The growth of technological and scientific knowledge in the past two
centuries has been the overriding dynamic element in the economic and
social history of the world. Its result is now often called the
knowledge economy. But what are the historical origins of this
revolution and what have been its mechanisms? In The Gifts of Athena,
Joel Mokyr constructs an original framework to analyze the concept of
"useful" knowledge. He argues that the growth explosion in the modern
West in the past two centuries was driven not just by the appearance
of new technological ideas but also by the improved access to these
ideas in society at large--as made possible by social networks
comprising universities, publishers, professional sciences, and
kindred institutions. Through a wealth of historical evidence set in
clear and lively prose, he shows that changes in the intellectual and
social environment and the institutional background in which knowledge
was generated and disseminated brought about the Industrial
Revolution, followed by sustained economic growth and continuing
technological change. Mokyr draws a link between intellectual forces
such as the European enlightenment and subsequent economic changes of
the nineteenth century, and follows their development into the
twentieth century. He further explores some of the key implications of
the knowledge revolution. Among these is the rise and fall of the
"factory system" as an organizing principle of modern economic
organization. He analyzes the impact of this revolution on information
technology and communications as well as on the public's state of
health and the structure of households. By examining the social and
political roots of resistance to new knowledge, Mokyr also links
growth in knowledge to political economy and connects the economic
history of technology to the New Institutional Economics. The Gifts of
Athena provides crucial insights into a matter of fundamental concern
to a range of disciplines including economics, economic history,
political economy, the history of technology, and the history of
science.
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Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9781400829439
Publisert
2013
Utgiver
Vendor
Princeton University Press
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter