Constructing a Bridge: An Exploration of Engineering Culture, Design, and Research in Nineteenth-Century France and America
If it is true, as Tocqueville suggested, that social and class systems shape technology, research, and knowledge, then the effects should be visible both at the individual level and at the level of technical institutions and local environments. That is the central issue addressed in Constructing a Bridge, a tale of two cultures that investigates how national traditions shape technological communities and their institutions and become embedded in everyday engineering practice.Eda Kranakis...
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A historical look at styles of technological research and design.
AcknowledgementsGeneral Introduction1IA Tale of Two Bridges: Finley, Navier, and Suspension Bridge Design1Finley, Technology, and Frontier Society172Designing the Chain Bridge393Finley's Design System in Practice614Navier: The Making of an Engineer-Scientist975Theorizing the Suspension Bridge1196The Pont des Invalides165IISocial Determinants of Engineering Practice: A Comparative View of France and America in the Nineteenth Century7The French Technologists2158The American Technologists2339Ideology and Technological Practice261General Conclusion307Notes319Bibliography397Index443
