Engineering in History & Modern Era

Question 1

What societal changes did the influence of agriculture have?

Answer 1

• Career specialisation
• Support an aristocracy
• Settlements of people
• Support development of technologies

Question 2

When and what was the rise of capitalism?

Answer 2

In the 17th century bought about a renewed interest in the practice of the trades and a more practical orientation towards knowledge.

Question 3

Why did the Industrial Revolution start in Britain?

Answer 3

Industrialisation to replace labour

Question 4

What did Thomas Savery patent?

Answer 4

primitive (pistonless) steam engine in 1698 (the miners

friend)

Question 5

What did Thomas Newcomen develop?

Answer 5

a practical atmospheric

engine to harness steam power

Question 6

What was James Watt Known for?

Answer 6

doubled Newcomen engine efficiency

Question 7

Who adopted the Taylor Scientific Management?

Answer 7

Henry Ford

Question 8

What started Silicon Valley?

Answer 8

Hewlett Packard

Question 9

What was the difference between Edison and Tesla?

Answer 9

Edison
• Edison – Tireless tinkering by
trial and error
• Array of machinists in his lab
• Lab similar to Guild system
• Stressed the importance of
craftmanship
• Learning from others was highly valued
• Free and easy communication in lab
• Agile businessman
• Great ability to obtain financial
backing
• Founded businesses to apply his inventions
• Lab left room for tinkering but
workers were largely unskilled
• Disliked mathematics and theory
• “I was almost a sorry witness of his doings, knowing that just a little theory and calculation would have saved him 90% of the labour... The truly prodigious amount of his accomplishments is little short of a miracle.”: Tesla

Tesla
• Tesla - hardly ever made
mistakes
• Few workers in his lab.
• He was well educated –
replaced guesswork with
scientific reasoning
• Amazingly vivid imagination
What Edison did in his lab, Tesla
did in his mind Media and society was unsympathetic
to Tesla
• Came from Eastern Europe
• Germ phobia/ no social life/ avoided the distractions of female company till he died / plagued with misunderstanding
• Tesla worked for Edison but left after not receiving a claimed $50 000 that was apparently verbally promised to him by Edison.
• Tesla’s value to Edison was minimised because his system didn’t allow Tesla’s genius to be applied outside Edison’s goals.