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Victorian Technology: Invention, Innovation, and the Rise of the Machine captures the extraordinary surge of energy and invention that catapulted 19th-century England into the position of the world's first industrialized nation. It was an astonishing transformation, one that shaped—and was shaped by—the values of the Victorian era, and that laid the groundwork for the consumer-based society in which we currently live.Filled with vivid details and fascinating insights into the impact of the Industrial Revolution on peoples' lives, Victorian Technology locates the forerunners of the defining technologies of the our time in 19th-century England: the computer, the Internet, mass transit, and mass communication. Readers will encounter the innovative thinkers and entrepreneurs behind history-making breakthroughs in communications (the transatlantic cable, wireless communication), mass production (the integrated factory), transportation (railroads, gliders, automobiles), and more.
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VICTORIAN TECHNOLOGY Recent Titles in Victorian Life and Times Family Ties in Victorian England Claudia Nelson Food and Cooking in Victorian England Andrea Broomfield Victorian Religion: Faith and Life in Britain Julie Melnyk ‘‘Gone to the Shops’’: Shopping in Victorian England Kelley Graham Victorian Childhoods Ginger S. Frost VICTORIAN TECHNOLOGY Invention, Innovation, and the Rise of the Machine Herbert Sussman VICTORIAN LIFE AND TIMES Sally Mitchell, Series Editor PRAEGER An Imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC Copyright 2009 by Herbert Sussman All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Sussman, Herbert L. Victorian technology : invention, innovation, and the rise of the machine / Herbert Sussman. p. cm. — (Victorian life and times) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-275-99169-2 (hardcopy : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-31308285-6 (ebook) 1. Technology—Great Britain—History—19th century. 2. Machinery—Great Britain—History—19th century. 3. Inventions—Great Britain—History—19th century. 4. Technological innovations—Great Britain—History—19th century. I. Title. T26.G7S95 2009 2009018904 609.410 09034—dc22 13 12 11 10 9 1 2 3 4 5 This book is also available on the World Wide Web as an eBook. Visit www.abc-clio.com for details. ABC-CLIO, LLC 130 Cremona Drive, P.O. Box 1911 Santa Barbara, California 93116-1911 This book is printed on acid-free paper Manufactured in the United States of America TO HENRY, OWEN, JACOB, QUILL This page intentionally left blank CONTENTS Series Foreword Preface ix xiii Chronology xv Introduction 1 1. The Factory System 8 2. The Living Machine and the Victorian Computer 38 3. The Great Exhibition of 1851: The Architecture of the Machine and the Rise of Commodity Culture 54 4. Shrinking the Globe, Expanding the Empire 74 5. Social Effects of Industrialization: Protest and Reform 98 6. Late Victorian Invention 116 Conclusion: Gain and Loss 138 Notes 151 Glossary 157 Bibliography 161 Index 167 This page intentionally left blank SERIES FOREWORD Although the nineteenth century has almost faded from living memory— most people who heard firsthand stories from grandparents who grew up before 1900 have adult grand