Wind, Water, Work

Ancient and Medieval Milling Technology
Erscheinungsjahr 2011
ISBN: 978-90-04-20593-2
Verlag: Brill

Buch, Englisch, 440 Seiten, Format (B × H): 165 mm x 239 mm, Gewicht: 1640 g

Reihe: Brill's Paperback Collection / History

This book is the most comprehensive empirical study to date of the social and technical aspects of milling during the ancient and medieval periods.
Drawing on the latest archaeological evidence and historical studies, the book examines the chronological development and technical details of handmills, beast mills, watermills and windmills from the first millennium BCE to c. 1500. It discusses the many and varied uses to which mills were turned in the civilisations of Rome, China, Islam and Europe, and the many types of mill that existed.
The book also includes comparative regional studies of the social and economic significance of milling, and tackles several important historiographical issues, such as whether technological stagnation was a characteristic of late Antiquity, whether there was an "industrial revolution" in the European Middle Ages based on waterpower, and how contemporary studies in the social shaping of technology can shed light on the study of pre-modern technology.

Originally published in hardcover

Zielgruppe

All those interested in the history of pre-modern technology, and particularly specialists in the history of science and technology, industrial archaeology, medieval and classical studies, and social and economic history.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Lucas, Adam

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Wissenschafts- und Universitätsgeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Wirtschaftsgeschichte
• Technische Wissenschaften Technik Allgemein Technikgeschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

List if illustrations/ figures

Figure of sources

List of tables

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Part One Agricultural Milling in Ancient and Medieval Societies

1. Milling Technology in the Ancient World

2. Milling Technology in the first millennium CE

3. Tide mills and windmills in the middle ages

4. The costs of construction and maintenance of medieval watermills and windmills

5. The role of monasteries in the development of milling in medieval England

Part Two Industrial Milling in the Middle Ages

6. Was there an industrial revolution in the middle ages based on water-power?

7. Medieval European industrial mills

8. Medieval English industrial mills

9. The medieval Welsh fulling industry

Conclusion

10. The social shaping of milling technology in the pre-modern period

Appendices

Bibliography

Index

Über Autor(innen)

Adam Lucas, MScSoc, MA (Hons), Ph.D. (2003) in History and Philosophy of Science, University of New South Wales, is a Researcher and Policy Analyst in the New South Wales Cabinet Office. His previous academic publications have been in the sociology of science and technology and the history of technology.