Science and technology in nineteenth-century America - Todd Timmons

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.

Todd Timmons teaches mathematics, history of mathematics, and history of science at the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith. His professional interests include the history of American science and American mathematics.

"Beginning with a chronology, Timmons introduces the era in which science began to produce technologies that revolutionized daily life. He traces developments in transportation; communications; work on and increasingly, off, the farm; household products; medicine; and exploration. The rise of US leadership in these fields and scientific and technical institutions is also covered. Period illustrations include an ad for women in bloomers riding a velocipede." - Art Book News Annual


"Few books are as approachable and historically focused as this, a welcome addition to the resources available to our students. For high school or middle school teachers wishing to incorporate more of this approach into their history or science classes, it is well worthwhile….highly recommend." - NSTA Web site


"[O]ffers a sweeping view of how science and innovations contributed to social and political changes in early 19th century America. Vast changes ranged from communication to transportation, agriculture and new navigation systems: both a timeline of events and a bibliography pair vintage black and white photos with analysis of changing technology's effects on 19th centruy America." - MBR Bookwatch


"A finely tuned study of the operation of science and technology in shaping the every day life of 19th century Americans. In organizing his work, Timmons is guided by his premise that a steady flow of inventions and innovations transformed America from a hand-manufacturing, slow-traveling, subsistence-farming society into a industrial-consumer nation, replete with brand names and energy saving conveniences, within the relatively short time period of 100 years or, that is, within a long life span. It is a meritorious theory and one to which the author brings substantial evidence in a well written narrative that is derived from his firm command of secondary sources on the subject. His bibliography runs to eight pages, his book is indexed, and he has included a useful time line of 19th century advances. Illustrations throughout the book supplement the text….[a] wonderful addition to the other 35 titles on the Series list of books" - UA Fort Smith News