New Profession, Old Order: Engineers and German Society, 1815-1914

Gispen, Kees

ISBN 10: 0521371988 / ISBN 13: 9780521371988

Published by Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1989

About this Item

1989. x, 357pp. B&W illustrations. "New Profession, Old Order is an exploration of the creative tension between modern technology and preindustrial Germany. It concentrates on the social and educational history of engineers as a microcosm of ther larger society between 1815 and 1914." Sections include: Emulation: Bildung and the bureaucratic order; Reorientation: industrial capitalism and a 'practical' profession; and The crucible: technical careers and managerial power, 1900-1914. Dust jacket has very slight wear to edges and corners; not price-clipped. Book has gilt titles to spine. Boards, pages and contents are in NF condition with no inscriptions.

Seller Inventory # Engineering042

Bibliographic Details

• Title: New Profession, Old Order: Engineers and German Society, 1815-1914
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
• Publication Date: 1989
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0521371988
• ISBN 13: 9780521371988
• Binding: Original Black Hardback
• Edition: First Edition
• Condition: Near Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good Plus
• Seller catalogs:
  • Engineering & Technology
  • Science

About this title

Synopsis

New Profession, Old Order is an exploration of the creative tension between modern technology and preindustrial Germany. It concentrates on the social and educational history of engineers as a microcosm of the larger society between 1815 and 1914, and asks why this new occupation, so successful in transforming the physical world, did not achieve the professional power, cohesion and prestige that its technological accomplishments would seem to have warranted. The author proposes answers that center on the historical situation in which the engineering profession found itself. He develops his thesis through careful consideration of the strategies, organization, and development of technical education in nineteenth-century Prussia, the educational struggles and political debates of German engineers and their various associations, changing career prospects, and the relations between engineering management, salaried employees, professionalizers, and government. The result is a study that demonstrates the seamless links between Germany's long-term socioeconomic modernization and its temporary political traumatization.

Book Description

New Profession, Old Order explores the creative tension between modern technology and preindustrial Germany. It offers an explanation of why the engineering profession is so successful in transforming the physical world, did not achieve the professional power, cohesion, and prestige that its technological accomplishments would seem to have warranted.