Traditional business history at its best, essential reading for anyone interested in the history of efficiency, technology, and work in the United States. -- William Roy Journal of American History Enhances our understanding of the shift away from a more romantic nineteenth-century artisanal world to the rational, machine- and factory-based, mass production of the twentieth century. Science, Technology, and Society This interdisciplinary study aptly illustrates how buildings are much more than silent historical witnesses; they are in fact central, active components within the process of social change. Michigan Historical Review An important addition to the literature of industrial development. -- Paul Israel American Historical Review The Rational Factory is a substantial contribution to the history of industrial engineering and industrial architecture in the 19th and 20th centuries. -- Charles K. Hyde Industrial Archeology