The Cylinder

[Dave Monroe]

The Cylinder
Kinematics of the Nineteenth Century
Helmut Müller-Sievers (Author)

Paperback, 256 pages
ISBN: 9780520270770
March 2012
$49.95, £34.95

The Cylinder investigates the surprising proliferation of cylindrical
objects in the nineteenth century, such as steam engines, phonographs,
panoramas, rotary printing presses, silos, safety locks, and many
more. Examining this phenomenon through the lens of kinematics, the
science of forcing motion, Helmut Müller-Sievers provides a new view
of the history of mechanics and of the culture of the industrial
revolution, including its literature, that focuses on the metaphysics
and aesthetics of motion. Müller-Sievers explores how
nineteenth-century prose falls in with the specific rhythm of
cylindrical machinery, re-imagines the curvature of cylindrical
spaces, and conjoins narrative progress and reflection in a single
stylistic motion. Illuminating the intersection of engineering,
culture, and literature, he argues for a concept of culture that
includes an epoch’s relation to the motion of its machines.

http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520270770

http://escholarship.org/uc/item/2wm934n6

http://books.google.com/books?id=2W_iQWTOsesC