The mantra of efficiency : from waterwheel to social control / Jennifer Karns Alexander.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Alexander, Jennifer Karns, 1963-

Series:

ACLS Humanities E-Book.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Technological innovations--History.

Technological innovations.

Industrial efficiency.

Science and industry.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xvii, 233 p. ) ill. ;

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Baltimore : Johns Hopkins University Press, c2008.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Six historical case studies--two from Britain, one each from France and Germany, and two from the United States--illustrate the concept's fascinating development and provide context for the meanings of, and uses for, efficiency today and in the future.

Contents:

Introduction: The varieties of efficiency

Static and dynamic efficiency: the waterwheels of Smeaton and the Franklin Institute

The effects of control: Gerard-Joseph Christian and perfected machines

Economy of nature: Darwin, Marshall, and the costs of efficiency

Balance and transformation: technical and popular efficiency in the Progressive Era United States

An island of mechanical predictability: efficient worker seating in late Weimar Germany

Pride in efficiency: the dispute over Time on the cross

Global efficiency: an enduring industrial value in a postindustrial world

Conclusion: The future of efficiency

Notes

Bibliographic essay

Index.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. [201]-199) and index.

ISBN:

0-8018-9330-5

OCLC:

550604785

Publisher Number:

2027/heb31685 hdl