Engineering the New South: Georgia Tech, 1885–1985 by Robert C. McMath, Jr., et al

Abstract

TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE Book Reviews 155 Thus the book suggests the futility of the current quest for a the­ ory and methodology of creativity and originality. The book’s design is trendy, with single columns of type 4Vi inches wide pushed far to one side of an 8-inch-wide page. None of the illustrations requires the jumbo format; their reproduction var­ ies from fair to poor. The type is clear, however, most lines are justi­ fied, and there are few typographical errors. Eugene S. Ferguson Mr. Ferguson, a past president of SHOT, has published articles on mechanical tech­ nology. Engineering the New South: Georgia Tech, 1885—1985. By Robert C. McMath, Jr., Ronald H. Bayor, James E. Brittain, Lawrence Fos­ ter, August W. Giebelhaus, and Germaine M. Reed. Athens: Uni­ versity of Georgia Press, 1985. Pp. xii+560; illustrations, notes, bibliography, index. $37.50. Although well written and informative, unusual for a joint effort such as this, Engineering the New South is of marginal value to histori­ ans of technology. It is primarily a narrative history of the Georgia In­ stitute of Technology from its birth during the late 19th century until the present. The early chapters address themselves in a prelimi­ nary manner to the French tradition of the Ecole centrale, a tradi­ tion of on-the-job training and practical skills that contrasted to the theoretical tradition and emphasis on mathematics practiced by the École polytechnique. It was this tradition of practical training at the expense of theoretical training that the founders of the Georgia School of Technology followed, although by the beginning of the 20th century the school had settled down to a standard engineering curriculum, and the commercial shop experiments of the school’s early administrators were no longer in operation. Beyond this rather sketchy account of Tech’s educational philoso­ phy, there is no other attempt to describe the school’s curriculum or teaching methods. Instead, the authors describe the efforts of the school’s founders and presidents to place Tech on a sound finan­ cial footing, recruit faculty members and students from out of state, and establish and maintain a program of athletics, with em­ phasis on football. All this is well done. The description of Tech’s struggle with some of Georgia’s populist governors and legislators is quite enter­ taining. Little in the book, however, relates to Tech’s place in the his­ tory of American engineering. Peter Molloy Dr. Molloy is executive director of the National Historical Fire Foundation in Phoe­ nix. ...