Comments on: Transportation, Divergence, and the Industrial Revolution

By: Bruce

Bruce — Wed, 22 Oct 2014 17:11:37 +0000

Europe already had a lot of bulk trade on rivers — not as much as China’s, no Grand Canal, but lots. From 1000 they were eating the fish out of the Baltic and heading farther and farther across the North Atlantic. Bulk trade that could handle the North Atlantic was capable of travelling around the world — there’s a comment in John McPhee’s Looking for a Ship.

According to Dorothy Dunnett’s sources, the Saracens managed a big slave raid on Iceland in the early 1300s, so North Africa wasn’t all that far behind.

By: Dan Kurt

Dan Kurt — Wed, 22 Oct 2014 16:01:04 +0000

Reminds me of my college course Western Civilization circa 1959-60. The professor let this Pearl out at some point and I have never forgotten his words on why the West broke out to dominate the world:

During the so called Dark ages there were three developments embraced by the Western Europeans:

1) Horse Collar,
2) Crop Rotation, and
3) Cost Accounting.

All followed from those developments.

I could elaborate, but he was quite convincing.

By: Bob Sykes

Bob Sykes — Wed, 22 Oct 2014 11:21:42 +0000

This is probably why Russia, with all its resources, is perennially impoverished.