Various and Ingenious Machines ― Power Generation and Transport, Manufacturing and Weapons Technology

Historians and archaeologists writing on the early history of technology tend not to provide a mathematical approach to the topic--which is less than satisfactory for engineers, suggests editor Lawton (thermal power, Cranfield University). His history of mechanical engineering aims primarily at such engineers, as well as historians or archaeologists seeking more scientific knowledge on the topic. Adopting the definition that "if it moves it's mechanical," he divides his subject into four sections on power generation, transport, manufacturing, and weapons technology in the preindustrial eras of the civilizations of the Near East, Greece and Rome, and Europe of the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and the Early Modern period. Each section is prefaced with an introductory chapter exploring broad historical determinants of technological development. Mathematical analysis is provided at the end of each chapter or, occasionally, in a separate chapter. Annotation c2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Bryan Lawton, Ph.D. (1970), Salford University, currently Reader in Thermal Power at Cranfield University. His research fields include engines, guns, rockets, skin burns and computer tomography. He has co-authored books on transient temperatures, ballistics, and trauma.