Steam

by Sutcliffe, Andrea

• ISBN13: 9780786268948
• ISBN10: 0786268948
• Edition: Large
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-09-20
• Publisher: Thorndike Pr

Summary

In 1807, Robert Fulton, using an English mail-order steam engine, chugged four miles an hour up the Hudson River and into American folklore as the inventor of the steamboat. However, the true first passenger steamboat in America, and the world, was built from scratch by John Fitch and plied the Delaware River almost two decades earlier. Steam tells the two-decade saga of America's first important venture in technology, a fascinating tale whose cast of characters includes George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	9	(4)
Introduction	13	(299)
1. Stream-boats and Steamboats	21	(31)
2. A Ridiculous Idea	52	(34)
3. Brother Saintmakers	86	(35)
4. The War of the Pamphlets	121	(36)
5. The Columbian Maid	157	(33)
6. Lord High Admirals of the Delaware	190	(21)
7. The First and True Inventor	211	(36)
8. "All Further Progress Is in Vain"	247	(40)
9. Leeches and Sharks	287	(25)
10. Mother Clay	312	(26)
11. The French Connection	338	(35)
12. Steamboat Collisions	373	(42)
13. John Fitch's Ghost	415	(36)
Epilogue	451	(12)
Chronology	463	(5)
Notes	468	(49)
Bibliography	517