Technologies of Scale and Scope

The coming of mass-production was the result of a long series of developments, reaching back to the beginnings of industrialization. One nice overview is a chapter from his unfinished book, Is War Necessary for Economic Growth? by the late Vernon Ruttan of the University of Minnesota. You can access this via the course ELMS page, under "Files"


As you may imagine, the great changes in communications and transportation technologies over the last century have received a great deal of attention, ranging from very good scholarship to a wide-ranging enthusiast literature aimed at collectors and buffs. Our local museum resources should also be remembered, especially the National Air and Space Museum and the exhibitions on information technology at the National Museum of American History. Here are some places to start, but this is an area in which you are particularly urged to explore on your own:

This discussion of the historical relationship between physics and communications technology is worth a look. Notice that it has been put on the web site for Bell Labs, arguably the most important industrial research laboratory in history. The link takes you to a short version of the article -- the full version can be found using the "Files" function on the course ELMS site (as "Physics_Com_wFig").

In the field of transportation, there are also many possible sites with historical references. For the automobile, you might start with theĀ Henry Ford Museum's discussion of its founder and namesake. For aviation, the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum has extensive materials on line, including materials from itsĀ Milestones of Flight gallery.

* For your portfolio, contribute (1) one or two paragraphs discussing the significance of the military in the development of mass production technologies in the 19th and early 20th centuries and (2) two paragraphs commenting on the significance of communications developments in the 19th century. Be sure to include some discussion of the role of physical sciences in these developmetns.

return
return to syllabus main page