Contains photographs, drawings, and maps that depict the physical survivals of technologies of the American industrial revolution, most of which are displayed in the Smithsonian Institution; and includes text that explains the technology and related aspects of the era.

I. The industrial revolution and technological change -- II. The new United States: Land of opportunities -- III. The promise of technology -- IV. The transfer of technology -- V. Invention and technological change -- VI. Farming and raw materials processing: Causes and effects of mechanization -- VII. Transportation and the need for invention -- VIII. The John Bull and the rise of American railroading -- IX. The business of production -- X. Machine shops: Machines to make machines -- XI. Textiles and the styles of American industrialization -- XII. The rise of the factory -- XIII. Clocks and guns: The "American system" of production -- XIV. Communitarian experiments and the problems of industrialization -- XV. The London Crystal Palace exhibition and the recognition of American technology -- XVI. Epilogue: The role of technology, past and present.