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In this account of Europe's rise to world leadership in technology,
Frances and Joseph Gies make use of recent scholarship to destroy two time-honored
myths. Myth One: that Europe's lead forward occurred suddenly in the "Renaissance,"
following centuries of medieval stagnation. Not so, say the Gieses: Early modern
technology and experimental science were direct outgrowths of the decisive innovations
of medieval Europe, in the tools and techniques of agriculture, craft industry,
metallurgy, building construction, navigation, and war. Myth Two: that Europe
achieved its primacy through "Western" superiority. On the contrary,
the authors report, many of Europe's most important inventions -- the horse harness,
the stirrup, the magnetic compass, cotton and silk cultivation and manufacture,
papermaking, firearms, "Arabic" numerals -- had their origins outside
Europe, in China, India, and Islam. The Gieses show how Europe synthesized its
own innovations -- the three-field system, water power in industry, the full-rigged
ship, the putting-out system -- into a powerful new combination of technology,
economics, and politics. From the expansion of medieval
man's capabilities, the voyage of Columbus with all its fateful consequences is
seen as an inevitable product, while even the genius of Leonardo da Vinci emerges
from the context of earlier and lesser-known dreamers and tinkerers. Cathedral,
Forge and Waterwheel is illustrated with more than 90 photographs and drawings.
It is a Split Main Selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club. Frances
and Joseph Gies have devoted the past thirty years to synthesizing the work of
medieval scholars into a series of books on major areas of medieval history. Joseph
Gies is a former technology editor of Encyclopedia Britannica. They live near
Ann Arbor, Michigan. |
