Cities of Light and Heat

by Rose, Mark H.

• ISBN13: 9780271013497
• ISBN10: 0271013494
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1995-05-01
• Publisher: Pennsylvania State Univ Pr

Summary

Cities of Light and Heat takes us to Kansas City and Denver during the late nineteenth century when gas and electricity were introduced to these "instant cities" of the West. With rich detail, Mark Rose shows how the new technology spread during the next century from a few streets and businesses within the city limits to countless private homes in the suburbs.
Although in hindsight the spread of modern technology might seem inevitable to us, Rose shows how even the leaders of the nation's great gas and electric corporations with their vast production and distribution facilities were subject to geography, competing ideologies, urban politics, and even the choices of ordinary consumers. Rose thus locates the driving force behind the diffusion of technology in the neighborhoods, kitchens, and offices of the city. Cities of Light and Heat shows the importance of culture, politics, and urban growth in shaping technological change in the cities of North America.

Author Biography

Mark H. Rose is Professor of History at Florida Atlantic University.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations
List of Tables
Preface
Introduction	p. 1
The Urbanization of Technology and Public Policy, 1860-1900	p. 13
The Blunt Discipline of Public Policy, 1900-1920	p. 39
Agents of Diffusion: Salespersons and Home Service Representatives, 1900-1920	p. 65
Preparation of Producers and Consumers: Public Schools, 1900-1930	p. 91
Two Salespersons and Ecologies of Technological Knowledge, 1920-1940	p. 111
Adapting to the City Again, 1920-1940	p. 147
Baptismal Tanks and the Feminized Search for Environmental Perfection, 1945-1985	p. 171
Epilogue: The Scholarship of Technology and Society, 1915-1990s	p. 189
Bibliographic Essay	p. 203
Index	p. 211
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