Exploring the History of Engineering at the Linda Hall Library

Benjamin Gross, Ph.D.VP for Research & Scholarship

Linda Hall LibrarySeptember 18, 2018

City of Fountains, Heart of the NationCity of Engineers, Heart of the Nation

https://www.kauffman.org/ https://commons.wikimedia.org/http://eclubofkc.org/

City of Engineers, Heart of the Nation

https://www.kctechcouncil.com/

Engineering Triumphs

Kansas City Bridge (1869) Kauffman Center for the

Performing Arts (2011)

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…and Tragedies

Kemper Arena (1979) Hyatt Regency Hotel (1981)

http://www.kcur.org/ https://www.kansascity.com/

Recent Achievements

Google Fiber (2012) KC Streetcar (2016)

https://www.nytimes.com/ https://www.nytimes.com/

Linda Hall Library

A Plenary in Three Parts

1) The Roots of American Engineering

2) A Remarkable Gift

3) New Frontiers in the History of Engineering

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I. The Roots of American Engineering

Images from The Panorama of Professions and Trades (Edward Hazen, 1836)

The Middlesex Canal

”The greatest work of the kind which has been completed in the United States.” –Albert Gallatin

• 1793: Formation of Middlesex Canal Company

• Goal: Linking Charles and Merrimack Rivers (27 miles)

• Loammi Baldwin (1744-1807)• Cabinetmaker and

Revolutionary War veteran

• No experience building canals

• Reliance on foreign expertise (William Weston)

http://www.middlesexcanal.org/https://en.wikipedia.org/

European Engineering Traditions

British civil engineers French military engineers

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British Civil Engineers

• Characteristics• Open to all social classes

• Empirical approach

• Focus on industrial or civilian projects

• Apprenticeship system

• Examples:• John Smeaton (1724-1792)

• Thomas Telford (1757-1834)

• William Weston (1763-1833)

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French Military Engineers

• Characteristics• Rooted in military practice (1676:

Corps du génie)

• Dominated by upper and middle classes

• Theoretical approach

• State-sponsored schools (1794-École polytechnique)

• Examples:• Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban

(1633-1707)

• August-Jean Fresnel (1788-1827)

• Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot (1796-1832)

http://www.paintingsoncanvas.net

Napoleon’s Expedition to Egypt

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The First Wave of American Engineers

Oliver Evans (1755-1819) James Buchanan Eads (1820-1887)LHL LHL

Automated flour mill (1795) St. Louis Bridge (1874)

U.S. Engineering Schools

• 1802: West Point established

• More schools followed• 1823: Rensselaer Polytechnic

Institute (Troy, NY)

• 1847: Lawrence Scientific School (Harvard)

• 1862: Morrill Land Grant Act

• By 1872: 70 engineering schools across the U.S.

• 1877: University of Missouri

• 1891: University of Kansas

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A New Generation

Washington Roebling (1837-1926)Brooklyn Bridge (1883) Frank Sprague (1857-1934)Electric Streetcar System,

Richmond, VA (1888)LHL LHL

Defining a profession

• Growing numbers of American engineers

• 1850: ~2,000 engineers

• 1880: ~7,000 engineers

• 1920: ~136,000 engineers

• Formation of professional organizations

• Franklin Institute (1824)• Educational mission

• Publishing technical knowledge

• Standardization & safety regulationsLHL

The Founding Societies

• National engineering organizations emerged after Civil War

• National organizations that:• Determined professional

standards

• Hosted national meetings

• Published journals disseminating new engineering knowledge

• 1913: Established a shared library in New York City

1852 (1867)

1871

1880

1884

1908

1963

Engineering Societies

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II. A Remarkable Gift

Linda and Herbert

Herbert Hall (1858-1941)Linda Southall (1859-1938)

A Long & Happy Marriage

“A free public library for the use of the people of Kansas City and the public generally...”

Joseph Shipman (1908-1977)Linda Hall Library trustees (1956)

An Unforgettable Day

A Growing Institution

• 1946-1956: Hall Mansion

• 1956: New building

• 1965: History of Science Center

• 1978: Reading room expansion

• 2006: Latest stacks expansion

A Growing Institution

• 1946-1956: Hall Mansion

• 1956: New building

• 1965: History of Science Center

• 1978: Reading room expansion

• 2006: Latest stacks expansion

A Growing Institution

• 1946-1956: Hall Mansion

• 1956: New building

• 1965: History of Science Center

• 1978: Reading room expansion

• 2006: Latest stacks expansion

A Growing Institution

• 1946-1956: Hall Mansion

• 1956: New building

• 1965: History of Science Center

• 1978: Reading room expansion

• 2006: Latest stacks expansion

A Growing Institution

• 1946-1956: Hall Mansion

• 1956: New building

• 1965: History of Science Center

• 1978: Reading room expansion

• 2006: Latest stacks expansion

A Growing Institution

• 1946-1956: Hall Mansion

• 1956: New building

• 1965: History of Science Center

• 1978: Reading room expansion

• 2006: Latest stacks expansion

More Room for Collections

• 1946: American Academy of Arts and Sciences Library

• 1985: Franklin Institute Library

• 1995: Engineering Societies Library

• Continued collecting activity today…

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Preserving Print in the Digital Age

• 500,000+ monographs

• 48,000 journal titles (69 languages represented)

• Other publications• Government documents• Technical reports• Industrial standards• Unpublished engineering

society conference papers• Patent literature (PTRC)

• Committed to retaining print (no e-only subscriptions)

The History of Science Collection

• Subject strengths:• Astronomy

• Physical sciences

• Life sciences

• Engineering

• Mathematics

• Highlights:• Nicolaus Copernicus, De

revolutionibus… (1543)

• Isaac Newton, Principia mathematica (1687)

• Charles Darwin, On the Origin of Species (1859)

Landmark Texts

Robert Hooke, Micrographia (1665)Galileo Galilei, Sidereus nuncius (1610)

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Recent Rare Book Acquisitions

Jules Marcou, Geological Map of the United States (1853)Ignace Chappe, Histoire

de la télégraphie (1840)LHL LHL

III. New Frontiers in the History of Engineering

Agostino Ramelli, Diverse et artificose machine (1588)

The Linda Hall Library is a guardian of the collective intellectual heritage with regard to science, technology, and engineering disciplines; a destination for advanced research and scholarship, and a center for public education in the sciences.

Exhibitions

Samuel Langley’s Aerodrome A ready for launch (1903)

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Public Tours and Presentations

Photo courtesy of Paul Rutherford

Guest Speakers

A Community of Scholars

• Linda Hall Library fellowships support researchers from around the world.

• 16 scholars visiting Kansas City during 2018-19 academic year.

• Recent topics:• Copernicus Through the Eyes of His

Contemporaries

• Regulatory Engineers in the Environmental Protection Agency and Engineering Societies, 1969-1980

• Influential Books in the Development of European Mathematics from 1500-1820

• Aeronautical Culture in France, 1860-1908

• British Colonial Botanic Gardens and the Uses of Science in the Late-18th and Early-19th Centuries

New Histories of Engineering (Professional Identity)

• Heidi Voskuhl (University of Pennsylvania)

• “Engineers’ Philosophy: Industrialism, Theories of Technology, and Social Order in the Second Industrial Revolution”

• Reconstruction of transatlantic exchanges between American and German engineers

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New Histories of Engineering (Controlling the Environment)

• Joanna Gaspar de Freitas (University of Lisbon)

• “Against Sea and Sand: Strategies on Coastal Defense”

• Comparative study of coastal management strategies

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Histories of Engineering (Maintenance and Infrastructure)

• Lee Vinsel (Virginia Tech)

• “After Innovation: Maintenance, Care, and Our American Dreams”

• Analysis of shifting rhetoric surrounding innovation and maintenance

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Publications by LHL Fellows

Thank you!

• Questions?

• Comments?

• If you like science, technology, engineering (or

their histories) be sure to follow the Linda Hall

Library on social media!

• Website: http://www.lindahall.org

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https://www.facebook.com/Linda.Hall.Library/

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