Technology & Engineering
Water-Closets
Plunge into the wonderful world of water-closets (a.k.a. toilets) with Virginia architect Glenn Brown. Follow the evolution of the humble to…
Final Report from the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
On April 20, 2010, the Macondo well blew out, costing the lives of 11 men, and beginning a catastrophe that sank the Deepwater Horizon drill…
Instructions to Light Keepers
"Office of the Light-House Board, Washington, D.C. July 1, 1881. The following Instructions are published for the guidance of light-kee…
Seeking a Human Spaceflight Program Worthy of a Great Nation
"The [Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee] shall conduct an independent review of ongoing U.S. human space flight plans a…
The Night The Mountain Fell
A severe earthquake, centered in the vacation area of West Yellowstone, Montana, shook the ground and its inhabitants and visitors on August…
Umbrellas and Their History
Umbrellas and Their History offers a unique exploration of the umbrella, an everyday object that has shaped social customs and technological…
The Hurricane Hunters
This 1955 book by an acknowledged authority is an absorbing account of meteorology before the advent of weather satellites. “This is the li…
Twentieth Century Inventions
This work from 1901 predicts what technological developments will manifest in the twentieth century. The author, a technical journalist, pre…
Time Telling Through the Ages
A history of timekeeping from the stone age through to American mass production, covering timepieces from the sundial and water clock throug…
The Smoke Eaters
This book vividly brings to life the unimaginable risks of fire-fighting and the bravery and personal interactions of Captain Meaghan and th…
History of the Johnstown Flood
An account of the Johnstown Flood, the most devastating loss of civilian life in the United States prior to the terrorist attacks of Septemb…
Passages from the Life of a Philosopher
Some men write their lives to save themselves from ennui, careless of the amount they inflict on their readers. Others write their personal …
The Story of the Atlantic Cable
The electric telegraph, together with the railway-train and the steamship, constituted the three most conspicuous features of late 19th cent…
Report to the President
Since being sworn in on February 6, 1986, the Commission has been able to conduct a comprehensive investigation of the Challenger accident. …
Fires and Fire-Fighters
John Kenlon became a New York City firefighter in 1887, and was appointed Fire Chief in 1911. In 1913, he wrote this authoritative book surv…
Little Masterpieces of Science
A collection of essays on various inventions and scientific discoveries, this volume of Little Masterpieces of Science from 1902 includes to…
San Francisco Before And After The Earthquake
As all but Martians know (and who knows, perhaps even they), the city of San Francisco, California, was destroyed by massive earthquake and …
The Magic Lantern and its Management
There is no optical instrument so well known or so highly held in popular estimation as the Magic Lantern. It is somewhat unfortunate that i…
The Story of Books
Rawlings follows the development of printing from the origins of writing to modern printing. Some of the earliest records are ancient Egypti…
The Romance of Mining
Any writer on mining in its general aspect is, when casting about for a starting-point, driven to express what others have said before him-t…