Engineering the Revolution: Arms and Enlightenment in France, 1763-1815Engineering the Revolution documents the forging of a new relationship between technology and politics in Revolutionary France, and the inauguration of a distinctively modern form of the “technological life.” Here, Ken Alder rewrites the history of the eighteenth century as the total history of one particular artifact—the gun—by offering a novel and historical account of how material artifacts emerge as the outcome of political struggle. By expanding the “political” to include conflict over material objects, this volume rethinks the nature of engineering rationality, the origins of mass production, the rise of meritocracy, and our interpretation of the Enlightenment and the French Revolution. |
Contents
| 3 | |
Engineering Design Capital into Coercion 17631793 | 21 |
Engineering Production Coercion into Capital 17631793 | 125 |
Engineering Society Technocracy and Revolution 17941815 | 251 |
Conclusion | 344 |
Other editions - View all
Engineering the Revolution: Arms and Enlightenment in France, 1763-1815 Ken Alder No preview available - 2014 |
Engineering the Revolution: Arms and Enlightenment in France, 1763-1815 Ken Alder No preview available - 1997 |
Engineering the Revolution: Arms and Enlightenment in France, 1763-1815 Ken Alder No preview available - 1997 |
Common terms and phrases
Aboville Agoult ancien régime armaments armorers arms workers army artifacts artillerists artillery artillery officers artillery service artisans arts ballistics barrel Bélidor Blanc Cambridge cannon capital Carnot carriages central Comité corps Côte-d'Or Coudray Culture Ecole Ecole Polytechnique economic eighteenth century elite engineers Enlightenment Entrepreneur firearms France French Revolution Frimaire Gassendi gauges Givry Gribeauval Gribeauval's Gribeauvalists guerre Guibert gunlocks gunners guns historians History Honoré Blanc Imprimerie industry innovation inspector interchangeable parts manufacturing Jacobin Klingenthal knowledge l'artillerie l'Ecole labor Lazare Carnot livres lock locksmiths machine Manufacture of Paris master mathematics mechanical Mémoire merchants methods militaire military modern Monge Montbeillard muskets Napoléon Nationale nineteenth century nivôse Paris percent pieces political Polytechnique practical Prieur Princeton Rapport Révolution française Revolutionary Roanne role Royal Saint-Auban Saint-Etienne sans-culottes savants Science September skills social standards tactics technical drawing Thermidor tion trade University Press Vallière Vallièrists Vauban ventôse workshop