Context for Innovation : British Revolutions in Perspective

The Industrial Revolution is one of the most important periods of change in world history. It ushered in the modern age of innovation. In Context for Innovation, author B. J. G. van der Kooij continues his Invention Series. The first books in the series detail the invention of the steam engine, electric motor and dynamo, telegraph, telephone, electric light, and wireless communication. Now Van der Kooij steps back and looks at the bigger picture.

He details the social, economic, and political conditions that led to this period of rapid industrialization. He tackles such issues as the English Revolution, the rise of the Anglican Church, the declining absolute monarchy and rising parliamentary sovereignty, and the transition of the former agricultural English society into the British Empire of the nineteenth century. He shows how technological innovation was both the cause of social and political changes and the result of socio-political shifts. That motor of innovation was fueled by the transfer of wealth, power, and of knowhow and knowledge over centuries.

Context for Innovation focuses on innovations in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. Through multi-dimensional analysis, readers will gain an understanding of the complex foundations of innovation in our modern society. His work provides an invaluable background on this remarkable age of industrialization.

B. J. G. van der Kooij received a master's degree in business from the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, and a master's degree in electrical engineering with a focus on microelectronics from Delft University of Technology.

He worked for the Dutch electrical company Holec NV before transitioning into politics. As a member of the Dutch parliament, he focused on economic, scientific, and technological policies. As professor B. J. G. van der Kooij went on to work at Eindhoven University of Technology and as an entrepreneur he created his own startup company, Ashmore Software BV.

He is now retired and lives in the South of France. He has written a range of publications on Innovation and is currently working on his doctoral dissertation.