Power from Steam

TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE Book Reviews 821 more competitive pricing in the form of contractual rates and in initiating a major technological advance, the articulated unit for double-stacked containers. This is questionably adequate for an optimisticjudgment on the industry’s future, however. The historical literature on declining industries indicates that the odds against reversing a secular decline of the magnitude of the railroads’ decline of the past seventy-five years are worse than one in a hundred. A declining multiproduct industry typically loses its markets at varying rates, with frequent reversals in the decline. The railroads have conformed to this pattern, and an author should at least consider the possibility that they are still doing so. The most recent Brookings Institution study in this area, The Economic Effects of Surface Freight Deregulation by Clifford Winston et al. (1990), concludes that the railroads have their current level of profitability only because of some $5.6 billion in revenue above marginal cost, mainly monopoly gain on coal. This implies a considerable incentive for the economy to find an alternative method of moving coal. The railroads’ recent loss of an antitrust case to Energy Transportation Systems, Inc., should even­ tually open entry for slurry pipeline operators. Similarly, the railroads were explicit that the recently defeated changes in the highway laws to allow truckers to handle two 48-foot semitrailers or three 28-foot trailers in a single rig would have wiped out any cost advantage the railroads have for general cargo. The railroads’ present level of well-being is in part dependent on political efforts to restrain rivals; the industry has usually been unsuccessful at this over the course of its history. Accordingly, the optimism that closes this book may in retrospect appear hasty. Nonetheless, Railroads Triumphant will probably be widely read over a long period. Its good literary style, extensive scope, and nontech­ nical character are likely to make it a popular introduction to railroading, especially for students in their teens—an age at which many are attracted to the industry. The extensive bibliography will help lead such readers to more specialized, more critical, and more analytical works. George W. HILTON Mr. Hilton is professor of economics at the University of California, Los Angeles. His most recent book is American Narrow Gauge Railroads. Powerfrom Steam: A History ofthe Stationary Steam Engine. By Richard L. Hills. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1989. Pp. xv + 338; illustrations, tables, notes, bibliography, index. $80.00. This is a wonderful, problematic book. I say wonderful because it contains information I have seen nowhere else and problematic because it is seriously flawed. 822 Book Reviews TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE Richard Hills set a daunting goal for himself, to write the first new history of the steam engine in fifty years. He did not achieve this goal, but this is not a reason to bypass Powerfrom Steam. In fact, I would recommend it highly to those truly interested in gaining a deeper understanding of the history of this machine. Why the discrepancy? Because the author’s insights into various “episodes” in the evolution of the steam engine are refreshing and revealing. As long as the reader understands that the book leaves out a lot and accepts this, he or she will not be disappointed by what is there. Hills begins with a fresh look at the origins of the steam engine. He covers its history from the earliest references to steam-activated devices in the first century a.d. to the engines of Thomas Newcomen, which remained popular through the 18th century. While the material rel­ ative to Newcomen is not especially new, the material pertaining to Thomas Savery’s engine is fascinating. Most historians of technology tend to see the importance of the Savery engine as being some sort of precursor to Newcomen’s work and little more. But Hills points out that Savery’s engine was used for a very long time. While most accounts point to its defects in mine service, Hills demonstrates that it was used for other purposes long after Newcomen had done his work and even after James Watt had done his. Notable installations included the fountains at the tsarist palaces in St. Petersburg

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