''The cotton gin animates the American imagination in unique ways. It evokes no images of antique machinery or fluffy fiber but rather scenes of victimized slaves and battlefield dead. It provokes the suspicion that had Eli Whitney never invented the gin, United States history would have been somehow different. Yet cotton gins existed for ......
For most of human experience, certainly of late, the artifacts of technological civilization have become closely associated with gender, sometimes for physiological reasons (brassieres or condoms, for example) but more often because of social and cultural factors, both obvious and obscure. Because these stereotypes necessarily have economic, ......
Is the Internet the springboard which will take universities into a new age, or a threat to their existence? Will dotcom degrees create new opportunities for those previously excluded, or lead them into a digital dead-end? From UCLA to Columbia, digital technologies have brought about rapid and sweeping changes in the life of the ......
Simplified, Explained, and Illustrated for the Mechanical Trades
Once more, Astragal Press has rescued an old and rare book from obscurity, allowing for the broad circulation of information previously limited to the select few who could afford access. This book, first published in 1881, was written about the use of the first standard slide rule made in the United States: a Mannheim-type slide rule made by ......
In 1810, Irish immigrant Roland Curtin launched a charcoal ironmaking operation in central Pennsylvania that continued for 110 years. Through this engaging account of Curtin and his iron plantation, Gerald Eggert provides an important chapter in the history of the iron industry in America. Eggert's story begins with Curtin’s arrival in ......
Economics and Technology in the PRC, Taiwan, and Hong Kong
Provides a comprehensive study of the underlying economic dynamics that make the China Circle not only possible, but hugely successful. Yun-wing Sung, Barry Naughton, and Kong Yam Tan analyse the macroeconomic issues in each of the political entities that make up the China Circle.
Assesses the current state of knowledge and note the advances since the initial colloquium; examine recent contributions in light of the heightened awareness of the complexity of the R&D process; and review the broader implications of the contributions of research in areas such as education, health, the environment, and quality of life.
The slide rule, with its many variations, has been vital to mathematics and engineering since its invention in the 17th century. Interest in this field has grown dramatically and collectors can still find much material at affordable prices. Unfortunately there has been little information available except for manufacturers manuals and catalogs, ......
