A Culture of Growth

Discover why the Industrial Revolution started in Europe and not elsewhere in this groundbreaking book. Renowned economic historian Joel Mokyr explores how a culture of growth specific to the European Enlightenment laid the foundations for scientific advances and pioneering inventions. By combining economics, the history of science and technology, and models of cultural evolution, Mokyr argues that culture was a deciding factor in societal transformations. Learn how a competitive "market for ideas" and a transnational community of brilliant thinkers known as the "Republic of Letters" fostered a supportive intellectual environment that paved the way for explosive technological and economic development.