A study of the production and use of iron and steel in early China, and simultaneously a methodological study of the reconciliation of archaeological and written sources in Chinese cultural history. Includes chapters on the technology of iron production based on studies of artifact microstructures.

Steel provides the backbone for modern civilization - read all about its history, journey, and place in the world. What is steel? How does it work? Why has it been so important? Who are the people who make it? How do they make it? Steel: From Mine to Mill, the Metal that Made America answers these questions. Improperly understood until about 150 years ago and available until then only in small quantities, the metal itself is a delicate dance of iron crystals interspersed with carbon and - depending on intended service - other elements such as nickel, chromium, and molybdenum. Once deciphered, steel began to flow from hearths in increasing amounts for the building of railroads, steel ships, skyscrapers, and bridges, in the process raising to world economic dominance Great Britain, Germany, the United States, Japan, and the Soviet Union. The world's current largest producer is China. While researching this book, author Brooke C. Stoddard descended into Mesabi Iron Range open-pit iron mines, rode with 58,000 tons of iron ore on a 1,000-foot ore boat from Duluth to Cleveland, climbed to the top of the hemisphere's largest blast furnace, interviewed men as they toiled next to their furnaces of liquid steel, and walked the immense rolling mills where steel is pressed into finished products. Along the way, he wrote a narrative of iron and steel from pre-history through the Industrial Revolution and into the present age. Steel is the sinew of modern civilization.

This book explores the economic history of the traditional Chinese iron industry in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, with particular emphasis on the interactions among technological, economic and geographic factors. The traditional technology of iron production is described together with the ways in which it changed and developed in response to upheavals wrought by foreign competition, war and revolution and by the growth in China of a modern iron industry. Many of the book's findings are counter-intuitive, and will provide food for thought in the study of Third World industrial development. The author has written widely on the history of science and technology in China, and is currently engaged in writing the volume on ferrous metallurgy for Joseph Needham's Science and Civilisation in China.

This work examines the iron metallurgy of Aegean Thrace as a culturally generated activity. The methodology used combines archaeological evidence from recent excavations, analytical data from optical and chemical analyses of industrial waste and iron artefacts, and documentary and iconographic evidence. The aims of the work are to establish the level of effectiveness in iron technology as it was practised in Aegean Thrace from Classical to Roman times, to understand indigenous involvement in iron production and to interpret the social context of iron technology. The long-term aim is to determine whether there are aspects of technological, economic, artistic or symbolic uses of iron which are reflected in culturally distinct groups living within the same area (in this case, Thracian versus Greek or Roman). Finally, an attempt is made to provide a theoretical and methodological model for the archaeological and archaeometallurgical study of interaction between ancient technology and society.

Warfare in the Ancient World explores how civilizations and cultures made war on the battlefields of the Near East and Europe between the rise of civilization in Mesopotamia in the late fourth millenium BC and the fall of Rome. Through a exploration of twenty-six selected battles, military historian Brian Todd Carey surveys the changing tactical relationships between the four weapon systems - heavy and light infantry and hevay and light cavalry - focusing on how shock and missile combat evolved from tentative beginnings in the Bronze Age to the highly developed military organization created by the Romans. The art of warfare reached a very sophisticated level of development during this three millenia span. Commanders fully realized the tactical capabilities of shock and missile combat in large battlefield situations. Modern principles of war, like the primacy of the offensive, mass, and economy of force, were understood by pre-modern generals and applied on battlefields throughout the period. Through the use of dozens of multiphase tactical maps, this fascinating introduction to the art of war during western civilizationÕs ancient and classical periods pulls together the primary and secondary sources and creates a powerful historical narrative. The result is a synthetic work that will be essential reading for students and armchair historians alike.