"Mining in World History" deals with the history of mining and smelting from the Renaissance to the oil crises of the 1970s, drawing out the interplay of personalities, politics and technology which have together shaped the metallurgical industries since the 1500s. Martin Lynch opens with the invention, sometime before the year 1453, of a revolutionary technique for separating silver from copper, an event which revived the rich copper-silver mines of central Europe and the ruling ambitions of the Habsburg emperors who owned them. The author shows how the flood of silver from Spain's newly-conquered American colonies brought about the demise of these mines, and goes on to examine the far-reaching changes brought to to mining and smelting by the steam engine and the industrial revolution. This text then looks at the era of the gold rushes and the comprehensive developments in mineral extraction and technology which took place in the United States and South Africa at the end of the 19th century, and describes the spread of mass metal-production techniques across the world amid the violent struggles of the 20th century and the energy crisis of the 1970s.
Written by an author experienced in this filed, "Mining in World History" provides an account of how and why change and advance in this global industry has taken place in different eras and locations around the world. As such it should appeal to the industry specialist as well as to the general reader who wants to know more about a filled which has been fundamental to the construction of civilization.
- ISBN10 6613588849
- ISBN13 9786613588845
- Publish Date 1 January 2012 (first published 1 March 2002)
- Publish Status Active
- Out of Print 15 August 2012
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Reaktion Books
- Format eBook
- Pages 352
- Language English