McNown begins by explaining the development of canals in Europe in the 16th Century. The expansion of the canal system in Europe began by improving the navigability of rivers by removing obstacles or digging canals around rapids or other barriers. As engineers learned the advantages of canals for transportation compared to roadways, the expansion of…
Monthly Archives: December 2018
Rev in Transportation I and II
Engineering the Erie Canal by John Tarkov
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When the idea of the 363 mile long Erie Canal was first proposed to Thomas Jefferson in 1809, he dismissed it claiming that it could not be accomplished. The Erie Canal was the first large-scale canal in the United States, so there were many critics of the idea. The Santee Canal had been completed in…
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Comment on Ancient Technologies Against Soil Erosion: Terracing’s Legacy by jlegg
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Abbi,
I really enjoyed this post on agriculture. Keep up the nice work. Your work is clear and concise, and I commend you for that!
John
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Comment on Boorstin – Getting There First by jlegg
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Nice post, Kristan. I enjoyed the Ricky Bobby meme! I think you’ve provided an excellent overview of this article. Keep it up!
John
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Comment on Astrolabe Research by jlegg
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Well done, Jacob. I think you provided a clear and concise blog post. Keep up the nice work!
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Comment on John R. Harris: The Rise of Coal Technology by jlegg
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Well done. I echo everyone above. I wonder if you could have added a touch of local coal industry to your post, just to add a local aspect to the coal industry. Nothing too serious, you did a fine job!
John
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Comment on Summary of the Chapter “Early Foundations” in David Lewis’ Iron and Steel in America by Jared Cochran
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You did a very good job at summarizing the article and outlining Lewis’ main points. One thing that I found interesting in the article is the mention of the bloomery. If I am remembering right, we did not discuss bloomeries extensively in class. This article goes into some detail on how a bloomery makes the bloom or iron product.
https://uanews.arizona.edu/story/making-iron-old-fashioned-way-tricky-business
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Comment on Early Iron Making in America by kdeane
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Gabriel,
I really liked your summary of the Lewis article; easy to understand while covering the high points. I was surprised that the origin of the name pig iron was so literal – it looked like pigs, so that’s what it was called. The article below offers more information on pig iron production and the science behind it, as well as some videos on the subject.
https://www.metallics.org/pig-iron-bf.html
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Comment on Textiles and Steam Engines by natedekin
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Nice post, I thought it was very interesting to see how people such as Wyatt, and Paul were attempting to mechanize different parts of the textile process after the previous mechanization. Your use of imagery also puts the rest of the article into context, letting us see what a factory setting would have looked like. I also found it interesting how while the steam engine was a new technology, it wasn’t utilized all that quickly, as other factories still used waterwheels for power. Overall, great work.
Nathaniel Dekin