Fabbriche, sistemi, organizzazioni. Storia dell’ingegneria industriale

This book traces the history of management problems from the preindustrial era to the modern application of mathematical techniques (programming, network flow analysis) to organization. The engineer plays a key role in those technological and organizational innovation processes characterizing evolution in technoeconomical systems. The book is characterized as a historical narrative of the engineer’s role in all its versatility, someone able to play a prominent part in all technological fields.After a brief introduction outlining the relationship between invention and innovation the book is divided into three parts. The first part is concerned with the management problems in technical changes in Europe in the preindustrial age; the second part represents the full achievement of the technoengineering culture leading to the Industrial Revolution. It therefore highlights the key passage from the British production systems to the rise of the American system of manufactures, which affected the striking change of leadership in world economics; as well as the relationships between scientific and technical thought.The third part reviews technological and organizational changes occurring in the twentieth century, with particular attention to transformations in (applied) mathematics which led to remarkable consequences for production.20959