Wheels, Clocks, and Rockets: A History of Technology

by Donald Stephen Lowell Cardwell

"A prime example of how to write a history of an immense and technical subject ....a winner."― New Scientist As technology transforms our lives at an ever quickening rate, Donald Cardwell reminds us that technological innovation is not created in a vacuum―rather, it is the product of the successful interaction between social change, scientific developments, and political vision. In this wide-ranging, "spirited" ( Booklist ) survey of the machines and tools that humans have developed throughout history, Cardwell not only explains the mechanical technicalities but also delves into the underlying trends that have culminated in eras of great change. In particular, he highlights the eighteenth century as a watershed in the modern history of technology, analyzing how scientific developments in physics and chemistry spurred the mechanical innovations of the Industrial Revolution. From the steam engine to electrical power to nuclear energy to today's world of electronics and computers, this book opens a discussion of how science and technology together change our lives. Originally published as The Norton History of Technology . 8 pages of black and white illustrations, line drawings

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Science, Technology

592 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am looking for a good single volume book on the subject, and am pretty sure this is not it. The introduction provides an inauspicious start, showing early signs of my two literary bugbears: (1) a leaden and belabored writing style; and (2) a poorly presented thesis statement and outline. In addition, while the subtitle declares the book is "a history of technology", the author in the introduction pretty much limits his scope to the evolution of technology since the beginning of the Middle Ages in Europe.

[Tinwerume · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm mostly happy with it. There's more soapboxing than I'd prefer, but not much. I'd like it if there were more diagrams (or ideally if it had a webpage with visualizations)

The section on modern technology (roughly post 1900) is much lower quality. I abandoned the book when it got to the discussion of the history of computers. He seems pretty obviously out of his depth and provides *less* information than a Wikipedia binge.

[AndyHix · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved how the author discussed the design process and the obstacle historical engineers had to overcome.

[Abdilahi]

I think the reading skills is the best skill

[Jared · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brilliant book that covers technological innovations and their social impacts from the 16th through 19th centuries. The title "Wheels, Clocks and Rockets" is a little misleading, since Cardwell focuses far more on wheels and clocks than on rockets. Post-1950 innovation gets very little mention in this book, including computer innovation and advances in the internet, which Cardwell leaves to future technological historians.

[Zedder]

Although I couldn't be more interested in the topic of this book, I found that it somehow neither went into detail enough when detail was called for nor was big picture enough when big picture was called for. Maybe I'll give it another chance sometime.

That said, there's a section on Galileo that I think would be good to excerpt and use in a class on early modern philosophy.

[John Orman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A history of technology and the Tech Revolution.
Greeks with Gears!
Machine tools, the Industrial Revolution, steam, electric, and nuclear power are detailed here.
The book finishes off withe the advent of electricity and computers.