"The Medieval Machine
By Jean Gimpel (1976)
"Between the tenth and the thirteenth centuries, Western Europe experienced a technological boom," the French historian Jean Gimpel writes in "The Medieval Machine." Gothic cathedrals emerged, along with eyeglasses, the weight-driven mechanical clock and the science of crop rotation. "The ambition of inventors was unlimited, their imagination boundless," according to Gimpel, who defines innovation as nonstop experimenting to increase productivity. The heavy-wheeled plow, another marvel of the era, exemplifies such thinking. Its deep furrows brought more fertile soil to the surface, yielding larger harvests. European innovators harnessed water and wind to save human and animal energy. Gimpel documents how dams and water wheels were built, transmitting power to the millstones, grinding wheels, carding machines, and hammers that beat linen and cotton rags into the slurry that would become paper. Dutch settlers brought the windmill to New Amsterdam; now this triumph of innovation is memorialized in the seal of New York City." [1]
1. REVIEW --- Books -- Five Best: Books on Inventors and Innovators: Carl J. Schramm --- The author, most recently, of 'Burn the Business Plan: What Great Entrepreneurs Really Do'. Schramm, Carl. Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 29 Mar 2025: C8.
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