Literacy amongst early canal workers

[Pluto]

Engineers from the Germanic areas visited England much more than the French, hardly surprising with a royal family which still had its roots in Hanover, and the continual conflicts with France. There is hardly anything in French literature about English canals until after the Napoleonic Wars ended, though they did make up for it then. Their post-war development proposals for canals included around 1000 miles of narrow canal, though very few were actually built. In general, their engineers were too Paris-centred and too theoretical. However, they were beginning to use calculus for engineering problems before 1780, with the usefulness of calculus only being accepted around 1810 in Edinburgh, and mathematicians in Oxford, Cambridge and London only accepting it from around 1830. As a result, in terms of theoretical technology, they were thirty or forty years in advance of us on the mainland of Europe. Why we succeed industrially was because we accepted craftsmen as eligible for senior engineering roles. Until the 1830s, the only 'theoretical' British engineer was probably Smeaton, with Rennie marking the beginning of the change as he was both time-served as a millwright and had studied at Edinburgh University. There were certainly world-class theoretical scientists in the UK, but their interest did not include practical works, which were left to skilled workers. Their paths only crossed in chemistry, such as in textile printing and gas production.

 

I have just translated Hogrewe's 1780 book on European canal history and English canals since 1759, which gives further new insights into canal technology at the time, none of which have appeared in English previously, thus confirming to some extent that those involved in engineering in England were less 'literate' than engineers on the continent. The written word was less important than seeing for oneself.

[Heartland]

Mikes observations are certainly valid regarding engineering skills relating to waterways construction, but whether they are valid across other disciplines such as iron making deserves perhaps further thought

 

The various comments about Brindley's literacy and skills are also important to note

But intelligence and literacy as noted already are two distinct factors. Perhaps Mike can comment on Salterhebble Staircase Locks. This seems to have been a Brindley innovation, but was it an reinvention of what happened on other European Waterways.

 

 

[Pluto]

The earliest staircase lock was probably on the Canal de Briare, opened in 1641, with a seven-rise flight at Rogny. Further riser locks were built on the Canal du Midi, opened in 1681 and visited by the Duke of Bridgewater during his time in Europe. Brindley was not particularly successful on the Calder & Hebble, possibly because he had little knowledge of the variations in the Calder's flow over the year. Smeaton, as a local man, probably had a better understanding, though even today floods in the Calder valley remain a problem.

 

On iron making, the 'scientific' community certainly had an interest in the chemistry, but practical progress tended to be made by craftsmen. Even quite recently, the correct composition would be judged by eye as steel was being smelted.