Mining in world history / Martin Lynch.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lynch, Martin.

Series:

Globalities

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Mining engineering--History.

Mining engineering.

History.

Mineral industries--History.

Mineral industries.

Mines and mineral resources--History.

Mines and mineral resources.

Physical Description:

350 pages : maps ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

London : Reaktion, 2002.

Summary:

Globalities is a series which reinterprets world history in a concise yet thoughtful way, looking at major issues over large time-spans and political spaces; such issues can be political, ecological, scientific, technological or intellectual. Rather than adopting a narrow chronological or geographical approach, books in the series are conceptual in focus yet present an array of historical data to justify their arguments. They often involve a multi-disciplinary approach, juxtaposing different subject-areas such as economics and religion or literature and politics.

Ranging from California to Kimberley, from Chile to China, this fascinating book is the first-ever global history of mining and smelting, industries that have been fundamental to the construction of industrial civilization. It is a story of driven men and brutal conditions, fabled mountains and technological break-throughs, colonial greed and military conflicts. Martin Lynch begins with the invention, sometime before 1453, of a revolutionary technique for separating silver from copper, which revived both the rich copper-silver mines of Central Europe and the imperialist ambitions of the Habsburg emperors. The great era of Central European mining that followed lasted for more than 100 years before it was drowned by the flood of American silver unleashed by the conquistadores. But in addition to this and other tales of boom and bust, the author also looks behind the dramas. He explores and explains the Industrial Revolution, when Britain's steam-engines and ironmasters led the world; the era of the gold rushes; the massive mineral developments and technological leaps forward that took place in the USA and southern Africa in the late 19th century; and the spread of mass metal-production techniques amid the world wars and independence movements of the 20th century. In this engaging and fast-paced narrative, readers will discover the startling interplay of personalities, politics and technology that have shaped the metallurgical industries down to the present time.

Contents:

1 The Metallurgical Renaissance 19

2 The Watt Engine 62

3 New Frontiers 113

4 The Copper Barons 162

5 The Gold Factories 215

6 Mass Production 267.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1861891253

OCLC:

48487358