This book offers readers a comprehensive view of technological development--extensive in time, as the title suggests, but also expansive in space, unbounded by geography. It is surprising how often the history of technology is overlooked, despite our increasing dependence on it.
Mathematical formulas are virtually absent. Instead, I have aimed to illustrate facts and reflections that may come as unexpected, lying outside common knowledge, yet capable of stimulating thought and helping readers grasp interactions and implications that are not immediately apparent. The book explores many technological innovations--at least the most significant ones, though inevitably not all--highlighting how they evolved through a complex interplay of mutual influence with politics, economics, culture, and religion. It also examines how different societies have adopted similar technologies, and how the same technologies have triggered different reactions across societies and eras.
The book seeks to explain why some technologies have failed while others have succeeded. Looking to the future, it considers which technologies seem most promising today. Yet such promises may still be broken, as every technology has a dark side--and it is up to those who shape and use it to turn it into a force for good or for harm. Ever since a chipped flint knife could be used either to secure food for survival or to kill another man, the same dilemma has persisted. Two million years later, it remains unchanged.
This first volume examines the history of technology from its earliest emergence to the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, tracing developments across diverse world regions and civilizations.
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