The Greying of America

Considering the great universities’ development of political, economic, and social history, their comparative neglect of the history of technology is extraordinary. The history of technology is one of the richest sources for the understanding and even control of human destiny, and it is particularly relevant today. It demonstrates that the belief that the momentum of technological progress will continue indefinitely is one of the chief illusions of our time. And now, as preceding societies have done, we are reaching a technological plateau.

Britain reached such a plateau in 1851. The Great Exhibition in the Crystal Palace gave evidence of her failure to respond to the enormous potential of mass-production techniques, electricity, and organic chemistry. This potential was to be exploited by the growing industrial nations of Europe and the United States, which took over the baton of the Industrial Revolution from Britain. The U.S. reached a comparable plateau in 1971.

JG

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Jean Gimpel

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Considering the great universities’ development of political, economic, and social history, their comparative neglect of the history of technology is extraordinary. The history of technology is one of the richest sources for the understanding and even control of human destiny, and it is particularly relevant today. It demonstrates that the belief that the momentum of technological progress will continue indefinitely is one of the chief illusions of our time. And now, as preceding societies have done, we are reaching a technological plateau.

Britain reached such a plateau in 1851. The Great Exhibition in the Crystal Palace gave evidence of her failure to respond to the enormous potential of mass-production techniques, electricity, and organic chemistry. This potential was to be exploited by the growing industrial nations of Europe and the United States, which took over the baton of the Industrial Revolution from Britain. The U.S. reached a comparable plateau in 1971.