Industrial Revolutionaries: The Making of the Modern World 1776-1914

by Gavin Weightman

In this vivid, sweeping history of the industrial revolution, Gavin Weightman shows how, in less than one hundred and fifty years, an unlikely band of scientists, spies, entrepreneurs, and political refugees took a world made of wood, powered by animals, wind, and water, and made it into something entirely new, forged of steel and iron, and powered by steam and fossil fuels. Weightman weaves together the dramatic stories of giants such as Edison, Watt, Wedgwood, and Daimler, with lesser-known or entirely forgotten characters, including a group of Japanese samurai who risked their lives to learn the secrets of the West, and John “Iron Mad” Wilkinson, who didn’t let war between England and France stop him from plumbing Paris. Distilling complex technical achievements, outlandish figures, and daring adventures into an accessible narrative that spans the globe as industrialism spreads, The Industrial Revolutionaries is a remarkable work of original, engaging history.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Economics, World History, Business, Science, Engineering

432 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gavin_We...

Reviews

[Juan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Muy buen ensayo. Le doy un 5 porque no puedo darle un 4,5. Y ese medio punto se escapa por lo prolijo de algunas descripciones innecesarias. En general he disfrutado unas horas de estupenda narración de inventores e invenciones. En particular, me divertí leyendo el penúltimo capítulo, El terror del torpedo, quizás porque en libros anteriores me interesé por la guerra ruso-japonesa de inicios del siglo XX. De esos libros previos y de este capítulo nace otra promesa de lectura: "La última armada del zar: El épico viaje a la batalla de Tsushima."

[Upom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Took me long enough, but I finished this book. This book is probably the best general history of the Industrial Revolution I have read. With a particular emphasis on the development of technology by individuals and the spread of industry around the world, Weightman looks at the rise of industry in Great Britain, the United States, Japan, and Germany, and how various political, economic, and social reasons for the spread of industry. Extremely well researched and detailed, the book covers everything from the invention of the steam engine, to the rise of the chemical industry in Germany. Weightman ultimately concludes that the big driver of industrialism was the need for a paycheck, Adam Smith's engine of self-interest. The only criticism I would make is that Weightman, though a thorough researcher, did not make any strong insights on the industrial revolution, other than its extremely mobile nature, and how in time industry begets industry through a few individual. Though not dripping with insight, "Industrial Revolutionaries" is a great starting point for learning about the industrial revolution.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Only the sheer scope of the industrial revolution prevents this book from being a 5-star read in the end. The author tries to cover too many inventors, too many failed inventions, and too many false starts, in the effort to explode the myths (Edison wasn't much of an inventor, James Watt didn't invent the steam engine after seeing a tea kettle boil, and so on) and celebrate the victories of Victorian invention. But what is here is marvelous, if chaotic, and you come away with an appreciation of the incredible leap forward that Europe and the US made from about 1750 to 1850, especially. in creating both the wonders and the mess of modern life. One real surprise for me: the first microdots used by spies were -- wait for it -- during the Prussian siege of Paris in 1870. Miniature cameras? In Dickens' lifetime? Who knew?

[Bruce · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gavin Weightman is no James Burke. This is no smoothly flowing history presentation. Having said that it suffers from few syntax errors, rather mostly clumsiness of expression, and a certain inability to moderate tone of importance. Hence the value of the information presented, which is significant, must be dug out with care and diligence rather like carrying on a conversation with a talking computer or one who suffers from some forms of autism. I should be tempted to say I have read better written data bases although that would be a cruel exaggeration. I have however read more readable data bases.

[Joe Stevens · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cast of hundreds each with a brief biography makes this a shallow book that is difficult to follow. Still it is worth reading to get an idea of the many people who were involved in the industrial revolution and somewhat oddly the invention of the torpedo with which the author is obsessed. The actual industrial revolution seems to get short shrift instead the people involved are featured in a sort of degrees of separation game where each person seems to be given fairly equal weight regardless of importance. In fact people like Marconi and Edison are purposely whittled down to size and mostly ignored.

[Fern F · Rating 3 out of 5]

In "The Industrial Revolutionaries" Gavin Weightman focuses more of the men (it's all men) who invented and/or promoted new technology primarily during the 1800s. It's a different take on the history of the Industrial Revolution compared to other books, because Weightman gives equal space to the revolutionaries we're well acquainted with, such as Edison, and to tons of revolutionaries that were pretty much lost to history. Despite the fact that many of the revolutionaries are very similar in life history and experiences (parents worked to send them to a good school, they apprenticed, they're European/American, etc), one of the most interesting aspects of the book are the chapters about Japan's industrialization. In a large part this is because this part of history was completely new to me, but it was also a nice break from the very Western-world focus of the book. At times Weightman digresses into discussions of why industrialism happened where it did; these are less interesting and his claims about why other places in Europe and the world didn't experience industrialism are rather shallow and don't consider the negative impacts of European colonialism. Luckily, this doesn't happen very often. The focus on the various revolutionaries is the best part of the book, especially when the revolutionaries Weightman chose to highlight are interesting beyond their inventions, which isn't always the case.

[Julius · Rating 3 out of 5]

Este libro no cuenta una única historia, sino una veintena de ellas, relativa a todos los hombres y mujeres que participaron en grandes invenciones de los últimos siglos. Entre ellos, la máquina de vapor, el acero inoxidable, el petróleo, o el telégrafo. En esos capítulos, el autor nos sumerge en la época, en los personajes, en las tramas, aciertos y errores que terminaron desembocando en cómo hemos conocido hoy la historia.

Es un libro totalmente recomendable a los lectores interesados en esa época y este tipo de historias, ya que está muy bien escrito y cada capítulo es entretenido. Quizás el libro se me haya hecho un poco largo, y no todos los capítulos me han interesado, de ahí las 3,5 estrellas. Pero es una obra en la que tranquilamente podéis saltar lo que no os interesa.

Un libro parecido, y uno de mis favoritos, es la historia de cómo James Watt desarrolló el motor de vapor: The Most Powerful Idea in the World: A Story of Steam, Industry, and Invention

[Kim Dennis · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Industrial Revolution has never been my favorite subject to teach. I have always found it rather boring. I was hoping in reading this book to find information that would make it more interesting to me and therefore more interesting to my students. That didn't happen. There were a few moments where I perked up and this got my attention, but mostly I had to force myself to finish it.

Many of the inventions that we attribute to certain people had a much more complicated history than I had previously realized, but the information wasn't presented in a way that made it useful to me in teaching. I was also really surprised, given the title, that he didn't address the invention of the airplane at all.

All in all, this left me with basically the same opinion I have always had of the Industrial Revolution -- grateful that it happened, but not really all that interesting to study.

[Mylesgorton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was not quite what I expected when I first picked it, thinking it would contain a number of biographies of major players in the industrial Revolution. What it is though is far more interesting. It is a book that explores how the Industrial Revolution expanded from Britain to France, Germany, USA, Japan etc.and the personalities and practices (including espionage) that drove this. As such, it is a fascinating book with a number of tales and anecdotes which you are unlikely to have read before. It is a little dry in places hence giving it four stars rather than five stars, but on the whole, a great work and well worth reading if you are interested in the industrial Revolution.

[Liu · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read some reviews of this book. A common theme is that this book revolves around the people rather than the inventions. It is not fair as the book is titled "revolutionaries".
However, Weightman includes many names, sometimes irrelevant names that carry no weight in the following paragraph. It is therefore very easy to lose track of whom he refers to.
In the story about Morse code, he introduces Morse' s full name then goes on to use " Morse" . After a few pages he uses Morse‘middle name which is extremely confusing.
I am disappointed that he doesn't mention Tesla who was instrumental to our AC system.

[Stuart Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author argues that the old narratives, i.e., that individuals "invented" key machines, products or processes that started or extended the Industrial Revolution is basically false. Rather, significant developments were the result of many people working on similar challenges over time and almost none of the most important inventions, e.g, the steam engine, were the work of a single person or came into being all at once. "Industrial Evolution" might be a more accurate label for this period.

[Randall L. Strunk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating tales of industrialization

This book is a collection of several well researched stories that describe the period of industrialization that occurred from the beginning of the American revolution to world war I.
The begins each chapter, telling you where he is going to take you and then weaves his tale. Very skillfully crafted and an enjoyable read.

[Chris Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating book that details the lives of the people who did the discoveries, inventions, and manufacturing we know as the Industrial Revolution. It is well researched, well written, and shines a light on many of the obscure, forgotten, or overlooked people as well as many of the better known. I liked it a lot.

[Kdcontorno · Rating 5 out of 5]

If your expectations are reading about individuals, this is your book. It isn’t a comprehensive account of everyone, but may lead you to dig deeper on certain people, aspects and industry processes. I found it very interesting and informative!

[Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

A mostly readable history of many of the characters that helped create what we call the Industrial Revolution. The only downside is it's easy to get lost in the large number of the cast of characters, but it provides a great background on what happened mostly in Europe during that period.

[Alan McCord · Rating 3 out of 5]

The concept is a reasonable one, but this book focuses to much on the details of the lives of these selected innovators and not enough of the interactions between these innovations and the consequences - mostly unintended- of their adoption.

[Heth Upadhyay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Informative book but could have been shorter.

[Nick Hryciuk · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little light on the individual topics, however great for a high school student to be introduced to industrial revolution history.

[Jim Dowdell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice little romp through history. [reread from years ago but still interesting]

[? · Rating 5 out of 5]

The brilliance of engineering makes the world a better place.

[James S. · Rating 2 out of 5]

A list of biographies rather than a book with an argument. Loses the forest for the trees.

[Antonio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Industrial Revolutionaries is Gavin Weightman's multi-biography on famous and not-so-famous "revolutionaries" of the industrial era. Wightman weaves a story connecting multiple generations and thousands of miles through the spread of industrialism in England to the European continent, America, and Japan. The work consists of several bite sized chapters focusing on one to three different historical figures who through technical know how, business acumen, or industrial espionage changed the historic landscape. By the end of Industrial Revolutionaries one has a firm understanding of the memetic nature of industrialism. I'd definitely recommend this as a great starter for someone who is interested in learning more about the global nature of the industrial revolution.

[MarcosKtulu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gavin Weightman follows the development of several technologies through biographical portraying of the inventors, entrepreuners, scientists, innovators and businessmen who worked with them. These men gave life to new proccesses and uses for materials, and the stories of how they came to a practical idea, sometimes they are interesting, sometimes really not. The stories and minibiographies are filled with so much details of success and failures that can make casual reading a sluggish, suffering exercise. The book proposes to be a history of technology-spreading, yet, except for the first chapters and the ones on Japan and Germany, it falls short on that premise.
Catchabillity will all depend on reader's interests: for me, the most remarkable aspects were, so to speak, the history of british industrial primacy and french race behind it, resorting to industrial espionage.
The introduction of industrial technologies has a problem in a history book like this: it's very technical, perhaps boring thing to explain, but in order to be roughly understood, it must be explained a bit further. I found technical underpinnings somehow shallow and lacking, contribuiting to the eventual boredom. Not long enough, but not short enough either, as the author indeed attemps at giving some technical details (ie, many differences in coal and charcoal proccessing, or how the furnaces worked, but these are not crystal clear). Also there is no clear reason one person after another is named, or why their antecedents are relevant. I see detail where it is overabundant, and holes were detail is needed.
Other sections that caught my interest are the story of Japan's opening to foreign influence, though at least schematic take on it's ultimate industrial development is not provided. Another interesting topic is the Russo-japanese war, told by the incumbence of torpedos and emergence of Japan from feudal to an industrialized international power (by then, most of it's weaponry was bought outside, by the way).
The ending and postcript bring some enticing conclusions and thoughts, of how british headstart was lost and caught on by other, rising powers, most notably USA and Germany, with their mass consumer products and chemicals.
Lots of information, should have been worked in some other way.

[C.H. Cobb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Weightman has written an interesting account of the genesis of the modern industrial world. I enjoy history, and this book did not disappoint. I was reading it as research for book two of my Outlander Chronicles series, and I was looking for the kinds of problems and setbacks experienced in the world of steam. It was helpful for that, and also for the advances and issues in smelting iron ore, and processing iron and steel.

I'm not going to attempt a thorough review here, but some of the pros of the book include the human element. Weightman introduces the reader to the inventors and their fascinating personalities. He humanizes technological advance. He demonstrates how the profit motive drives the inventor, as it also drives society's acceptance of an innovation.

As for the cons, I wish the book had gotton a little more technical, with more drawings and diagrams. I would have enjoyed a bit more of the science. This is why the book is only three stars in my rating; I should hasten to add that the quality of the writing is definitely five stars.

If history is an interest for you, you'll enjoy this book. If the history of discovery is an interest, you'll love it.

[J.M. Hushour · Rating 4 out of 5]

To me, a welcome non-academic, jargoncrap work of history, this one focusing on how "inventors" of things (Watt, Edison, etc.) were actually full of crap and were merely innovators on ideas that other people had had. The Industrial Revolution was about the creative spirit? Hogwash, says Weightman. These assholes just wanted to make some cash! That aside, this is an entertaining and light look at how things like steel, light bulbs, and bicycles (that part was great!) came about. There are some good sections on the industrialization of Japan, too. Lots of enterprising young samurai apparently snuck off the island to learn the tricks and trades of the Europeans.

[Patrick Andersen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good high level overview of the industrial revolution. Doesn't burrow down into specifics of how any particular innovation works which is frustrating to the technically minded but might be better for the casual reader. The flow was challenging; a particular individual would be followed about until he bumped into another important individual, then we get to learn his life story up until the junction, then the narrative goes forward.

More than a half dozen typos, which looks poorly on the editor more than the author.

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I very much enjoyed this work's writing style...it's a smooth, fascinating & pleasant read. It also assumes some reader knowledge of the industrial revolution, and therefore dispenses with what could be long & tedious exposition for beginners. However, it's organization & structure tends to be very loose. It tries for a vague, chronological order, but it does tend to go off on tangents a bit too often for my taste.

[Matt Erickson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I already love this book. Very well researched. this is the authoritative work on the industrial revolution. It gives names and ties them to today, "Promoters of railways.. were just as important to their establishment as the people who built them." As the book states, the narrative stops in 1914, "all the essentials are by then in place." I feel transported to some machine museum in britain by reading.

[Rena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some points were very interesting while others were pretty bland. I'm not much of a history person. This entire book is minibiographies of people who were prominent in the advancement of technology. Some were great because they talked about things that I personally found very interesting. Others were for things that I either already knew about or did not particularly found intriguing. Allinall, it rounded itself out in the end.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gavin is referred to as a Social Historian. Although I think of him more of a technology historian. this is the type of history that I am enjoying most of late.

https://www.goodreads.com/genres/soci....

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...