Cultural Foundations of Industrial Civilization

Paperback / softback

Main Details

Title Cultural Foundations of Industrial Civilization
Authors and Contributors      By (author) John U. Nef
SeriesThe Wiles Lectures
Physical Properties
Format:Paperback / softback
Pages:184
Dimensions(mm): Height 216,Width 140
Category/GenreImpact of science and technology on society
ISBN/Barcode 9780521135849
ClassificationsDewey:303.483
Audience
Professional & Vocational
Illustrations Worked examples or Exercises

Publishing Details

Publisher Cambridge University Press
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publication Date 30 July 2009
Publication Country United Kingdom

Description

Four hundred years ago the pattern of human life and thought was strikingly different from our own. What main features led to the change in that pattern? Professor Nef, a distinguished historian, suggests that economic history cannot alone give the answer: it must be in terms of changing attitudes and interests as much as in terms of a developing economy and a growing technology. The origins of industrialism have to be sought in history as a whole. Man's concern for truth, goodness and beauty has done as much to produce the modern world as economic institutions and natural resources. Professor Nef has it in mind that, for a historian, the importance of human nature cannot be made subservient to that of productivity statistics; in this book he portrays the birth and development of our industrial civilisation in a clearer light. The book is developed from the second series of Wiles lectures given at Queen's University, Belfast and is a successor to Man on his Past by Herbert Butterfield.