Bücher der Reihe Cambridge Library Collection - Technology

Following the success of his Life of George Stephenson in 1857, the author and social reformer Samuel Smiles (1812-1904) published this three-volume work between 1861 and 1862. Spanning from the Roman to Victorian period, it provides fascinating biographies of Britain's most notable engineers, including detailed accounts of their pioneering work.

Sir Charles Tilston Bright (1832-88) was chief engineer of the first successful transatlantic telegraph cable and subsequently worked on telegraph networks spanning the British Empire and the globe. Written by Bright's brother and son, this two-volume 1898 biography chronicles one of the foremost electrical engineers of the Victorian age.

Oliver Heaviside FRS (1850-1925) was a brilliant self-taught electrical engineer, physicist and mathematician. Published in 1893, this is the first of three volumes that summarise his work on electromagnetic theory. It gives his first description of vector analysis and reinterprets Maxwell's field equations into the form we know today.

A self-taught authority on electromagnetic theory, telegraphy and telephony, Oliver Heaviside (1850-1925) dedicated his life to electrical technologies. The publication of Electrical Papers in 1892 established his fame among the British reading public. The subjects covered in Volume 1 include voltaic constants, duplex telegraphy, microphones and electromagnets.

A distinguished consulting engineer and professor of civil engineering, Leveson Francis Vernon-Harcourt (1839-1907) specialised in canals, docks, and river works. This illustrated two-volume survey covers the design and construction of tidal and flood defences, canals, locks, and irrigation works. It is reissued here in the enlarged 1896 second edition.

The man behind the building of the Suez Canal describes his career as an engineer and diplomat in Europe and North Africa. Volume 1 of this 1887 translation focuses on diplomatic visits to Rome and Madrid in the late 1840s, and the early stages of the Suez Canal enterprise.

Richard Trevithick (1771-1833) was one of the pioneering engineers of the Industrial Revolution. He worked on a wide range of projects, including railways, mines and mills. This study by his son was published in 1872. Volume 1 covers his predecessors, and early life, before examining his work thematically.

Josiah Wedgwood (1730-1795) was a master potter responsible for many innovations in ceramic manufacture. These three volumes, first published between 1903 and 1906, contain Wedgwood's letters to his business partner Thomas Bentley (1730-1780) and provide a fascinating account of late eighteenth-century life. Volume 1 covers 1762-1772.

Richard Lovell Edgeworth (1744-1817) was an Irish educationalist, engineer and inventor, who was connected with many leading scientists, technologists and industrialists of his day. This two-volume autobiography, first published in 1820, was completed after his death by his novelist daughter Maria, who also co-authored his Practical Education.

An electrical engineer, university teacher and wide-ranging writer, Fleeming Jenkin (1833-85) filed thirty-five British patents in his lifetime. First published in 1887, this two-volume collection includes papers on speculative and applied science, literature, political economy, and technical education. Robert Louis Stevenson, his former student, provides a useful memoir.

Published 1839-52, this two-volume work records the contribution of William Scoresby (1789-1857) to magnetic science, a field he considered one of 'grandeur'. The result of laborious investigations into magnetism and (with James Prescott Joule) electromagnetism, Scoresby's work was particularly concerned with improving the accuracy of ships' compasses.

Published in 1822, this is an early overview of the history of the steam engine, although very little is known about the author. Detailed and illustrated descriptions of various early engines are included. Comparing their characteristics and advantages, the author is keen to act as evangelist for the new technology.

Blinded by smallpox at the age of six, John Metcalf (1717-1810), popularly known as 'Blind Jack of Knaresborough', nevertheless became one of the eighteenth century's great road builders. Published in 1795, his engaging memoirs recount an eventful life, including his part in the suppression of the Jacobite rebellion.

In the 1840s the engineer Peter Bruff (1812-1900) designed the 1,000-foot-long Chappel Viaduct, then the largest brick structure in Britain. In this illustrated guide, first published in 1838 and here reissued in the revised second edition of 1840-2, he describes methods for taking accurate ground surveys.

In the 1840s the engineer Peter Bruff (1812-1900) designed the 1,000-foot-long Chappel Viaduct, then the largest brick structure in Britain. In this illustrated guide, first published in 1838 and here reissued in the revised second edition of 1840-2, he describes methods for taking accurate ground surveys.

Published in 1832, this was the first English textbook dedicated to the topic of suspension bridges. Charles Stewart Drewry (1805-81), who worked on the plans for the Clifton Suspension Bridge, provides a thorough account of the history, purpose and construction of suspension bridges, with detailed examples and illustrations.

The appointment of Swiss-born Charles Labelye (1705-62) as the engineer in charge of the construction of the first Westminster Bridge ruffled some feathers among British professional rivals. This 1751 publication expands upon the shorter work Labelye had prepared in 1739 to explain how the foundations were laid.

The civil engineer Frank Latham had gained extensive practical experience in his field by the time he published this work in 1903. Intended as an illustrated work of reference, the book covers the contemporary methods and materials used in the construction and maintenance of roads and sea defences.

Celebrated as the builder of the Eddystone Lighthouse near Plymouth, John Smeaton (1724-92) made major contributions to civil engineering. Posthumously published between 1812 and 1814, this four-volume illustrated set contains Smeaton's complete reports on the various engineering works he constructed during his career, and his technical papers.

Celebrated as the builder of the Eddystone Lighthouse near Plymouth, John Smeaton (1724-92) made major contributions to civil engineering. Posthumously published between 1812 and 1814, this four-volume illustrated set contains Smeaton's complete reports on the various engineering works he constructed during his career, and his technical papers.

After flooding destroyed several bridges across the Tyne in November 1771, the mathematician Charles Hutton (1737-1823) published this mathematical treatment the following year. The work demonstrates the preferred dimensions of arches and piers, and analyses the force of water they must withstand.

This biography of civil engineer Thomas Telford (1757-1834) was published in 1867 by Samuel Smiles, author of Self-Help. Deriving from Smiles' three-volume Lives of the Engineers, it brings together accounts of road travel by earlier writers, and of Telford's own career as a builder of roads, bridges and canals.

Published in 1888 by the hydraulic engineer William Henry Wheeler (1832-1915), this work describes the methods and machinery used to drain the fens and polders of England and Holland in the nineteenth century. It is a reference tool for maintaining existing drainage systems or designing and implementing new systems.

First published in 1868 by the hydraulic engineer W. H. Wheeler (1832-1915), this work on the Fens of South Lincolnshire is reissued here in its much expanded second edition of 1896. It covers the reclamation of fenland from political and economic perspectives, touching also on engineering methods.

The mining agent Joseph Yelloly Watson (1817-88) produced this short work for private circulation in 1843. The compendium includes descriptions of British mines, mining processes, working conditions and management structures. It concludes with notes on the history of metal mining, followed by a useful glossary.

Sir John Fowler (1817-98) was one of the great railway engineers, remembered particularly for the development of the Forth Bridge and London's underground railway. As a portrait of one of the architects of Victorian Britain, this biography, published in 1900, will be of great interest to historians of the period.

One of the most popular Victorian writers, Samuel Smiles (1812-1904) made his name with Self-Help (1859) and his Lives of the Engineers (1861-2). Left incomplete at his death but published in 1905, his straightforward and unpretentious autobiography will interest readers fascinated by the Victorian drive for self-improvement.

Until the 1830s, the principles of electric telegraphy were confined to laboratories and classrooms. Hoping only to make a hundred pounds, William Fothergill Cooke (1806-79) developed the invention for commercial use. This collection of his letters, which detail the painstaking process of his work, was first published in 1895.

One of the leading figures in the age of great engineers, David Stevenson (1815-86) is best remembered for his work on inland navigation and lighthouses. Published in 1872, this second edition of what was originally an article for the Encyclopaedia Britannica remained the definitive text on the subject into the twentieth century.

Although denied membership of the Royal Society, electrical engineer and suffragist Hertha Ayrton (1854-1923) undertook a vast range of scientific work, from the study of sand bars to the development of anti-aircraft lights. First published in 1902, this book is her comprehensive and illustrated study of electric arcs.