Synopsis
The common, simplistic view of the Middle Ages as religion-centered and materially backward is challenged by Jean Gimpel in this milestone study, originally published in 1976. The Medieval Machine tells how, between the years 900 and 1300, Europeans created their first industrial revolution, which set Western civilization on the road to global dominance. Gimpel describes the main features of this early machine the pervasive use of waterpower (the oil of the medieval era); the agricultural innovations that energized the population through better nourishment; the spread of mining along with mechanized iron mills; and the appearance of modern industrial problems such as labor unrest and pollution. This is a story of technology architect-engineers were adulated; there were tallest-building contests like those of the twentieth century. The climax comes with the invention of the key modern device-the mechanical clock. The subsequent technological decline, Gimpel explains, was due to plague, famine, and a reversion to mysticism.In the epilogue, Gimpel asserts that the West in his time faced another technological decline; he did not foresee the digital boom of the 1980s and 90s and the development of a post-industrial economies. Nevertheless, his predictions may provide valuable material for historians of the recent past.
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Review
The Middle Ages, writes French scholar Jean Gimpel, saw an extraordinary flourishing of technological development throughout Europe. With the era came waterwheels and clock towers, nearly uniform machine parts and improvements in public hygiene, vaulting cathedrals and towering city walls, and a notion of spiritual and earthly progress that promised better things to come. In analyzing the growth of precision in measurement and of the experimental sciences, and in considering the careers of medieval geniuses such as the architect-inventor Villard de Honnecourt, Gimpel clearly conveys the intellectual excitement of the time. Sadly, it was undone by religious intolerance, brutal warfare, and the arrival of the plague as quickly as it rose.
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The Medieval Machine: Industrial Revolution of the Middle Ages
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The Medieval Machine
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Condition: Aceptable. : El libro 'La máquina medieval' de Jean Gimpel desafía la visión simplista de la Edad Media como un período centrado en la religión y materialmente atrasado. Gimpel muestra cómo, entre los años 900 y 1300, los europeos crearon su primera revolución industrial, que encaminó a la civilización occidental hacia el dominio global. Describe las principales características de esta temprana máquina: el uso generalizado de la energía hidráulica, las innovaciones agrícolas que dinamizaron a la población a través de una mejor alimentación, la expansión de la minería junto con los molinos de hierro mecanizados y la aparición de problemas industriales modernos como los disturbios laborales y la contaminación. El libro también aborda el declive tecnológico posterior debido a la peste, el hambre y una reversión al misticismo. EAN: 9780704530980 Tipo: Libros Categoría: Historia|Negocios y Economía Título: The Medieval Machine Autor: Jean Gimpel Editorial: Wildwood House Idioma: en Páginas: 294 Formato: tapa dura. Seller Inventory # Happ-2025-09-04-9cbf546e
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The Medieval Machine: Industrial Revolution of the Middle Ages
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