More about us - the subject

What is the history of engineering and technology?

Ever since Prometheus stole fire, there has existed a technological imperative in humankind, and this has played a decisive role in the history of the world. Our subject has nonetheless been largely neglected by ‘mainstream’ historians in favour of political, economic, military, social and more recently cultural history - yet the development and application of the computer, for example, has probably played a more significant role in the history of late twentieth-century Britain than any government.

Famous engineers and scientists such as Brunel, Davy, Faraday (pictured on this page), Telford, Watt and Stephenson - to mention but a few - have indeed played an important part in the history of engineering and technology, but it is a broad subject, and is as much concerned with products and processes, their design, economics, and inter-relation with society, as with key players or events.

The myth of Prometheus illustrates the ancient Greeks' understanding that fire was the key to working metal and thus the foundation of their civilisation. By studying the subject we too can seek an understanding of how the world has developed to where we are now, and the crucial two-way relationship between society and its technology.

Studying the subject

The Newcomen Society is dedicated not just to the historical role of engineering and technology in Britain, but in Europe, America, Asia, Australia - indeed across the globe and in all time periods, from pre-history to the present day.

A useful overview of the growth in the publication of works on the history of engineering and technology from the 1920s to 1980, is provided by a paper by Ian McNeil in our Transactions.

The portraits on this page are reproduced courtesy of the Royal Institution. You can read about Brunel, Faraday, Davy - and many other 'prime movers' of all nationalities - in our Transactions. (Titles of relevant papers can be seen in our Biography section). You can also visit our Transactions page to obtain selections of titles listed by subject or 'theme', or to view illustrated excerpts from some of our papers.

Some past and present members of the Society have enjoyed an international reputation for their publications. These authors range from practising engineers and industrial archaeologists to historians and academics (eg HW Dickinson, LTC Rolt, AW Skempton, RA Buchanan). See our Archive of Transactions for a full list of titles, arranged alphabetically by author.

• Publications:
  overview & bibliography
  
  
• Selected themes:
  collections from Transactions
  
  
• Biography:
  papers from Transactions
  
  
• Transactions archive:
  papers listed by author
  
  
• The Rolt Prize