Technological Change and the British Iron Industry, 1700-1870 (Princeton Legacy Library, 5483)

This book describes technological change in an industry that played a central role in the Indsutrial Revolution. While earlier scholars have examined isolated aspects of ironmaking in the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Britain, Charles Hyde surveys all aspects of its development. Costs, prices, profits, shrewd leaders, competition, new inventions, and productivity all figure in this story of a key industry during the major period of its evolution. The author's account illuminates not only the nature of innovation in one industry, but the nature of technologial change in general. using new data compiled form the records of the ironmaking concerns, Professor Hyde considers each of the basic economic variables affecting entrepreneurial decisions. He finds that ironmaking advanced through a process of gradual, continuous change rather than through a series of discrete innovations. The rate of diffusion of new techniques corresponded to their profitability when compared to that of existing means of production--a finding that explains that timing of innovation. Charles K. Hyde is Assistant Professor of Social Science at Monteith College, Wayne State University. Originally published in 1977. The **Princeton Legacy Library** uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905. This book describes technological change in an industry that played a central role in the Industrial Revolution. While earlier scholars have examined isolated aspects of ironmaking in the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Britain, Charles Hyde surveys all aspects of its development. Costs, prices, profits, shrewd leaders, competition, new inventions, and productivity all figure in this story of a key industry during the major period of its evolution. The author's account illuminates not only the nature of innovation in one industry, but the nature of technologial change in general. using new data compiled form the records of the ironmaking concerns, Professor Hyde considers each of the basic economic variables affecting entrepreneurial decisions. He finds that ironmaking advanced through a process of gradual, continuous change rather than through a series of discrete innovations. The rate of diffusion of new techniques corresponded to their profitability when compared to that of existing means of production--a finding that explains that timing of innovation. Charles K. Hyde is Assistant Professor of Social Science at Monteith College, Wayne State University. Originally published in 1977. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905 Acknowledgments Abbreviations Contents LIST OF TABLES LIST OF FIGURES INTRODUCTION PART I: THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION IN IRON , 1700-1815 ONE : THE CHARCOAL IRON INDUSTRY IN THE EARLY EIGHTEENTH CENTURY TWO. THE CHOICE OF FUEL BEFORE 1750 THREE. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHARCOAL IRON INDUSTRY, 1700-1750 FOUR. THE ADOPTION OF COKE-SMELTING, 1750-1790 FIVE: INNOVATION IN THE WROUGHT IRON SECTOR: THE POTTING AND PUDDLING PROCESSES TO 1790 SIX: THE IRON INDUSTRY IN WAR, 1790-1815 SEVEN: THE NEW TECHNOLOGY AND ITS CONSEQUENCES: THE IRON INDUSTRY IN THE EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY PART II: THE MATURE IRON INDUSTRY, 1815-1870 EIGHT: THE IRON INDUSTRY IN PEACE, 1815- 1830: ADJUSTMENT AND INNOVATION NINE: THE HOT BLAST AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SMELTING SECTOR, 1828-1870 TEN: THE WROUGHT IRON SECTOR, 1830-1870 ELEVEN: THE IRON INDUSTRY ON THE EVE OF THE AGE OF STEEL TWELVE: TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE BRITISH IRON INDUSTRY: SOME GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS APPENDICES APPENDIX A: BRITISH IRON OUTPUT, 1715-1750 APPENDIX B: CALCULATING VARIABLE COSTS FROM EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY IRONWORKS ACCOUNTS: A NOTE APPENDIX C: PIG IRON OUTPUT ESTIMATES FOR GREAT BRITAIN, 1788-1860 Bibliography Sources Cited Index