Review by Choice Review
Brose focuses on the history of technological development in Europe, primarily in the 19th century, although he ranges from 1500 to roughly the beginning of WW I. Focusing on how science and technology interacted with economics and politics, he investigates the history of science, technology, and economic developments that contributed to the industrial revolution, with the general background of political developments always in mind. Brose argues that the scientific revolution set the stage for the industrial revolution. He contrasts the situation in England at this time with the Continent, where he argues that science was not applied as successfully to improve industry or accelerate technology. He concludes that England's first industrial revolution (up to the mid-19th century) brought "tremendous economic, military and political advantages to England that made it the envy of Europe." How the decades after 1815 were spent, largely in Germany and the US, is covered in the book's second half. In addition to greater efficiencies, America added an emphasis on organization--on mass production based on precision machine-tooled, interchangeable parts. Greater US investment in research and development also reflected the growing importance of scientific expertise as an equal if not controlling partner in the progress of technology. In providing a concise introduction to the role that science in particular has played in forging the technologies of the modern age, this book does an admirable job. Undergraduate and graduate students. J. W. Dauben; CUNY Herbert H. Lehman College
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
