James Henry Greathead and the London Underground
Literator
Field | Value | |
Title | James Henry Greathead and the London Underground James Henry Greathead en die Londense Moltrein | |
Creator | Wright, Laurence | |
Description | This article investigates the origins and early history of the device known as the ‘Greathead Shield’, an important innovation in Victorian engineering crucial to constructing the London Underground. The aim is to explore the basis on which, many years later, a South African engineer, James Henry Greathead, was accorded prominent public acknowledgment, in the form of a statue, for ‘inventing’ the Shield. From a cultural studies perspective, how is the meaning of ‘invention’ to be understood, given that several other brilliant engineers were involved? The question is adjudicated using the notion of cultural ‘extelligence’, seen in relation to several contemporary and historical accounts, including Greathead’s own record of his achievements in the proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers and presented in The City and South London Railway (1896), edited by James Forrest. The paper was first delivered at the conference on ‘Novelty and Innovation in the Nineteenth Century’ held at the North-West University in May 2016. Die artikel ondersoek die oorsprong en vroeë geskiedenis van die toestel genaamd die ‘Greathead Skild’, ‘n belangrike nuwigheid in Viktoriaanse ingenieurwetenskap, wat van deurslaggewende belang was in die konstruksie van die Londense Moltrein. Die doel is om die basis te ontleed waarop, baie jare later, ‘n Suid-Afrikaanse ingenieur wye openbare erkenning in die vorm van ‘n standbeeld vir die ‘ontwerp’ van die Skild geniet het. Uit die perspektief van kulturele studies beskou, hoe moet ons uitvinding verstaan, gegewe dat ander briljante ingenieurs ook betrokke was? Hierdie vraag word ontleed met die gebruik van die konsep ‘extelligence’ (Stewart and Cohen 1997), in samehang met ander kontemporêre en geskiedkundige weergawes, insluitend Greathead se eie rekord van sy prestasies in die verrigtinge van die Instituut van Siviele Ingenieurs en voorgelê in The City and South London Railway (1896), onder redaksie van James Forrest. Hierdie artikel is die eerste keer as referaat aangebied by die konferensie oor ‘Nuuthede en Innovasie in die Negentiende Eeu’ aan die Noordwes-Universiteit, Mei 2016. | |
Publisher | AOSIS | |
Date | 2017-07-24 | |
Identifier | 10.4102/lit.v38i1.1324 | |
Source | Literator; Vol 38, No 1 (2017); 16 pages Literator; Vol 38, No 1 (2017); 16 pages 2219-8237 0258-2279 | |
Language | eng | |
Relation |
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:
https://literator.org.za/index.php/literator/article/view/1324/2405
https://literator.org.za/index.php/literator/article/view/1324/2404
https://literator.org.za/index.php/literator/article/view/1324/2406
https://literator.org.za/index.php/literator/article/view/1324/2399
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