ABSTRACT
Conceived during the time of gas-lit streets and apartments, Jean Piaget was born on 9 August 1896 when the city was already basking in the early throes of electricity. On the preceding 1 January, the Municipality of Neuchâtel had announced that electrical current was available for public, domestic, and industrial use. While some may see this coincidence as an obvious omen, others may settle for pointing out the extent of the technological changes that were revolutionizing the world at that time, making the five decades that led up to the First World War one of the most dynamic times in modern Western history.
