Scaling Up: The Institution of Chemical Engineers and the Rise of a New Profession

Divall, C. and Johnston, S.F. (2000) Scaling Up: The Institution of Chemical Engineers and the Rise of a New Profession. Series: Chemists and chemistry, 20. Kluwer Academic: Dordrecht, The Netherlands. ISBN 9780792366928

Abstract

Chemical engineering - as an acknowledged profession and an academic discipline - is scarcely a century old. Yet from a contested existence before the First World War, chemical engineering had become one of the 'big four' engineering professions in Britain, and a major contributor to Western economies, by the end of the twentieth century. The subject had distinct national trajectories. In Britain - too long seen as shaped by American experiences - the emergence of recognised chemical engineers was the result of professional aspirations and contingency, and shaped by a shifting ecology of institutions, firms and government. Drawing upon extensive archival research, this book examines the evolution of technical practice, working environment and social interactions of chemical engineering.

• Item Type: Books
• Keywords: Chemical engineering, professionalization, engineering history, ecology of professions, occupation, discipline
• Status: Published
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Johnston, Professor Sean
• Authors: Divall, C., and Johnston, S.F.
• Subjects: D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain; H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions; H Social Sciences > HS Societies secret benevolent etc; Q Science > QD Chemistry; T Technology > TA Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General); T Technology > TP Chemical technology; U Military Science > U Military Science (General)
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Social & Environmental Sustainability
• Publisher: Kluwer Academic
• ISBN: 9780792366928