Joel Mokyr is Professor of Economics and History at Northwestern University, and is the author of Why Ireland Starved, The Economics of the Industrial Revolution, and other books in economic history.

This is an important book about the determinants of technological creativity and why the West has been successful in promoting and adopting new technology for economic progress. The Lever of Riches is a valuable book that every economist should read.

• Part I: Introduction; Part II: Classical antiquity; The Middle Ages; The Renaissance and beyond; The years of miracles: the Industrial Revolution; The later Nineteenth century; Part III: Understanding technological progress; Classical and medieval technology; China and Europe; The industrial revolution: Britain and Europe; Part IV: Evolution and the dynamics of technological change