Inventions in the Century by William Henry Doolittle

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Inventions in the Century by William Henry Doolittle

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By Donna Ferrari Posted on Jan 12, 2026

In Category - Budgeting

Authors: Doolittle, William Henry, 1844- Published By : Doolittle, William Henry, 1844-

Book Language: English

Hey, I just finished this fascinating book that's been collecting dust on my shelf. It's called 'Inventions in the Century' by William Henry Doolittle. Don't let the dry title fool you—this isn't just a list of gadgets. It's a story about people. The book walks us through the 19th century, one invention at a time, but the real magic is how it connects these machines to the lives they changed. It shows the human drama behind the steam engine and the quiet revolution of the telegraph. If you've ever wondered how we got from horse-drawn carriages to early telephones in just a hundred years, this book paints that picture in a way that feels personal and surprisingly urgent.

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ART OF HEATING, VENTILATING, COOKING, REFRIGERATING AND LIGHTING. Prometheus and the Modern Match.--1680, Godfrey Hanckwitz Invented First Phosphorous Match.--Other Forms of Matches.-- Promethean Matches in 1820.--John Walker.--Lucifer.--Tons of Chemicals, Hundreds of Pine Trees Yearly Made into Matches.-- Splints and Machines.--Reuben Partridge.--Poririer.--Pasteboard Box.--Machines for Assorting and Dipping, Drying and Boxing.-- Cooking and Heating Stoves.--History of, from Rome to Ben Franklin.--The Old-Fashioned Fireplace.--Varieties of Coal Stoves.--Stove Fireplace.--Ventilation.--Hot Air Furnaces.-- How Heat is Distributed, Retained, and Moistened.--Hot Water Circulation.--Incubators.--Baking Ovens, the Dutch and the Modern.--Vast Number of Stove and Furnace Foundries in United States.--Ventilation.--Parliament Buildings and U. S. Capitol.-- Eminent Scientific Men who have Made Ventilation a Study.--Best Modes.--Its Great Importance.--Car Heaters.--Grass and Refuse Burning Stoves.--Oil, Vapour, and Gas Stoves, their Construction and Operation.--Sterilising.--Electric Heating and Cooking.-- Refrigeration.--Messrs. Carré of France, 1870.--Artificial Ice.--Sulphuric Acid and Ammonia Processes.--Absorption and Compression Methods Described.--Refrigerating Cars.--Liquid Air. 199 CHAPTER XIV. METALLURGY. The Antiquity of the Art.--The “Lost Arts” Rediscovered.-- The Earliest Forms of Smelting Furnaces.--Ancient Iron and Steel.--India and Africa.--Early Spain and the Catalan Furnace.--The Armour of Don Quixote.--Bell’s History of the Art.--Germany.--Cast Iron Made by Ancients, Disused for 15 Centuries.--Reinvented by Page and Baude in England, 1543.-- German Furnaces.--Dud Dudley, the Oxford Graduate and his Furnace, 1619.--Origin of Coke in England.--Use in United States.--Revival of Cast Iron.--Cast Steel in England, Huntsman, 1740.--Henry Cort and Puddling, 1784, and its Subsequent Wonderful Value.--Steam Engine of Watt and Iron.--Refining of Precious Metals.--Amalgamating Process.--Review of the 18th Century.--Herschel’s Distinction of Empirical and Scientific Art.--The Nineteenth Century, Scientific Metallurgy.--Steam, Chemistry, Electricity.--Rogers’ Iron Floor.--Neilson’s Hot Air Blast, 1828, Patent Sustained.--Anthracite Coal.--Colossal Furnaces.--Gas Producers.--Bunsen’s Experiments.--Constituents of Ores.--Squeezing Process.--Burden’s Method.--Mechanical Puddlers.--Rotary.--Henry Bessemer’s Great Process--1855-1860.-- Steel from Iron.--Holley’s Apparatus.--Effects of and Changes in Bessemer Process.--Old Methods and Means Revived and Improved.-- Eminent Inventors.--New Metals and New Processes Discovered.-- Harveyised Steel.--Irresistible Projectiles and Impenetrable Armour Plate.--Krupp’s Works.--Immense Manufactures in United States.--Treatment of Gold, Silver, Copper, Lead, etc.; Mining Operations, Separation, Reduction.--Chemical Methods: Lixiviation or Leaching.--MacArthur.--Forrest.--Sir Humphry Davy.--Scheele.--Chlorine and Cyanide Processes.--Alloys.-- Babbitting.--Metallic Lubricants.--Various Alloys and Uses.-- Reduction of Aluminium and other Metals.--Electro-Metallurgy.-- Diamonds to be Made.--All Arts have Waited on Development of this Art. 218 CHAPTER XV. METAL WORKING PROCESSES AND MACHINES.--TUBE MAKING.--WELDING.--ANNEALING AND TEMPERING.--COATING AND METAL FOUNDING.--METAL WARE.--WIRE WORKING. Metal Working Tools One of the Glories of 19th Century.--Wood Working and Metal Working.--Ancient and Modern Lathe.--Turning Metal Lathe.--A Lost Art in Use in Egypt and in Solomon’s Time.--Revived in Sixteenth Century.--Forgotten and Revived again in Eighteenth.--Sir Samuel Bentham and Joseph Bramah Laid Foundation of Nineteenth Century Tools.--The Slide Rest and Henry Maudsley.--Nasmyth’s Description.--Vast Rolls, and Most Delicate Watch Mechanisms, cut by the Lathe and its Tools.--Metal Planing.--Eminent Inventors, 1811-1840.-- Many Inventions and Modifications Resulting in a Wonderful Evolution.--Metal-Boring Machines.--Modern Vulcan’s Titanic Work-Shop.--Screw Making.--Demand Impossible to Supply under Old Method.--Great Display at London Exhibition, 1851, and Centennial, Philadelphia, 1876.--J. Whitworth & Co., of England, Sellers & Co., of America, and Others.--The Great Revelation.-- Hoopes and Townsend and the Flow of Cold, Solid Metal.--Cold Punching, etc.--Machine-Made Horse-Shoes.--The Blacksmith and Modern Inventions.--Making of Great Tubes.--Welding by Electricity, and Tempering and Annealing.--How Armour Plate is Hardened.--Metals Coated.--Electro-Plating and Casting.-- Great Domes Gilded.--Moulds for Metal Founding.--Machines and Methods.--Steel Ingots.--Sheet Metal and Personal Ware.-- Great Variety of Machines for Making.--Wire Made Articles.-- Description of Great Modern Work-Shop. 240 CHAPTER XVI. ORDNANCE, ARMS, AMMUNITION, AND EXPLOSIVES. This Art Slow in Growth, but no Art Progressed Faster.--The Incentives to its Development.--The Greatest Instruments in the New Civilisation.--Peace and its Fruits Established by them.--Its History.--Chinese Cannon.--India.--The Moors.-- Arabs.--Cannon at Cordova in 1280.--The Spaniards and Gibraltar, 1309.--The Spread of Artillery through Europe.--Description of Ancient Guns.--Breech Loaders and Stone Cannon Balls.--Wrought Iron Cannon and Shells in 15th...

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Published in the early 1900s, William Henry Doolittle's book is a guided tour through the 1800s, using inventions as its roadmap. It starts with the world as it was at the dawn of the century and moves forward, stopping at each major technological leap. From the power of steam that reshaped travel and industry, to the sewing machine that altered home life and fashion, to the communication breakthroughs of the telegraph and telephone, Doolittle lays it all out. He doesn't just tell you what was invented; he shows you the context—what problem it solved and how it was received by a public that was often skeptical or amazed.

Why You Should Read It

This book surprised me. I expected a dry catalog, but it reads like a series of connected stories. Doolittle has a knack for highlighting the quirky details and the human struggles behind each patent. You feel the excitement and the resistance that greeted these world-changing ideas. It makes you realize how every modern convenience we take for granted was once a miraculous, disruptive novelty. Reading it, you start to see the 19th century not as a distant, sepia-toned past, but as a period of frantic, brilliant chaos that directly built our world.

Final Verdict

Perfect for history buffs who enjoy 'how we got here' narratives, or for anyone with a casual interest in technology and society. It's not a deep technical manual; it's a social history told through objects. If you liked books like The Perfectionists by Simon Winchester or enjoy podcasts about the history of everyday things, you'll find a kindred spirit in this century-old volume. It's a reminder that innovation is always a human story first.

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Mary Hernandez

3 weeks ago

It’s rare that I write reviews, but the translation seems very fluid and captures the original nuance perfectly. An unexpectedly enjoyable experience.