ABSTRACT
In Rae’s New Principles, technological change was an issue of extreme importance. Rae had become quickly aware that technology is the root cause of economic prosperity and social benefit. As in all of his intellectual inquiries he set about researching it from many different perspectives. His investigations into the histories of various technologies evolved in several directions. One was his pursuit of detailed accounts of the stages in the historical development of certain technologies. Another was his relatively pure political economic route, examining, through capital theory, the general economic causes and results of technological change. In this chapter, Rae’s theory of the history of technology is addressed; it is in some respects his combination of both history and political economy, yielding a theoretical inquiry into the reasons for technological change in the past.
