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An Economic History of British Steam Engines, 1774-1870

A Study on Technological Diffusion

  • Book
  • © 2023

Overview

Authors:
  1. Haris Kitsikopoulos

    1. Unbound Prometheus, New York, USA

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  • Offers the most comprehensive account to-date of the British Industrial Revolution's most strategic technology
  • Utilizes contemporary sources well beyond the existing literature
  • Examines the main underlying factor which determined the British Industrial Revolution's timing and evolution

Part of the book series: Contributions to Economics (CE)

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Table of contents (10 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xxiv
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  4. Back Matter

    Pages 353-360
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Keywords

About this book

This book traces the diffusion trajectory of the second and third generation of British steam engines, the Watt and high-pressure models, covering the period 1774 to 1870. It begins by subjecting to econometric analysis the latest version of Dr. Kanefsky's database on 18th century steam engines coming up with an upward revision of the total amount of horsepower installed by 1800. Subsequent chapters delve into the determinants of the diffusion process through the third quarter of the 19th century relating to engines used both in mining and industry as well as transportation (railways, steam cars). 

The book's main contribution to the literature lies in drawing material from a very large volume of 18th- and 19th-century sources found in the Dibner Library of Rare Books, Smithsonian, and by utilizing a fair amount of technical literature pertaining to the economic factors driving the diffusion process. This great expansion of the empirical material has led to bringing multiple revisions to the work of other authors on the key aspects and determinants of the diffusion process. In conjunction with the publication by the author of an earlier monograph on the first generation of steam engines, the Newcomen model, the present study completes the task of offering the most comprehensive account of the preeminent and most strategic technology of the British Industrial Revolution.

This book will appeal to students, scholars, and researchers of economic history and history of technology, interested in a better understanding of the industrial revolution in general and the role of British steam engines in particular. 

Authors and Affiliations

  • Unbound Prometheus, New York, USA

    Haris Kitsikopoulos

About the author

Haris Kitsikopoulos is the creator and academic director of a program of advanced summer seminars (Unbound Prometheus) and a former Clinical Professor at the Economics Department of New York University, USA. His work focuses on British economic history, from the Middle Ages to the Industrial Revolution, with particular emphasis on how institutions affect technological innovation and long-term economic growth. He has edited a collection of essays on the European economies of the late Middle Ages (Agrarian Change and Crisis in Europe, 1200-1500) and authored a book on the first generation of British steam engines (Innovation and Technological Diffusion: An Economic History of Early Steam Engines). He is also the author of several articles some of which appeared in leading journals in the field of economic history (e.g., Journal of Economic History, Economic History Review, and Agricultural History Review). Dr. Kitsikopoulos has been invited as a Visiting Scholar at the University of Tokyo and has held research fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities (twice) and the Smithsonian. He is also the recipient of the Henry Allen Moe Prize, awarded for the best article published in the journal of the American Philosophical Society, the oldest academic institution in the US.

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: An Economic History of British Steam Engines, 1774-1870

  • Book Subtitle: A Study on Technological Diffusion

  • Authors: Haris Kitsikopoulos

  • Series Title: Contributions to Economics

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-27362-9

  • Publisher: Springer Cham

  • eBook Packages: Economics and Finance, Economics and Finance (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-031-27361-2Published: 30 August 2023

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-031-27364-3Due: 30 September 2023

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-031-27362-9Published: 29 August 2023

  • Series ISSN: 1431-1933

  • Series E-ISSN: 2197-7178

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XXIV, 360

  • Number of Illustrations: 13 b/w illustrations, 20 illustrations in colour

  • Topics: Economic History, Economic Growth, Economics, general, Econometrics

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