part 1. Assembling the machine, 1840-1876 -- Engines of expansion and extraction: the politics of development -- Acquiring technology: insider innovation -- Patent problems: inventors and the market for technology -- part 2. Running the machine, 1876-1904 -- Patent remedies: politics, jurisprudence, and procedure -- Mastering technology, channeling change -- Standardizing steel rails: engineered innovation -- Engineering enshrined -- part 3. Friction in the machine, 1904-1920 -- Reluctant innovators: the annoying allure of automatic train control -- Limits of engineering: rate regulation and the course of innovation -- Epilogue: the enduring challenge of innovation.