![]() ![]() Buringh & Van Zanden (2009 ) and Allen (2003) use different methodologies but both find that countries such as Spain and Poland experienced much smaller gains in literacy than places such as Great Britain or the Netherlands. Data sources shown in image.īut literacy rates did not increase equally everywhere. Image source: Our World In Data (Literacy). The authors note that universities, monasteries, and urbanization together statistically explain almost 60% of the variation in per capita book production during the Middle Ages. Because of the logarithmic axis, what visibly looks roughly like a linear trend actually represents an exponential increase in per-capita book production over time. After the printing press, it increased even more rapidly. ![]() Between the 6th and 14th century, prior to the printing press, the estimated per-capita rate of book production increased between 50 and 100-fold in West Europe ( Buringh & Van Zanden, 2009 Table 3). However, it is worth noting that even in the preceding centuries, book production in Europe was growing at a high rate as illustrated below. It should come as no surprise that book production rose and book prices fell greatly after Gutenberg’s printing press. Since this period, the disparity in innovation between Europe and China continued to grow in the following centuries (see also Grinen & Korotayev, 2015 ).īuringh & Van Zanden (2009) have documented a great rise in manuscript and book production that occurred in Europe during the Middle Ages and beyond. Thus, West Europe surpassed China in their per-capita rate of scientific and technological innovations at least by 1300 AD and undoubtedly greatly so by 1400 AD. Further, it looks at the entirety of Europe, despite most innovation happening in West Europe. Third, the illustration is of total number of innovations, it is not on a per-capita basis. These two facts together are consistent with my overall thesis: growth happening in Europe from 1000 and beyond, but enormous growth does not start until some period soon after 1300 AD. This is not far after the inflection point I observe, where from around 1300, the rate of births of those who would become notable people of science starts increasing rapidly. ![]() Second, a massive rise in innovation in Europe starts from around 1400 and beyond. So, while more innovations happen in China initially, this gap is shrinking in the centuries past 1000 AD. The number of innovations in China stays relatively stable, there is no growth in innovation. First, from 1000 onward, the number of innovations in Europe is increasing. A few interesting observations are worth noting. Grinin & Korotayev (2015) display the differing trends in scientific innovation between Europe and China (see below). In 1500, West Europe average (0.94) exceeds that of other civilizations. Overall technology adoption in advanced civilizations. This pattern - the early Italian advantage followed by a transition into a Low Countries advantage - is replicated for several other developmental indicators, not least in my own analysis of notable people of science. The figure below illustrates quantitatively how North Italy dominated in church-building activity in the earlier periods, but the Low Countries eventually came to dominate. It remains the largest brick dome built to this day. The mind behind the dome of the Florence cathedral, Filippo Brunelleschi, is often considered the first modern engineer, representing a major milestone in the history of technology. Admired not only for its artistic qualities, but, more importantly in this context, for its unprecedented engineering complexity. But perhaps the best example of late medieval European construction is the cathedral of Florence, constructed 1296–1436. For example, the Lincoln Cathedral, constructed 1185–1311, with its now-lost central spire reputedly being the world’s tallest construction of its time. Medieval Europe is of course well-known for its impressive cathedrals and castles. The distribution of windmills in Europe in the Middle Ages. ![]()
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