A History of Inventions, Discoveries, and Origins, Volume 2, is the second part of Johann Beckmann’s classic work tracing the beginnings of common inventions, products, and practices. Beckmann, a German scholar often credited with coining the term technology, investigates the origins of countless familiar things, from materials and manufactures to customs and devices.
This volume continues his learned and curious inquiries, drawing on a wide range of historical and classical sources to determine when and how various inventions first appeared. Written with scholarly thoroughness yet accessible interest, the work was long valued as a storehouse of information on the history of technology and everyday life. For readers fascinated by the origins of ordinary things, Beckmann’s history remains an engaging and influential pioneering survey.