ABSTRACT
The history of technology, particularly that of the industrial revolution in Britain, was popularized by Samuel Smiles who celebrated the triumph of the hero-engineer. Older histories of technology restricted themselves almost exclusively to the technical details of major innovations; social, economic, scientific and philosophical considerations were kept to a minimum or entirely excluded. The economic historians have taught the historians of technology that invention and innovation do not take place in a social void. Great skill, faith and courage were needed to launch the Newcomen engine. On the one hand there was the strong Baconian tradition with its emphasis on knowledge and on utility. The invention of the Newcomen engine was a strong confirmation of the validity of Bacon's assertion. On the other hand there were the various seventeenth-century movements that propagated the idea of improvement, notably those associated with the nonconformist sects.
