The Principles of Economics, with Applications to Practical ProblemsFetter, Frank A. (Frank Albert)
General
The Principles of Economics, with Applications to Practical Problems
Fetter, Frank A. (Frank Albert)
Economics
§ I. EXTENT OF THE USE OF MACHINERY
[Sidenote: Tools, machines, and power]
1. _A machine is a mechanical device by which power is applied in an
automatically repeated manner, to change the place or form of things._
It is not easy, perhaps not important, to distinguish the machine from
the tool in every case. Tools are portions of matter, such as bone,
wood, iron, which man guides and directs in applying his energy to
things. A machine may be used by the foot, but the hand is the great
tool-using member. In many cases there is a clearly marked distinction
between tool and machine. A simple, single piece that can be taken into
the hand, as a spade, a hammer, a knife, is a tool; a combination of
wheels, levers, pulleys, etc., is a machine. The simplest machine is but
a slight adaptation of the tool, by which power may be applied in an
automatically repeated manner. The drag develops into the cart, a simple
machine. The spinning-stick, a tool used in ancient times, developed
into the Saxon spinning-wheel of the sixteenth century, the form used
when America was colonized. The use of power derived from nature, as
that of wind and water and steam, while not the essential mark of
machines, is the most characteristic feature of their modern
development. Hand-machines, such as the hand-press and the type-writer,
have had important industrial results, but it is the use of power
leading to the concentration of industry and the ownership of machinery
by the employers that has the greatest significance in the modern
economic problem.
[Sidenote: Machinery brought in an industrial revolution]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account