By James L. Hevia (NHC Fellow, 2015–16) Until well into the twentieth century, pack animals were the primary mode of transport for supplying armies in the field. The British Indian Army was no exception. In the late nineteenth century, for example, it forcibly pressed into service thousands of camels of the Indus River basin to … Continued
Edited by Richard W. Unger (NHC Fellow, 2008–09) In sixteen essays authors explore the dramatic rise in the efficiency of European shipping in the three centuries before the Industrial Revolution. They offer reasons for the greater success of the sector than any other in making better use of labor. They describe the roots – political, … Continued
By Richard W. Unger (NHC Fellow, 2008–09) Renaissance map-makers produced ever more accurate descriptions of geography, which were also beautiful works of art. They filled the oceans Europeans were exploring with ships and to describe the real ships which were the newest and best products of technology. Above all the ships were there to show … Continued
By Mi Gyung Kim (NHC Fellow, 2006–07) The hot-air balloon, invented by the Montgolfier brothers in 1783, launched for the second time just days before the Treaty of Paris would end the American Revolutionary War. The ascent in Paris—a technological marvel witnessed by a diverse crowd that included Benjamin Franklin—highlighted celebrations of French military victory … Continued
By John D. Wong (NHC Fellow, 2021–22) Commercial aviation took shape in Hong Kong as the city developed into a powerful economy. Rather than accepting air travel as an inevitability in the era of global mobility, John Wong argues that Hong Kong’s development into a regional and global airline hub was not preordained. By underscoring the shifting … Continued
Who studies roads as mini-environments? Very few scholars do, in fact almost none. Highway engineers know a great deal about engineering roads but admit to knowing little about their ecological and cultural effects. But look again. Every road is a sort of ecosystem that ecologists are only just now starting to study. Paved roads transformed … Continued
Two themes frequently dominate textbook treatments of American popular culture after World War I: the enthusiastic embrace of motor vehicles and the explosive growth of big cities. But many Americans did not have cars and almost half did not live in any kind of urban center. How did cars and trucks, deliverers of mobility and … Continued
