Chronicles of Mechanical Engineering in the United States

From the time it was organized in 1880, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers recorded aspects of the history of the mechanical engineering profession and the careers of some of its notable practitioners. The Society's historical efforts were formalized in 1971 with the creation of a History and Heritage Committee. This volume commemorates the fiftieth anniversary of the formation of that committee and collects, in a single place, many of the historical contributions published over the past fifty years in ASME's flagship magazine, Mechanical Engineering.\nIn preparation for the United States' bicentennial year, and later the Society's centennial, the editors of Mechanical Engineering contracted with engineer-historian Fritz Hirschfeld for a long series of articles about the county's early mechanical engineering heritage and the lives of notable mechanical engineers, particularly those associated with ASME's founding. Hirschfeld's articles form the foundation of this volume.\nTo supplement Hirschfeld's work, the editors have added numerous other historical articles published in Mechanical Engineering. The engineering innovations described by these articles have been enormously important to the development of modern technological society, and the stories behind their development should be of interest to engineers interested in the history of their profession, as well as anyone interested in American history.

Engineering & Transportation

Fehring, Thomas H.

Reynolds, Terry S.

Engineering

American Society of Mechanical Engineers

Stronger than a Hundred Men: A History of the Vertical Water Wheel (Johns Hopkins Studies in the History of Technology)

Like many apparently simple devices, the vertical water wheel has been around for so long that it is taken for granted. Yet this "picturesque artifact" was for centuries man's primary mechanical source of power and was the foundation upon which mills and other industries developed. Stronger than a Hundred Men explores the development of the vertical water wheel from its invention in ancient times through its eventual demise as a source of power during the Industrial Revolution. Spanning more than 2000 years, Terry Reynolds's account follows the progression of this labor-saving device from Asia to the Middle East, Europe, and America-covering the evolution of the water wheel itself, the development of dams and reservoirs, and the applications of water power.

Stronger than a Hundred Men: A History of the Vertical Water Wheel (Johns Hopkins Studies in the History of Technology, 7)

History

Americas

Johns Hopkins University Press

In Iron Will: Cleveland-Cliffs and the Mining of Iron Ore, 1847--2006, Terry S. Reynolds and Virginia P. Dawson tell the story of Cleveland-Cliffs, the only surviving independent American iron mining company, now known as Cliffs Natural Resources. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Cleveland-Cliffs played a major role in the opening and development of the Lake Superior mining district and Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Through Cleveland-Cliffs' history, Reynolds and Dawson examine major transitions in the history of the American iron and steel industry from the perspective of an important raw materials supplier.
Reynolds and Dawson trace Cleveland-Cliffs' beginnings around 1850, its growth under Samuel L. Mather and his son William G. Mather, its emergence as an important player in the growing national iron ore market, and its tribulations during the Great Depression. The authors explore the company's fortunes after World War II, when Cleveland-Cliffs developed technologies to tap into vast reserves of low-grade Michigan iron ore and turned to joint ventures and strategic partnerships to raise the capital needed to implement them. The authors also explain how the company became the largest independent producer of iron ore in the United States by purchasing the mining interests of its bankrupt partners during the implosion of the American steel industry in the late-twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Reynolds and Dawson detail Cleveland-Cliffs' evolving efforts to deal with labor, from its early mostly immigrant workforce to its ambitious program of welfare capitalism in the early twentieth century to its struggles with organized labor after World War II. 
Iron Will is a thorough, well-organized history based on extensive archival research and interviews with company personnel. This story will appeal to scholars interested in industrial or mining history, business historians, and those interested in Great Lakes and Michigan history.

Iron Will: Cleveland-Cliffs and the Mining of Iron Ore, 1847-2006 (Great Lakes Books)

Business & Money

Dawson, Virginia P.

Biography & History

Wayne State University Press

75 years of progress: A history of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, 1908-1983

The Institute

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Books by Reynolds, Terry S.