Power, Speed, and Form: Engineers and the Making of the Twentieth Century

One of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2007 "David P. Billington and David P. Billington, Jr., hope that their new book will increase technological literacy among college students. But this well-written and nicely illustrated volume may also reach a broader audiences. Power, Speed, and Form will introduce engineering students to eminent predecessors from whom there is still much to learn, especially about the use of numerical language. This book will also help students in other disciplines appreciate engineering approaches to problem solving."--Thomas P. Hughes, American Scientist "The authors discuss eight transformative inventions ... within their sociocultural context. They also examine the lives of the inventors as well as the cumulative process of invention. The superb figures ... and many photos nicely illustrate the Billingtons' overriding themes: the importance of technological literacy and the fact that original engineering is based on simple ideas."--Library Journal "The book is a sequel to The Innovators (1996), which covered American engineering from 1776 to 1883; the two books together explain the principal engineering ideas that helped transform the U.S. from an agrarian society in the eighteenth century to the industrial civilization it became in the twentieth century."--George Cohen, Booklist "[A] coherent and appealing approach, introducing engineering as a historical sequence of ideas and events, part of a canon of great ideas... [A]n engaging narrative that explores the work of key innovators... For the Billingtons, design is the primary function of engineering, one that distinguishes it from science."--Robin Tatu, ASEE Prism "The authors ... discuss the development of each [innovation] in a way that is readily accessible to building engineers and non-engineers--their ultimate purpose... The book, then, was meant to serve as a text for introductory engineering courses, especially those designed to help liberal arts students satisfy technical literacy requirements. Such courses can also excite engineering students by explaining how many innovations sprang from ideas that though novel were relatively simple."--Ray Bert, Civil Engineering "By introducing the fundamental theories upon which various significant technological achievements are based, Billington Sr... and Billington Jr... shed light on the unseen foundations of invention... A remarkable accomplishment of this book is that it presents these theories and equations in a manner that is understandable to general readers, rather than accessible only to engineers or scientists. Thus, it fills a much-needed role in helping to enhance technological literacy and understanding among the general public... Highly recommended."--Choice "Power, Speed, and Form is physically an extraordinary volume...chock full of the most extraordinary photos... Yet this is not a picture book. It is a serious history of the development of American technology in the period between the year 1876...and 1939... [W]hat is unique, and what, along with the illustrations, makes this book something of a treasure, is the inclusion of more than forty sidebars, each a full-page explication in words, numerical formulas, and splendidly clear diagrams, of the historic innovations discussed in the text."--Samuel C. Florman, Technology and Culture