Keeping Mechanism
Ward L. Goodrich
Precision in timekeeping is the foundation of mechanical mastery, demanding that a watchmaker move beyond guesswork toward an exacting, scientific understanding of his craft. This technical manual serves as an essential guide for the practitioner seeking to bridge the gap between mediocre repair and true…
The modern packing house
F. W. (Fred William) Wilder
The industrialization of American meat production is laid bare in this exhaustive technical manual, which offers a clinical look at the engineering and logistics required to scale the slaughterhouse into a massive, profitable enterprise.
Type: A Primer of Information About the Mechanical Features of Printing Types: Their Sizes, Font Schemes, &c. with a Brief Description of Their Manufacture
A. A. (Alexander A.) Stewart
This primer offers a foundational exploration of the physical components of movable type, detailing how individual metal characters are measured, organized, and manufactured for the press. It serves as a concise technical manual for the aspiring printer.
Minimum Gauge Railways
Heywood, Arthur Percival, Sir, bart.
This account details the successful design and operation of 15-inch gauge railways, proving that miniature lines can provide efficient, cost-effective transport for private estates and local industry.
The American Type of Isthmian Canal: Speech by Hon. John Fairfield Dryden in the Senate of the United States, June 14, 1906
John F. (John Fairfield) Dryden
The Panama Canal stands today as a testament to early twentieth-century American engineering, but its construction was nearly derailed by a fierce, high-stakes debate over whether the waterway should be built at sea level or with locks.
British Airships, Past, Present, and Future
George Whale
Lighter-than-air flight represents a singular triumph of engineering that once promised to shrink the globe through the silent, majestic navigation of the skies. This account charts the evolution of that ambition from early, fragile experiments to the formidable airships of the Great War.
The Tank Corps
Clough Williams-Ellis
This history chronicles the birth of the Tank Corps, a radical experiment in mechanized warfare that transformed the battlefield and saved countless infantry lives during the First World War.
Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 455: Volume 18, New Series, September 18, 1852
Various
This collection of nineteenth-century journalism captures a world in the throes of rapid transition, where the steam engine and scientific inquiry meet enduring social and moral questions. It serves as a curated window into the intellectual and cultural landscape of 1852.
Introduction of the Locomotive Safety Truck: Contributions from the Museum of History and Technology: Paper 24
John H. White
Early American railroads were dangerous, chaotic experiments until engineers invented the "safety truck," a crucial mechanical innovation that allowed locomotives to navigate rough, winding tracks without derailing.
Maxims and Instructions for the Boiler Room: Useful to Engineers, Firemen & Mechanics
N. (Nehemiah) Hawkins
Reliable, practical, and deeply attentive to the hidden dangers of the power plant, this guide serves as a foundational manual for the turn-of-the-century engineer tasked with the heavy responsibility of steam boiler management.
The Popular Science Monthly, September, 1900: Vol. 57, May, 1900 to October, 1900
Various
This volume serves as a time capsule of intellectual life at the turn of the twentieth century, capturing the era’s boundless confidence in scientific progress and its anxiety regarding the persistence of superstition.
The Silversmith's Handbook: Containing full instructions for the alloying and working of silver
George E. (George Edward) Gee
A comprehensive technical manual from 1921, this text serves as a definitive guide for the professional silversmith. It bridges the gap between raw metallurgy and the refined artistry of the workshop, detailing the precise methods required to transform silver from ore into finished, durable goods.
The filtration of public water-supplies: Third edition, revised and enlarged
Allen Hazen
This essential technical volume outlines the engineering principles and historical evolution of municipal water purification at the turn of the twentieth century. It serves as a definitive guide for understanding how modern cities transitioned from raw, contaminated water to safe, filtered supplies.
Mariner Mission to Venus
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (U.S.)
A precision vehicle falls toward the Sun, transmitting tiny pulses of data across tens of millions of miles of void to unveil an inhospitable, cloud-shrouded world.
Experimental Mechanics: A Course of Lectures Delivered at the Royal College of Science for Ireland
Robert S. (Robert Stawell) Ball
This is a lucid, hands-on introduction to the fundamental principles of physics, written for a general audience to bridge the gap between abstract theory and the mechanical realities of the physical world.
Scientific American, Volume 56, No. 9, February 26, 1887
Various
This snapshot of late-Victorian innovation reveals a world obsessed with industrial efficiency, mechanical mastery, and the boundless potential of applied science to reshape daily life.
A Manual of Shoemaking and Leather and Rubber Products
William H. (William Henry) Dooley
This technical guide illuminates the intricate world of early 20th-century footwear production, detailing the transformation of raw hides into the finished shoes worn by the American public.