Introduction 



THE STAFF OF THE MUSEUM OF HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY, a young Subdivision of 

 the Smithsonian Institution's United States National Museum is pleased to 

 present this its first collection of pul)lished papers. This volume of the United Slates 

 A'alional Museum Bulletin series marks another step in the century-long effort of dedi- 

 cated Smithsonian curators to develop a complete national musuem of the United 

 States — a museum which through its scholarly research and puljlications, as well as 

 through its collections and exhil)its, will increase and diffuse knowledge of the cul- 

 tural, scientific, and technological history of the Nation, including its heritage from 

 older cultures and scholarship. 



This volume was conceived by Robert P. Multhauf, head curator of the Museum's 

 Department of Science and Technology, as a tribute to Mr. Greville Bathe for his 

 fine contributions to the history of technology. It is equally a recognition of the 

 inspiration which the work of Bathe and other historians of science and engineering 

 has provided, during the past quarter-century, to museum curators collecting and 

 interpreting the objects that record our history. 



Greville Bathe's stout works on Oliver Evans and Jacob Perkins and his enter- 

 taining Engineer's miscellany comprise in themselves a complete justification for the 

 study of the history of technology. In Oliver Evans the view of the exciting period 

 spanning the transition from American colonies to United States is illuminated as it 

 seldom is in political or narrative history. Insights into the problems of authoring 

 and publishing, the efforts of the colonies to encourage and protect inventors, remon- 

 strances against the threat of technological unemployment, the struggle with the 

 wilderness and all obstacles to communications, the promotion of manufacturies 

 west of the Alleghenies, consultations between the country's leaders and the mecha- 

 nicians, are only a few of the dividends found in this day to day account of great 

 inventor and a daring risk-taker. In Jacob Perkins, Bathe descrilies a surprising 

 export of skill and scientific inquiry from the new world to the old. 



One cannot read these works — or the papers presented here — without recog- 

 nizing that technological progress is a mainstream of cultural development. It is 

 equally evident that these studies provide background for viewing present day 

 problems in true perspective and that the knowledge they impart helps us to cope 

 more successfully with technology's smashing impact on our lives. 



It is encouraging that the time was found by the authors of these papers to 

 study and write while they were engaged in planning facilities and exhibits for the 

 new Museum ol History and Technology building now under construction. This 

 promises a program that will accelerate when the building is opened. 



The imaginative design of this volume of the Bulletin series is the work of the 

 Editorial and Publications Division of the Smithsonian Institution, with the as,sist- 

 ance and cooperation of the Government Printing Office. 



Frank \. Tavior. Director 

 Museum of History and Technology 

 July 22, 1959 

 Washington, D.C. 



