This book was written as an Undergraduate Thesis in 1973. It covers the History of the Atmospheric Engine from Captain Savery's Steam Engine in 1698, Thomas Newcomen's Steam Engine from 1706 onwards and the growth of Newcomen's Engines in Tyneside from 1715 to 1785. It also covers the Cornish Engines and John Smeaton's Logical Improvement Technique about 1750. There is a web-site for readers to get further information at www.newcomen1973.wordpress.com

Industrial archaeology is the study of early industrial buildings and machinery, particularly of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. When this book was originally published in 1963, this was becoming a topic of lively interest and controversy among archaeologists, historians, architects and engineers. This book discusses the aims and methods of the science, giving examples of the contribution which different kinds of specialists can make. This shows a fascinating slice of the history of the discipline of archaeology as well as offering insights into industrial archaeology when the term was first being used. As the first text on the subject, this book also lead to the start of the industrial archaeology movement in the USA.

A prime example of how to write a history of an immense and technical subject ....a winner.--New Scientist

The first global history of the epic early days of the iron railway Railways, in simple wooden or stone form, have existed since prehistory. But from the 1750s onward the introduction of iron rails led to a dramatic technological evolution--one that would truly change the world. In this rich new history, David Gwyn tells the neglected story of the early iron railway from a global perspective. Driven by a combination of ruthless enterprise, brilliant experimenters, and international cooperation, railway construction began to expand across the world with astonishing rapidity. From Britain to Australia, Russia to America, railways would bind together cities, nations, and entire continents. Rail was a tool of industry and empire as well as, eventually, passenger transport, and developments in technology occurred at breakneck speed--even if the first locomotive in America could muster only 6 mph. The Coming of the Railway explores these fascinating developments, documenting the early railway's outsize social, political, and economic impact--carving out the shape of the global economy as we know it today.