Scaling Up: The Institution of Chemical Engineers and the Rise of a New Profession

Johnston, S.F.; Divall, Colin

ISBN 10: 0792366921 / ISBN 13: 9780792366928

Published by Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2001

About this Item

Type: Book Chemical engineering - as a recognized skill in the workplace, as an academic discipline, and as an acknowledged profession - is scarcely a century old. Yet from a contested existence before the First World War, chemical engineering had become one of the "big four" engineering professions in Britain, and a major contributor to Western economies by the end of the 20th century. The subject had distinct national trajectories. In Britain - too long seen as shaped by American experiences - the emergence of recognized chemical engineers was the result of professional aspirations and contingency, and shaped by a shifting ecology of institutions, firms and government. Drawing upon extensive archival research, this book examines the evolution of technical practice, working environment and social interactions of chemical engineering. It should be of considerable interest to historians, sociologists of the professions, and to practitioners themselves. Volume 20 in Chemists and Chemistry series.347pp.

Seller Inventory # 014520

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Scaling Up: The Institution of Chemical Engineers and the Rise of a New Profession
• Publisher: Kluwer Academic Publishers
• Publication Date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0792366921
• ISBN 13: 9780792366928
• Binding: Cloth/Laminated Boards
• Condition: Like New
• Dust Jacket Condition: No d/j as Published
• Weight: 25 ounces
• Seller catalogs:
  • SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

About this title

Synopsis

Precursors of the modern chemical industry began to emerge in Northern Europe in the middle of the eighteenth century. The Industrial Revolution boosted activities such as soap-making, glassmaking and textiles production, which required increasing quantities of chemical products. The Lead Chamber process for the manufacture of sulphuric acid, required for the production of dye, was developed in the 1740s by John Roebuck then based in Birmingham. Production of this key commodity rose steadily. By the 1820s, British annual production had reached 10 000 tons of 100% acid. By 1900, Britain was producing one quarter of the world's output with an annual production approaching one million tons. Demand for alkalis for glassmaking and soap-making, for textile dyes and for bleach was also growing rapidly in the second half of the eighteenth century, and it became clear that existing sources of these materials would not be sufficient. In response to a prize established by the Academie des Sciences, Nicholas Leblanc had devised by 1791 a method for converting common salt into soda ash, which was to become the central operation of the world alkali industry for about one hundred years.

Review

`Scaling Up is an excellent history of the chemical engineering profession in Britain and the development and growth of the Institution of Chemical Engineers. It is well laid out and the text is generally easy to read. Overall, it is a highly recommended book for anyone interested in the history of Chemical Engineering.'
Bulletin for the History of Chemistry, 27:1 (2002)