David Freeman Hawke (1924–1999)

Hawke blends the diaries, notes and sketches of Captains Meriweather Lewis and William Clark with his own narrative to create a lively and creative account of the famous duo's expedition. It is not a dry retelling of the trials and tribulations of traversing daunting mountain ranges. It is a portrait of desire, courage, friendship and loyalty. Thanks to a very specific and detailed charge by Thomas Jefferson to count every tree, flower, river, animal, and weather condition along the journey show more and both Lewis and Clark's insatiable desire and curiosity to discover the world around them they documented thousands of species never seen before, making their expedition that much more famous than those gone who had before them. Their curiosity for every new plant and animal they encountered gave them a wealth of information to send back to the President. Hawke also carefully portrays Lewis and Clark as humanitarians with a keen sense of diplomacy when dealing with the Native American tribes they encountered. Knowing they would need help crossing the Rockies Lewis and Clark made sure to have plenty of gifts for the natives. Bartering for the things they needed came easier with a show a respect rather than force.

Probably my favorite parts in the book were the displays of friendship between Lewis and Clark. While President Jefferson continuously called it Lewis' expedition, Lewis insisted Clark was his equal and it was their expedition. Even after Jefferson downgraded Clark's rank from captain to second lieutenant Lewis the men on the expedition "never learned of his true rank and always called him Captain" (p 51). Probably my favorite lines comes at the end: "By then the trust between them was complete and remained so to the end" (p 248). show less

A very well put together tale. The author uses the original diaries of the men on the expedition to put together a gripping account of the journey up the Big Muddy. The language is lively and interesting, even in the places where long selections of diaries are quoted - the author went to some trouble to make the quotes as seamless as possible with the the rest of the text. My only complaint is the layout of the book - I would have liked to see more maps and fewer copies of contemporaneous show more drawings and etchings. show less

In his introduction to Nuts and Bolts of the Past: A history of American technology, 1776-1860, David Freeman Hawke explains how undocumented the history of America’s transformation from an agricultural colony of England into a major manufacturing economy is. He still manages to present a good outline of how and why the transformation occurred by looking at what parts of the history are documented and presenting the varied factors in an integrated and understandable manner. He starts with show more a look at the first ‘mass merchandisers’ New England’s traveling peddlers. Their ability to sell the wooden clocks that were one of the products of the cottage industries of the time to people that had no need for a clock Hawke compares to the old saw of selling ice to Eskimos.

Going from wooden clocks to metal parts the story is developed through the quest for interchangeable parts, an idea introduced by Eli Whitney in 1798, popularized by Samuel Colt, but not achieved until the Long & West Co. exhibited their rifles at the Crystal Palace Exhibition in London in 1851. Advancements in machining and manufacturing he attributes to the ‘open shop’ policy in American shops. A mechanic in England was sworn to secrecy and seldom changed job, keeping innovations hidden from competitors. In America mechanics moved from shop to shop looking for better pay and taking their knowledge with them. Shop owners did not object because they had learned their skills the same way, exposure to a variety of ideas and they benefited from the knowledge newly hired mechanics brought with them. From my experience is small shops not much has changed.

Even with the free exchange of ideas, innovations stayed local. In 1823 the Franklin Institute was founded in Philadelphia to encourage the education of mechanics and to help spread new ideas. The Institute slowly changed its focus to science but it did keep offering prizes for innovation that they saw a need for. The first cook stove to successfully burn Anthracite coal, a long burning, high output fuel that is notoriously hard to ignite, was developed through one of the Institute’s competitions.

The book feels choppy in spots as Hawke moves from one subject to the next, sometimes rapidly, but in the end it draws a clear picture of industrial development in the years covered and it offers occasional hints of what is to come by mentioning how a trend continues. My main interest is labor history and I feel this book gave me much needed background information. After all how can you know the worker without knowing the workplace? show less

I don't know if I could've suffered through the 10 years of politics in England had I not been listening to an audio book. Other than that though, Franklin is a compelling story of the complex man that was Benjamin Franklin. A founding father of America and polymath, Franklin tries to show all aspects of the great man and display his vast knowledge in science, politics and literature.