| | Preface |
| | List of Illustrations |
| 1 | My Ancestry |
| 2 | Alexander Nasmyth |
| 3 | An Artist's Family |
| 4 | My Early Years |
| 5 | My School-days |
| 6 | Mechanical Beginnings |
| 7 | Henry Maudslay, London |
| 8 | Maudslay's Private Assistant |
| 9 | Holiday in the Manufacturing Districts |
| 10 | Begin Business at Manchester |
| 11 | Bridgewater Foundry - Partnership |
| 12 | Free Trade in Ability - The Strike - Death of my Father |
| 13 | My Marriage - The Steam Hammer |
| 14 | Travels in France and Italy |
| 15 | Steam Hammer Pile-driver |
| 16 | Nuremberg - St. Petersburg - Dannemora. |
| 17 | More about Bridgewater Foundry - Woolwich Arsenal |
| 18 | Astronomical pursuits |
| 19 | More about Astronomy |
| 20 | Retirement from Business |
| 21 | Active leisure |
| | List of Inventions and Contrivances |
| | Article on the Sun-Ray origin of the Pyramids |
| | Article on the Cuneiform Character |
