Fashion, Textiles and the Origins of Industrial Revolution

Styles, J., 'Fashion, Textiles and the Origins of Industrial Revolution', this article has been published in a Special Issue of the East Asian Journal of British History, Vol 5, March 2016, 'Anglo-Japanese Conference of Historians 2015, Changing Networks and Power in British History: Politics, Society, Trade'. The final, published version is available online at: http://www.history.ac.uk/sites/history.ac.uk/files/eajbhvol5.pdfThis article outlines an argument about the origins of the Industrial Revolution in textiles. It arises from the research project Spinning in the Era of the Spinning Wheel, 1400-1800, a study of spinning in England from the introduction of the spinning wheel during the later Middle Ages to its eclipse by the powered spinning machine early in the nineteenth century. A focus on hand spinning in the centuries before the Industrial Revolution enabled Spinning in the Era of the Spinning Wheel to address issues frequently ignored by economic historians. They have typically dismissed hand spinning as a low-skill, low-productivity, feminised bottleneck to be overcome in the forward march of technological progress, devoting much more effort to understanding the new, mechanical technologies of the Industrial Revolution than the hand techniques they replaced. To avoid this pitfall, the project researched the fibre content of surviving early-modern yarns and fabrics, and explored the relationships between their materiality and their markets. Applying this approach to eighteenth-century linen and cotton textiles generated new perspectives on the origins of the British Industrial Revolution, which challenge currently influential views.Peer reviewe

Chapter Re-fashioning Industrial Revolution. Fibres, fashion and technical innovation in British cotton textiles, 1600-1780

The early years of the British Industrial Revolution were dominated by mechanical innovations in cotton spinning. They emerged at a time when raw cotton prices were unprecedentedly high and the supply of all-cotton fabrics from India, the world’s principal producer of cotton textiles, had contracted dramatically. Most «cotton» textiles manufactured in Britain in the mid-18th century were combinations of expensive cotton yarn and cheap linen yarn. Faced with rising material costs, manufacturers economised by increasing the proportion of cheaper linen yarn. The most fashionable cotton products were, however, made entirely from cotton, or required a fixed proportion of cotton yarn. As the cost of cotton rose, their rapidly rising sales provided the principal inducement to improve quality and cut costs by inventing machines for spinning cotton yarn

What was Cotton? Fibers, Markets and Technology in the British Industrial Revolution

The paper is divided into four sections. The first reviews recent interpretations of the British Industrial Revolution in textiles. The second evaluates the evidence for economic inducements to innovation. The third examines demand for the various ‘cottons’, a key issue ignored in the leading interpretations. In conclusion, the fourth section considers the implications of demand for our understanding of technical innovation in spinning.Non peer reviewe

Source gene composition and gene conversion of the AluYh and AluYi lineages of retrotransposons

Abstract Background Alu elements are a family of SINE retrotransposons in primates. They are classified into subfamilies according to specific diagnostic mutations from the general Alu consensus. It is now believed that there may be several retrotranspositionally-competent source genes within an Alu subfamily. In this study, subfamilies falling on the AluYi and AluYh lineages, and the AluYg6 subfamily, are assessed for the presence of secondary source genes, and the influence of gene conversion on the AluYh and AluYi lineages is also described. Results The AluYh7 and AluYi6 subfamilies appear to contain multiple source genes. The novel subfamilies AluYh3a1 and AluYh3a3 are described, for which there is no convincing evidence to suggest the presence of secondary sources. The mutational substructure of AluYh3a3 can be explained completely by inference of single master gene. A complete backwards gene conversion event appears to have inactivated the AluYh3a3 master gene in humans. Polymorphism data suggest a larger number of secondary source elements may be active in the AluYg6 family than previously thought. Conclusion It is clear that there is considerable variation in the number of source genes present in each of the young Alu subfamilies. This can range from a single master source gene, as for AluYh3a3, to as many as 14 source elements in AluYi6.</p

Can Power from Space Compete?

Satellite solar power (SSP) has been suggested as an alternative to terrestrial energy resources for electricity generation. In this study, we consider the market for electricity from the present to 2020, roughly the year when many experts expect SSP to be technically achievable. We identify several key challenges for SSP in competing with conventional electricity generation in developed and developing countries, discuss the role of market and economic analysis as technical development of SSP continues during the coming years, and suggest future research directions to improve understanding of the potential economic viability of SSP.

Can temperate forests deliver future wood demand and climate mitigation?

Global wood demand is projected to rise but supply capacity is questioned due to limited global forest resources. Furthermore, the lifecycle global warming potential (GWP) impact of additional wood supply and use is poorly understood. For the case of a temperate country, combining forest carbon modelling and life-cycle assessment we show that sustained afforestation to double forest area alongside enhanced productivity can meet lower-bound wood demand projections from 2058. Thus, temperate forestry value-chains can achieve a cumulative GWP benefit of up to 265 Tg CO2-equivalent (CO2e) by 2100 for each 100,000 ha (expanding to 200,000 ha through afforestation) of forest. Net GWP balance depends on which overseas forests supply domestic shortfalls, how wood is used, and rate of industrial decarbonisation. There is considerable but constrained potential for increased wood-use to deliver future climate-change mitigation, providing it is connected with a long-term planting strategy, enhanced tree productivity and efficient wood use

Circular wood use can accelerate global decarbonisation but requires cross-sectoral coordination

Predominantly linear use of wood curtails the potential climate-change mitigation contribution of forestry value-chains. Using lifecycle assessment, we show that more cascading and especially circular uses of wood can provide immediate and sustained mitigation by reducing demand for virgin wood, which increases forest carbon sequestration and storage, and benefits from substitution for fossil-fuel derived products, reducing net greenhouse gas emissions. By United Kingdom example, the circular approach of recycling medium-density fibreboard delivers 75% more cumulative climate-change mitigation by 2050, compared with business-as-usual. Early mitigation achieved by circular and cascading wood use complements lagged mitigation achieved by afforestation; and in combination these measures could cumulatively mitigate 258.8 million tonnes CO 2e by 2050. Despite the clear benefits of implementing circular economy principles, we identify many functional barriers impeding the structural reorganisation needed for such complex system change, and propose enablers to transform the forestry value-chain into an effective societal change system and lead to coherent action. </p