I read through the rules, and whilst book requests aren't explicitly proscribed, if there is a more apt subreddit to pose this question in/to, I'll happily move it. I tried to avoid /r/books simply because I was looking for scholarly and substantive works, rather than laymen authored popular texts.

I'm seeking reasonably broad histories of technology starting with ancient era technologies and finishing with contemporary technologies; ideally, things like the smelting of metals and the creation of machinery.

It's poorly conveyed as an idea, and I realise I'm asking for something enormously broad, but I'm hoping it's general enough to offer scope for recommendations. A set of texts, perhaps individually dealing with ancient technologies, the Industrial Revolution technologies and contemporary technologies would be fantastic, I don't need a single cohesive volume.