Science and Urban Life

Kerstin Cecil

Technology and City Life

• By 1890 Chicago and Philidelphia claimed more than one million people.

• By 1900 New York had a population of 3.5 million people.

• As the population increased the cities had to improve the amount of space, transportation, and communication.

• The only solution for the small amount of space was to build upwards.

Skyscrapers

--Sky scrapers became Americas greatest contribution to Architecture

--Skyscrapers solved the problem of how to make the most out of a limited and expensive space.

In 1980 an architect named Louis Sullivan designed the ten – story wainwright building in St. Louis

--Daniel Burnham designed the 285 foot tower in 1902 named the Flatiron Building

--Architects were able to design taller buildings because of two things

» invention of elevators» Development of internal steel skeletons

Electric Transit

• Before the civil war horses had drawn street cars

• During the 1870’s and 1880’s underground moving cables controlled street car lines

• Electricity changed urban transportation greatly

• Richmond, Virginia(1888) was the first city to electrify its urban transit

• New rail road lines also fed suburbs, so residents could now commute downtown to their jobs.

Electric transit cont.

• When congestion on the streets got too bad some larger cities moved the transportation above street level.

• These elevated street cars were called “el” trains.

• Other cities like New York moved it under ground these were called subways.

New technologies transform communications

• In addition to a railroad network that now spanned the nation, advances in aviation, printing, and photography helped speed the transmission of information.

Appliances and mail delivery

• In the 20th century Orville and Wilbur Wright, two brothers experimented with engines to keep objects aloft that were “heavier than air”

• Their first successful flight was on December 17th 1903 at Kitty Hawk covered 120 ft. and lasted 12 seconds

• Not much attention was paid to the borthers success.

• Until the government saw its potential.• The first transcontinental airmail

service was created in the 1920’s

A revolution in printing

• The literacy rate had risen to nearly 90% by 1890.

• There was an increasing interest in books, magazines , newspapers etc.

• A series of technological advances in printing aided there efforts.

• William Bullock created the web perfecting press which printed o both sides of a continous paper roll.

Printing cont.

• The Linotype Machine created by Ottmar Mergenthaler also helped speed up the tedious process of typing.

• Chemical engraving helped to recreate paintings and photographs cheaply.

Photography

• Before the 1880’s photography was a professional activity.

• George Eastman developed a paper-based film as an alternative to the heavy glass plates previously used.

• In 1888 Eastmen invented his Kodak camera.

• It prompted millions of americans to become photographers.