Associate Professor (2000)

Member of Committe on the History of Environment and Technology

Technological and Industrial History

Office Hours: N/A

Office: A216 Thornton

Phone: (434) 924-6177

Fax: (434) 924-4306

Email: jkb6dvirginia.edu

Education

B.A. Emory, 1980
M.A. Virginia, 1988
Ph.D. Virginia, 1992

Publications, Awards, and Activities

"Design Plans, Working Drawings, and National Styles of Engineering Practice in Great Britain and the United States, 1775-1945." Technology and Culture vol. 41 (April 2000) #2: 195-238.

"When Machines Became Grey and Drawings Black and White: William Sellers and the Rationalization of Mechanical Engineering," IA, The Journal of the Society for Industrial Archaeology, vol. 25 (1999) #2: 29-54.

"Product Design Choices in American Capital Goods Industries, 1850 - 1925," in Essays in Economic and Business History, 27(1999): 109-24.

The Baldwin Locomotive Works, 1831-1915: A Study in American Industrial Practice. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1995. Third printing (1999).

Awards

The Abbott Payson Usher Prize (2001) for the best article published (1998-2000) in Technology and Culture. Awarded by the Society for the History of Technology for: "Design Plans, Working Drawings, and National Styles of Engineering Practice in Great Britain and the United States, 1775-1945," vol. 41 (April 2000) #2: 195-238.

The Norton Prize (2001) for the best article published (1998-2000) in IA, The Journal of the Society for Industrial Archaeology. Awarded by the society for: "When Machines Became Grey and Drawings Black and White: William Sellers and the Rationalization of Mechanical Engineering," vol. 25 (1999) #2: 29-54.

The Hilton Book Award (1996) for the best book published in the field of railroad history from 1993 to 1995. Awarded by the Railway and Locomotive Historical Society for: The Baldwin Locomotive Works, 1831-1915: A Study in American Industrial Practice.

Current Research

I am working on two book-length projects: a history of the Eads Bridge, an 1874 steel span across the Mississippi River at St. Louis. The first structure built of steel in the world, the first (and last) bridge designed by James B. Eads, this bridge launched Carnegie's career in the steel business and Morgan's in the bond markets. Projected as the final western link of the Pennsylvania Railroad, the bridge also was a key element in the duel that St. Louis waged with Chicago for commerical supremacy in the Midwest.

I am also working on a large study of American industrialization across the nineteenth century, focusing particularly on the role of capital goods in the formation of the industrial economy.