Abstract
Although historians of engineering like to trace its roots to the civil and military engineering feats of the Romans and beyond (Armytage, 1961), the modern occupation has much closer links to the skilled artisans of the early industrial revolution. These mechanics, self-taught or apprenticed to a trade, were masters of the total labour process. It was they who knew the secrets of how to build an efficient steam engine, design a new loom, or smelt metal. It they were not artisans themselves, employers who wanted to manufacture such products had to hire a mechanic who knew the secrets.
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© 1986 Raymond Peter Whalley
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Whalley, P. (1986). The Organisation of Work. In: The Social Production of Technical Work. Cambridge Studies in Sociology. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-07469-3_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-07469-3_4
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-07471-6
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-07469-3
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