BirthoftheModernWorld
AlsoknownastheSecondIndustrial
Revolution1870Ͳ1914
LondonScienceMuseum
Image courtesy of Michael Caroe Andersen on Flickr.
“TheBirthoftheModernWorld” (Christian,Chap.13)
• “Revolution” becomes“normal”
• Tighterconnectionsbetweenknowledgeand
power(scienceandmedicine)
• Interactivelayersofsystems(communication,
transportation,production,distribution,
financial)
• Globalizationofsystems:“theageofempire”
(EricHobsbawm)
Train#25,ThePowhatanArrow
NorfolkandWesternRailway
Salem,VirginiaJuly11,1953
Imageremovedduetocopyrightrestrictions
See:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/ae/OPͲ13841.jpg
TheBrooklynBridge
Image courtesy of Sarah Ackerman on Flickr.
Planforoneofthe
towersoftheBrooklyn
Bridge,1867
Thisimageispublicdomain.
Thisimageispublicdomain.
GrainElevator
Imageremovedduetocopyrightrestrictions
See:http://bit.ly/iDD3WQ
OldestexistinggrainelevatorinwesternCanada
Fleming,Saskatchewan1895
Imageremovedduetocopyrightrestrictions
See:http://esask.uregina.ca/entry/grain_elevators.html
Cheadle,Alberta,Canada
onTranscanadaHighway
Imageremovedduetocopyrightrestrictions
See:http://www.cheadlealberta.com/images/Grain_Elevator.jpg
FromBijker,Hughes,Law,TheSocialConstructionofTechnologicalSystems
Xtra­
ordinary
Macmillan's
bicycle
Geared
facile
Lawson's
bicyclette
Pennyfarthing
Boneshaker
Star
Guilmet's
bicycle
Club Safety
Successful development
Failed development
The traditional Quasi-linear view of the developmental process of the Penny-Farthing Bicycle
Artifact
Social
group
Problem
Solution
Image courtesy of Flowizm on Flickr.
Image by MIT OpenCourseWare. After Pinch and Bijker, 1984.
Image courtesy of BBCworldservice on Flickr.
AppalachianTrainTracks
Imageremovedduetocopyrightrestrictions
See:http://www.wju.edu/ai/profile/steeliron.asp
CarnegieSteelFurnace
Imageremovedduetocopyrightrestrictions
See:http://www.census.gov/history/img/Carnegie_Steel_furnace.jpg
SouthWorks,CarnegieSteelCompany
Imageremovedduetocopyrightrestrictions
See:
http://explorepahistory.com/displayimage.php?imgId=1-2-BF5
Thisimageispublicdomain.
Thisimageispublicdomain.
Thisimageispublicdomain.
AbandonedMills
Imageremovedduetocopyrightrestrictions
See:http://bit.ly/jy78yx
1913ModelTFord
Image courtesy of Greg Moine on Flickr.
GlobalOilConsumption
•
•
•
•
•
189010milliontons
192095milliontons
1940294milliontons
Doubledeverydecadethereafter:
1970s2.5billiontons
• In1900,4%ofworld’senergy
• In1970s,50%ofworld’senergy
Edison’sprototypedynamo
Thisimageispublicdomain.
FromThomasP.Hughes,NetworksofPower
ElectriclightandpowersystemsinPennsylvania1900
© Johns Hopkins University Press. All rights reserved. This content is excluded from
our Creative Commons license. For more information, see http://ocw.mit.edu/fairuse.
FromThomasP.Hughes,NetworksofPower
ElectriclightandpowersystemsinPennsylvania1910
© Johns Hopkins University Press. All rights reserved. This content is excluded from
our Creative Commons license. For more information, see http://ocw.mit.edu/fairuse.
FromThomasP.Hughes,NetworksofPower
ElectriclightandpowersystemsinPennsylvania1930
© Johns Hopkins University Press. All rights reserved. This content is excluded from
our Creative Commons license. For more information, see http://ocw.mit.edu/fairuse.
Dufayel’screditestablishment
Thisimageispublicdomain.
Interiordome,Dufayel’screditestablishment
RuedeClignancourt,Paris,1902
Thisimageispublicdomain.
Wigmaking,asillustratedinDiderot’sEncyclopédie
CollectionofVirginiaHistoricalSociety
Thisimageispublicdomain.
Silkwormcultivation
FromDiderot’sEncyclopédie
CollectionofVirginia
HistoricalSociety
Thisimageispublicdomain.
MIT OpenCourseWare
http://ocw.mit.edu
STS.007 Technology in History
Fall 2010
For information about citing these materials or our Terms of Use, visit: http://ocw.mit.edu/terms.