A Historical Dictionary of American Industrial Language
A Historical Dictionary of American Industrial Language
Edited by William H. Mulligan, Jr.
Published by Greenwood Press, 1988.
This is a cloth-bound book of 6"X9" running 333 pages including the bibliography and index.
It is simply a dictionary of terms used in American industry throughout its history. Entries do not specify the time periods in which the terms were in use, but simply provide brief definitions of them.
As an example of depth and scope, page 181 has the following entries:
Pegger
Pegging awl
Pegging jack
Pegging machine
Pegs
Pelican
Pellet powder
Penetration macadam
Penstock
Penthouse
Percussion drilling
Perfecting press
Perier
Permissible explosive
Perpetual screw
Pet cock
(This page was selected completely at random and not for the number of apparent double-entendres, which are actually rather representative.)
Definitions of terms run mostly one to three lines in length and require some knowledge of industrial vocabulary to understand. For example,
"Perpetual screw: in power transmission a screw without longitudinal motion acting upon a wheel whose cogs have a pitch coincident with that of the worm."
The book seems most useful to people doing historical research that involves understanding primary source texts having to do with American industry.
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