Scientific and Technical Book Publishing

SCIENCEPUBLISHING follows very closely the developments in scientific research and application.In the early days of this country, as long as scientific developments came largely from Europe, American scientists and engineers relied largely on foreign publications.At least two contemporary American scientific publishers, Wiley and Van Nostrand, trace their roots to successful bookshops whose shelves contained many imports and were visited frequently by American scholars and men of letters.While the early Wiley store did not specialize in science, Van Nostrand's offices were gathering places for engineers and scientists who wanted to browse among the stock of English and French publication^.^,R. R. Shaw's study of engineering books available in America prior to 1830 lists 223 publications of American firms as opposed to 252 English and 188 French title^.^The study lists 148 American publishers, however none of them specialized exclusively in science.American engineering literature did not begin its real development until the establishment of the land grant colleges with their emphasis on agriculture and the mechanical arts.Early American publications covered topics of interest to the young nation.Military science and natural resources were of vital importance.The United States Military Academy, America's first technical school, prompted the publication of a number of titles in bridge and road building and other military subjects.Mahan's Civil Engineering was published by Wiley for the Academy in 1837.The book was subsequently used by the military men of both the North and the South in the Civil War.Bowditch's N e w American Practical Navigator, still a standard work, was first published in 1802.The steam engine, natural philosophy, mechanics, and chemistry