Publisher's Synopsis
Man's ability to innovate fuels technological development, and thus economic and social progress. The last decades have seen enormous changes to our world, including great strides in our communication infrastructure, fuelled by the internet and the smart phone. With the burgeoning of social media, electronic banking, as well as cyber warfare, modern society faces immense and often disruptive changes in the fast-moving Age of Innovation.Author B. J. G. van der Kooij delves in this second volume of his History of Innovation into historic times taking readers on a tour from the Axial Revolution through the Renaissance Revolution, the Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment up to the Industrial Revolution. Analyzing the Affairs of Man in the themes Climate, Technology, Religion and Society, he unravels the mechanisms behind Change & Novelty. Starting with how climate change was dominating human life in historic Greek, Roman and Medieval times, he takes the reader from the Iron Revolution to the eras of the Practical and Mechanical Arts. Analyzing how the monotheistic religions like Christianity ruling human affairs emerged in the Religious Revolution, he explores the Roman civilization, its growth and collapse. Delving into innovations of Medieval times up to the era of Renaissance, he explores times that saw evolutions and revolutions, advancing with the transfer of wealth, power and knowledge. Illustrating how the cognitive ability of curiosity, ingenuity and creativity shaped Homo Inventicus and his Discovery of Innovation. This in-depth look at a past era's penchant for modernization, may help us understand how Change and Novelty ruled our history, and will guide our future.
