Dynamics of Innovation

François Caron is Professor Emeritus at the University of Paris IV, where he taught from 1976 to 1998. His many publications include An Economic History of Modern France (1979) and Histoire des chemins de fer en France (vol 1, 1997; vol 2, 2005).

“…offers a series of fascinating vignettes tied together by a satisfactory thesis about the commonalities associated with the evolving nature of technological innovation.” • The Historian“To integrate the slow evolution of medieval know-how and the current explosion of information technologies into one analysis is a challenge magnificently met by the historian François Caron.” • Gerard Moatti, Les Echos.

• Translator’s PrefaceIntroductionPART ONEChapter 1. The Artisanal Mode of KnowledgeIndustrial Framework: The World of TradesArtisanal Knowledge and the Arc of ExperienceThe Interaction of TradesCirculation of KnowledgeChapter 2. From Artisan to ExpertThe Appropriation of Artisanal KnowledgeThe Role of WritingKnowledge of ExpertsChapter 3. Formalized KnowledgeThe Professional EngineerThe Industrial EnterpriseScience and Utility: The Other RevolutionPractice and TheoryChapter 4. Technological AdventuresThe Production of EnergyThe Mechanization of IndustryBirth of the Mechanical IndustryThe Chemical IndustryPART TWOChapter 5. Industrial Logic and the Dynamics of KnowledgeEntrepreneurs and EnterprisesArtisanal Trades and the Formalization of KnowledgeEngineers and EngineeringThree Examples of Engineering ScienceScience, the Universities, and the StateChapter 6. Steam EnginesDomination of Empirical Knowledge Before 1850The Birth of ThermodynamicsExperimental ThermodynamicsThe Conquest of Great EfficiencyThe End of an EraChapter 7. The Chemical IndustryOrganic Chemistry and the Dye Industry before 1900Physical Chemistry and the Second Industrial RevolutionMacromolecular Chemistry and Vertical IntegrationSumming Up ChemistryPART THREEChapter 8. Technological Interdependence and Consumer NeedsIron Metallurgy in France in the Nineteenth CenturyGeneralizing the ModelChapter 9. Strategies and Social NetworksGlobal Communities: Gas, Electricity, AutomobilesSocial GroupsEnterprises and NetworksThe Pillars of InnovationLocal Productive SystemsPART FOURChapter 10. From Early Modern Times to the 1880sThe English ModelThe Rise of Mass Civilization in Paris, 1830-1880Chapter 11. Technological Networks and CommunicationsFrench Railways: Rationalization and CyberneticsInterconnections: Networks of ElectricityMass ConsumptionMass ProductionThe Rise of CommunicationsTelecommunicationsThe Birth of a Communications SocietyChapter 12. From Microprocessors to the InternetFlexible ProductionTelecommunicationsInformation and Audiovisual TechnologiesComputer Networks and the Birth of the InternetCommunications of a Large Network: the SNCFThe Social Life of Networks, 1995-2008Chapter 13. Information Technology and SocietyEnterprisesObjects of Daily LifeThe Era of the Internet and Cellular PhonesThe Nature of MessagesSocial ConnectionsThe Unforeseen OutcomeConclusionBibliographyName Index