Excerpt from Discoveries and Inventions of the Nineteenth Century In the following pages an attempt has been made to present a popular account of remarkable discoveries and inventions which characterize the present century. From so large a field, selection was, of course, necessary; and the instances selected have been those which appeared to some extent typical, or those which seemed to have the most direct bearing on the general progress of our age. The topics comprise chiefly those great applications of mechanical, engineering, physical, and chemical science, in which every intelligent person feels concerned; and a few articles only are devoted to certain purely scientific discoveries which are exciting general interest. The Author has aimed at giving a concise, but clear, description of the several subjects; and he has endeavoured to indicate, if not to explain, the principles involved in each discovery and invention; and that without assuming on the part of the reader any knowledge not usually possessed by young persons of either sex who have received an ordinary education. The design has been to treat the subjects as familiarly as might be consistent with a desire to impart real information; while the popular character of the book has not been considered a reason for regarding accuracy as unnecessary. On the contrary, pains have been taken to consult the best authorities; and it is only because the sources of information to which the Author is under obligation are so many, that he cannot acknowledge them in detail. A book on a plan somewhat similar to, but by no means identical with, that of the present work, was projected two or three years ago, by Mr. J. H. Pepper; and, in fact, several sheets were in type, when its progress was permanently interrupted by that gentleman's removal to a distant part of the world. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Novel Science is the first in-depth study of the shocking, groundbreaking, and sometimes beautiful writings of the gentlemen of the “heroic age” of geology and of the contribution these men made to the literary culture of their day. For these men, literature was an essential part of the practice of science itself, as important to their efforts as mapmaking, fieldwork, and observation. The reading and writing of imaginative literatures helped them to discover, imagine, debate, and give shape and meaning to millions of years of previously undiscovered earth history. Borrowing from the historical fictions of Walter Scott and the poetry of Lord Byron, they invented geology as a science, discovered many of the creatures we now call the dinosaurs, and were the first to unravel and map the sequence and structure of stratified rock. As Adelene Buckland shows, they did this by rejecting the grand narratives of older theories of the earth or of biblical cosmogony: theirs would be a humble science, faithfully recording minute details and leaving the big picture for future generations to paint. Buckland also reveals how these scientists—just as they had drawn inspiration from their literary predecessors—gave Victorian realist novelists such as George Eliot, Charles Kingsley, and Charles Dickens a powerful language with which to create dark and disturbing ruptures in the too-seductive sweep of story.

The 19th Century was a period of tremendous change in the daily lives of the average Americans. Never before had such change occurred so rapidly or and had affected such a broad range of people. And these changes were primarily a result of tremendous advances in science and technology. Many of the technologies that play such an central role in our daily life today were first invented during this great period of innovation—everything from the railroad to the telephone. These inventions were instrumental in the social and cultural developments of the time. The Civil War, Westward Expansion, the expansion and fall of slave culture, the rise of the working and middle classes and changes in gender roles—none of these would have occurred as they did had it not been for the science and technology of the time. Science and Technology in Nineteenth-Century America chronicles this relationship between science and technology and the revolutions in the lives of everyday Americans. The volume includes a discussion of: Transportation—from the railroad and steamship to the first automobiles appearing near the end of the century. Communication—including the telegraph, the telephone, and the photograph Industrialization— how the growing factory system impacted the lives of working men and women Agriculture—how mechanical devices such as the McCormick reaper and applications of science forever altered how farming was done in the United States Exploration and navigations—the science and technology of the age was crucial to the expansion of the country that took place in the century, and The book includes a timeline and a bibliography for those interested in pursuing further research, and over two dozen fascinating photos that illustrate the daily lives of Americans in the 19th Century Part of the Daily Life through History series, this title joins Science and Technology in Colonial America in a new branch of the series-titles specifically looking at how science innovations impacted daily life.