Twisted rails, sunken ships : the rhetoric of nineteenth century steamboat and railroad accident investigation reports, 1833-1879 / R. John Brockmann.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Brockmann, R. John.

Series:

Baywood's technical communications series (Unnumbered)

Baywood's technical communications series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Railroad accidents--United States.

Railroad accidents.

Steamboat disasters--United States.

Steamboat disasters.

Accident investigation--United States.

Accident investigation.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (289 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Amityville, N.Y. : Baywood Pub. Co., 2005.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Contemporary disaster investigation reports into the Shuttle, Three Mile Island, or the World Trade Centre did not happen by chance, but were the result of an evolution of the discourse communities involved with investigating technological accidents. The relationships of private companies, coroners, outside experts, and government investigators all had to be developed and experimented with before a genre of investigation reports could exist. This book is the story of the evolution of these investigation discourse communities in published reports written between 1833 and 1879. Using the reports generated by seven different accidents on railroads and steamboats between 1833 and 1876, it is possible to observe the changes in how these reports interacted and changed over the course of the nineteenth century: The Explosion of the Steamboat New England in the Connecticut River, 1833; The Explosion of the Locomotive Engine Richmond near Reading Pennsylvania, 1844; The Explosion of the Steam Boat Moselle in Cincinatti, 1838; The Camden and Amboy Railroad Collision in Burlington, New Jersey, 1855; The Gasconade Bridge Collapse on the Pacific Railroad in Missouri, 1855; The Eastern Railroad Collision in Revere, Massachusetts, 1871; The Ashtabula Railroad Bridge Collapse in Ohio, 1876

Contents:

pt. 1. Using science as a corporate defense

pt. 2. Publicity, political pressure, and emotional involvement by authors transform disaster investigations

pt. 3. The antebellum period of disaster investigation : transformation ends and a constellation of roles and reports becomes normal.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-351-84087-8

1-315-22343-0

0-89503-504-9

9781315223438

OCLC:

644096514