ABSTRACT
One might measure the pace of a society’s evolution by analyzing the number and nature of successfully introduced innovations. Such an understanding of history is often implicitly employed by historians of science and technology even if they are not always explicit about their normative basis of assumptions. If the history of technology of China or England is analyzed, it will allow for a very different perspective of the past, than the social or economic history of the respective countries. What makes the situation complicated is that these different histories are interlinked with each other to varying degrees, depending on the circumstances of specific time periods. A better comprehension of the problems is indeed important for the theoretical understanding of the linkages between societal development and technological change, but also simply for the practical reason of actual policy-development in the areas of economic, science and technology policies. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
