91:. Here he worked in chemical plants that were highly explosive. He later recalled that it was more or less his job "to map where projectiles, including body parts, landed following accidental explosions at the plants so as to understand better what had happened and how to improve both processes and equipment." At DuPont he became head of the department, and continued working in numerous plants in the region of Pittsburgh.
221:
converting their nonverbal knowledge into objects directly (as when an artisan fashioned an
American ax) or into drawings that have enabled others to build what was in their minds, have chosen the shape and many of the qualities of our man-made surroundings. This intellectual component of technology, which is non-literary and non-scientific, has been generally unnoticed because its origins lie in art and not in science.
247:. This work wanted to demonstrate that "engineering is as much a matter of intuition and nonverbal thinking as of equations and computation." It also argued that, the "system of engineering education that ignores nonverbal thinking will produce engineers who are dangerously ignorant of the many ways in which the real world differs from the mathematical models constructed in academic minds."
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As the scientific component of knowledge in technology has increased markedly in the 19th and 20th centuries, the tendency has been to lose sight of the crucial part played by nonverbal knowledge in making the "big" decisions of form, arrangement, and texture, that determine the parameters within
220:
Much of the creative thought of the designers of our technological world is nonverbal, not easily reducible to words; its language is an object or a picture or a visual image in the mind. It is out of this kind of thinking that the clock, printing press, and snowmobile have arisen. Technologists,
274:(1953) had argued, were more than just artistic impression. According to Ivins, the "importance of being able exactly to repeat pictorial statements is undoubtedly greater for science, technology, and general information than it is for art."
110:, who lectured Ferguson in naval history and inspired him to turn to the history of technology. Later hospitalized in a navy hospital, he studied American naval biographies. Here he got the idea to write the first biography on
229:
In his work claims
Ferguson that visual reasoning is a widely used tool used in creating technological artefacts. There is ample evidence that visual methods, particularly drawing, play a central role in creating artefacts.
214:
in the thinking process. In this article he reasoned that "Thinking with pictures is an essential strand in the intellectual history of technological development." He concludes his article with the following statement:
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and its eleventh president (1977–78). The
Society recognized Ferguson's contribution by creating "The Eugene S. Ferguson Prize for Outstanding Reference Work". in 1977 Ferguson himself was awarded the
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142:. He returned to the Iowa State College, where in 1969 he was promoted to associate professor. In those years he was inspired by the Iowa State historian of agriculture
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in 1937. A part of the curriculum consisted of regular tours to the plants of heavy industry in the region. In 1955 he obtained MS in mechanical engineering at
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in
Baltimore. He was also refinery operator at Gulf Refining in Philadelphia shortly before in 1938 starting as construction and maintenance engineer at
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Nowadays modern projects, Ferguson argued, can require up to thousands of different drawings and charts. For example, in the production of the
British
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airplane over 50.000 production drawings were used. Working with the various contractors and suppliers is unthinkable, without the exact duplication.
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411:"Engineering and the Mind’s Eye Eugene S. Ferguson", Review by David E. Goldberg. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, online 2014.
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significantly enhanced man's ability to convey vision into precise drawings, and exactly duplicate it by printing. These images, as
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After the war in 1946 Ferguson started his academic career as assistant professor at the
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Truxtun of the
Constellation: The Life of Commodore Thomas Truxtun, U.S. Navy, 1755–1822.
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Truxtun of the
Constellation:The Life of Commodore Thomas Truxtun, U.S. Navy, 1755–1822.
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Ferguson wrote three major works on the history of technology, starting with
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in North
Charleston, South Carolina. In 1945 he encountered naval commander
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Ferguson, Eugene S. "Toward a
Discipline of the History of Technology."
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Ferguson, Eugene S. (1977, p. 835); Cited in: Becker (2007, p. 167-8)
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Development of the
Engineering Profession in America, 1815–1900,
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146:(1885–1973) and Harvard's first professor of oceanic history
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From 1942 to 1946 Ferguson served as ordnance officer in the
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The Eugene S. Ferguson Prize for Outstanding Reference Work
114:, commander of a number of famous US naval ships including
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Ferguson later expanded its themes into his 1992 book,
154:. In Delaware he was also curator of technology at the
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30:(January 24, 1916 – March 21, 2004) was an American
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475:The mind's eye: Nonverbal thought in technology
342:The mind's eye: Nonverbal thought in technology
250:One of the chapters is devoted to the tools of
198:The mind's eye: Nonverbal thought in technology
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79:After graduation Ferguson started working in
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42:, particularly known for his 1992 work
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161:Ferguson was a founding member of the
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421:Society for the History of Technology
393:2004. Eugene S. Ferguson, 1916–2004.
360:2004. Eugene S. Ferguson, 1916–2004.
163:Society for the History of Technology
301:Johns Hopkins University Press. 1955
189:in 1992. He also contributed to the
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1050:Leonardo da Vinci Medal recipients
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560:Eugene Shallcross Ferguson papers
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527:Prints and Visual Communications.
513:MIT press, 1994. Text Back cover.
38:and professor of history at the
70:Carnegie Institute of Technology
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511:Engineering and the Mind's Eye.
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224:which a system will operate.
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28:Eugene Shallcross Ferguson
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348:197.4306 (1977): 827-836.
204:Ferguson's 1977 paper in
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104:Charleston Naval Shipyard
62:Ridley Park, Pennsylvania
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85:Western Electric Company
64:. He obtained his BS in
707:Derek J. de Solla Price
607:Leonardo da Vinci Medal
329:Articles, a selection:
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167:Leonardo da Vinci Medal
36:historian of technology
538:Ferguson (1992, p. 76)
462:Telling About Society.
449:at shot.press.jhu.edu.
395:Technology and Culture
362:Technology and Culture
335:Technology and Culture
152:University of Delaware
66:mechanical engineering
40:University of Delaware
737:Donald S. L. Cardwell
473:Ferguson, Eugene S. "
430:at shot.press.jhu.edu
340:Ferguson, Eugene S. "
285:Selected publications
181:in 1962, and further
56:Ferguson was born in
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802:Edwin T. Layton, Jr.
509:Eugene S. Ferguson.
488:197.4306 (1977): 827
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290:Ferguson, Eugene S.
258:. The inventions of
58:Wilmington, Delaware
844:Ruth Schwartz Cowan
790:Sidney M. Edelstein
647:Cyril Stanley Smith
628:Abbott Payson Usher
622:Robert James Forbes
268:projective geometry
140:Exton, Pennsylvania
81:production planning
18:Ferguson, Eugene S.
915:David A. Hounshell
850:Walter G. Vincenti
808:Carroll W. Pursell
784:Robert P. Multhauf
713:Eugene S. Ferguson
565:2016-03-04 at the
523:William Ivins, Jr.
480:2014-03-18 at the
445:2006-05-05 at the
426:2006-04-21 at the
391:David A. Hounshell
358:David A. Hounshell
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264:linear perspective
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108:Robert W. Copeland
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856:not awarded
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256:Renaissance
1024:Categories
372:References
814:Otto Mayr
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614:1962–1982
125:President
123:USS
116:USS
52:Biography
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563:Archived
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173:Work
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