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Medieval Technology and Social Change
In Medieval Technology and Social Change, Lynn White considers the effects of technological innovation on the societies of medieval Europe: the slow collapse of feudalism with the development of machines and tools that introduced factories in place of cottage industries, and the development of the manorial system with the introduction of new kinds of plows and new methods of crop rotation. One invention of particular import, writes White, was the stirrup, which in turn introduced heavy, long-range cavalry to the medieval battlefield. The development thus escalated small-scale conflict to "shock combat." Cannons and flamethrowers followed, as did more peaceful inventions, such as watermills and reapers.
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1962
About the author
Lynn Townsend White Jr.
10 books6 followersFather of Lynn T. White III
Lynn Townsend White Jr. (April 29, 1907 – March 30, 1987) was an American historian. He was a professor of medieval history at Princeton from 1933 to 1937, and at Stanford from 1937 to 1943. He was president of Mills College, Oakland, from 1943 to 1958 and a professor at University of California, Los Angeles from 1958 until 1987. Lynn White helped to found The Society of History and Technology (SHOT) and was president from 1960 to 1962. He won the Pfizer Award for "Medieval Technology and Social Change" from the History of Science Society (HSS) and the Leonardo da Vinci medal and Dexter prize from SHOT in 1964 and 1970. He was president of the History of Science Society from 1971 to 1972. He was president of The Medieval Academy of America from 1972-1973, and the American Historical Association in 1973.
White began his career as medieval historian focusing on the history of Latin monasticism in Sicily during the Norman Period but realized the coming conflict in Europe would interfere with his access to source materials. While at Princeton he read the works of Lefebvre des Noëttes, and Marc Bloch. This led to his first work in the history of technology, "Technology and Invention in the Middle Ages" in 1940.
Lynn Townsend White Jr. (April 29, 1907 – March 30, 1987) was an American historian. He was a professor of medieval history at Princeton from 1933 to 1937, and at Stanford from 1937 to 1943. He was president of Mills College, Oakland, from 1943 to 1958 and a professor at University of California, Los Angeles from 1958 until 1987. Lynn White helped to found The Society of History and Technology (SHOT) and was president from 1960 to 1962. He won the Pfizer Award for "Medieval Technology and Social Change" from the History of Science Society (HSS) and the Leonardo da Vinci medal and Dexter prize from SHOT in 1964 and 1970. He was president of the History of Science Society from 1971 to 1972. He was president of The Medieval Academy of America from 1972-1973, and the American Historical Association in 1973.
White began his career as medieval historian focusing on the history of Latin monasticism in Sicily during the Norman Period but realized the coming conflict in Europe would interfere with his access to source materials. While at Princeton he read the works of Lefebvre des Noëttes, and Marc Bloch. This led to his first work in the history of technology, "Technology and Invention in the Middle Ages" in 1940.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
August 28, 2018
This is one of the best books you will discover on the medieval world. It is a scholarly book; written by a scholar--likely, the reason why most people have never heard of it; never seek it out or pounce on it when it comes their way; nor are unable to 'see it through' after picking it up. This is a thinking man's book; not a book to be read for entertainment.
The content is filled with not just the 'easy', or 'certain' answers. Instead, the author does exactly what the diligence of his chair demands--he presents not just his own arguments, but also the views of his peers and considers them in turn before submitting the one he stands behind. That is the way it is done in university, folks. No spoon-feeding. The text is rife with tiny-font footnotes which sometimes dwarf the page itself.
Nevertheless, Lynn White presents an array of erudite, fine-grain evidence for some really intricate relationships between medieval man and technology. Perhaps you have to be a certain variety of more 'imaginative reader' to relish a point-by-point narrative of the evolution of the horse-stirrup. Perhaps you have to love history simply for itself. On the other hand, perhaps there is pleasure simply in seeing someone display utter mastery of their topic. White can be enjoyed by all these types of readers; but probably not by anyone seeking a brisk or lively book for a long airplane flight or a beach blanket. This is a book you have to "work at" (a little).
I said above that this is not a 'fun' read; but I should rather say that this book is a great treat if you admire a well-articulated and cogently asserted argument. The rich pleasure in savoring a tome like this is following the nimble interplay of a scholarly mind over a difficult topic; and enjoying the way he re-arranges a mass of info for lucid presentation.
White also has a beautiful command of the English language. For that alone it belongs on the shelves of educated men.
The content is filled with not just the 'easy', or 'certain' answers. Instead, the author does exactly what the diligence of his chair demands--he presents not just his own arguments, but also the views of his peers and considers them in turn before submitting the one he stands behind. That is the way it is done in university, folks. No spoon-feeding. The text is rife with tiny-font footnotes which sometimes dwarf the page itself.
Nevertheless, Lynn White presents an array of erudite, fine-grain evidence for some really intricate relationships between medieval man and technology. Perhaps you have to be a certain variety of more 'imaginative reader' to relish a point-by-point narrative of the evolution of the horse-stirrup. Perhaps you have to love history simply for itself. On the other hand, perhaps there is pleasure simply in seeing someone display utter mastery of their topic. White can be enjoyed by all these types of readers; but probably not by anyone seeking a brisk or lively book for a long airplane flight or a beach blanket. This is a book you have to "work at" (a little).
I said above that this is not a 'fun' read; but I should rather say that this book is a great treat if you admire a well-articulated and cogently asserted argument. The rich pleasure in savoring a tome like this is following the nimble interplay of a scholarly mind over a difficult topic; and enjoying the way he re-arranges a mass of info for lucid presentation.
White also has a beautiful command of the English language. For that alone it belongs on the shelves of educated men.
May 15, 2012
At the heart of some of the best works on medieval history rests the claim that the middle ages were not the dark, backward theocracies of popular lore, but dynamic societies full of art, culture, music, and science. And with the advent of Lynn White’s 1962 book “Medieval Technology and Social Change,” we can add technology to the list of subjects that have been sadly left off the list of subjects usually associated with this time period.
White looks at the advent of what he considers to be three seminal technological innovations: the stirrup, the agricultural revolution of the early middle ages, and the rise of mechanical power in the late middle ages. Furthermore, White claims that he has two other intentions, to “show the kinds of sources and the means which must be used if the unlettered portions of the past (which involve far more than technological history) are to be explored” and to demonstrate “long before Vasco de Gama, the cultures of the eastern hemisphere were far more osmotic than most of us have believed. To understand the sources and ramifications of developments in medieval Europe one must search Benin, Ethiopia and Timor, Japan and the Altai” (v). At least according to the title, he also wants to outline the kinds of social impacts this had on the people who were dealing with the technologies in question. For a book of a mere 134 pages, this is a really ambitious project.
I always try to rate and comment on a book for what it claims to be and for what it is instead of what I want it to be, but there is much more of a focus on the “medieval technology” here than there is on the “social change,” by a large margin. The first essay provided a seamless integration of many of the areas listed above, including how the stirrup was related to the rise of a professional cavalry in the Frankish military, and how in turn that was related to the development of feudalism. The second and third case studies, however, rather quickly veer into the minutiae of agriculture and mechanical design, respectively. The transition from two-field to three-field crop rotation and a somewhat detailed account of the contents of Konrad Kyeser’s “Bellifortis” are details I could have lived without. And even though White explicitly mentions that he wants to trace the historical origins of these innovations, many essay subsections feel overly listy and superficial instead of honing in on the European focus that he seems to be most interested in here. A thorough history of these developments would have been interesting – for someone else, not for me – but it would have needed a much, much longer book.
I didn’t come to this because of interest, but because it was cross-referenced in another book I’m currently reading about the ideas of Ernest Gellner, and specifically his “Plough, Sword, and Book.” I thought I recognized White’s name, and after looking on my bookshelf found that I owned it and decided to read it. There are, I am sure, people who will find this endlessly fascinating. Bless their souls. It may even still even be highly relevant in its field; I now know about as much about medieval technology as I did before I read it, i.e., next to nothing, though that wasn’t the book’s fault. For what it’s worth, you can still find this book on many graduate-level course syllabi covering the middle ages, the history of science, and even politics. But unless you are interested in the arcana of the technology in question, and especially tracking said technology from continent to continent, and from one medieval treatise to the next, I recommend another book on the subject.
White looks at the advent of what he considers to be three seminal technological innovations: the stirrup, the agricultural revolution of the early middle ages, and the rise of mechanical power in the late middle ages. Furthermore, White claims that he has two other intentions, to “show the kinds of sources and the means which must be used if the unlettered portions of the past (which involve far more than technological history) are to be explored” and to demonstrate “long before Vasco de Gama, the cultures of the eastern hemisphere were far more osmotic than most of us have believed. To understand the sources and ramifications of developments in medieval Europe one must search Benin, Ethiopia and Timor, Japan and the Altai” (v). At least according to the title, he also wants to outline the kinds of social impacts this had on the people who were dealing with the technologies in question. For a book of a mere 134 pages, this is a really ambitious project.
I always try to rate and comment on a book for what it claims to be and for what it is instead of what I want it to be, but there is much more of a focus on the “medieval technology” here than there is on the “social change,” by a large margin. The first essay provided a seamless integration of many of the areas listed above, including how the stirrup was related to the rise of a professional cavalry in the Frankish military, and how in turn that was related to the development of feudalism. The second and third case studies, however, rather quickly veer into the minutiae of agriculture and mechanical design, respectively. The transition from two-field to three-field crop rotation and a somewhat detailed account of the contents of Konrad Kyeser’s “Bellifortis” are details I could have lived without. And even though White explicitly mentions that he wants to trace the historical origins of these innovations, many essay subsections feel overly listy and superficial instead of honing in on the European focus that he seems to be most interested in here. A thorough history of these developments would have been interesting – for someone else, not for me – but it would have needed a much, much longer book.
I didn’t come to this because of interest, but because it was cross-referenced in another book I’m currently reading about the ideas of Ernest Gellner, and specifically his “Plough, Sword, and Book.” I thought I recognized White’s name, and after looking on my bookshelf found that I owned it and decided to read it. There are, I am sure, people who will find this endlessly fascinating. Bless their souls. It may even still even be highly relevant in its field; I now know about as much about medieval technology as I did before I read it, i.e., next to nothing, though that wasn’t the book’s fault. For what it’s worth, you can still find this book on many graduate-level course syllabi covering the middle ages, the history of science, and even politics. But unless you are interested in the arcana of the technology in question, and especially tracking said technology from continent to continent, and from one medieval treatise to the next, I recommend another book on the subject.
January 20, 2024
Книга про влияние технологий на общество. Написано давно, поэтому я бы сейчас читал более поздние работы. Для своего времени была ключевой для понимания причин влияющих на развитие общества
December 22, 2017
Short and dense but yet somehow readable
Professor White manages to pack an incredible amount of information into a very short and concise history of technology in the Middle Ages. At only 134 pages long (including footnotes on each page), the three chapters flow along quickly and everything is documented. It would seem that Professor White anticipated controversy so backed up each claim repeatedly. Thankfully, the footnotes are not obstrusive and the fourty pages of endnotes provide extra detail for those really interested in the topic.
I came across this book in a reference in Jean Gimpel's Medieval Machine which I enjoyed very much as it detailed the Medieval use of technology to transform their society. I found Gimpel's conclusions convincing and his evidence sound and valid. White's book is significantly more prudent and cautious with the conclusions. At times it seems White is unable to see the forest through the trees and gets bogged down in minute detail. Perhaps this can be expected from a book which anticipated a strong reaction, but it does mean that the book reads heavy and academic.
That said, it is a wonderful book. The three chapters are:
I: Stirrup, Mounted Shock Combat, Feudalism and Chivalry
I.I The Classic Theory of the Origins of Feudalism and Its Critics
I.II The Origin and Diffusion of the Stirrup
I.III Mounted Shock Combat and the Temper of Feudal Life (my inner child was disappointed in how White made Feudal knights boring)
II: The Agricultural Revolution of the Early Middle Ages
II.I The Plough and the Manorial System
II.II The Discovery of Horse-Power
II.III The Three Field-Rotation and Improved Nutrition
II.IV The Northward Shift of Europe's Focus (here there is an interesting discussion of the Pirenne Thesis which has experienced something of a revival since White wrote this)
III: The Medieval Exploration of Mechanical Power and devices
III.I The Sources of Power
III.II The Development of Machine Design
III.III The Concept of a Power Technology
The balance of the book weighs heavy to Medieval technology and less to the conclusions regarding social change.
Professor White manages to pack an incredible amount of information into a very short and concise history of technology in the Middle Ages. At only 134 pages long (including footnotes on each page), the three chapters flow along quickly and everything is documented. It would seem that Professor White anticipated controversy so backed up each claim repeatedly. Thankfully, the footnotes are not obstrusive and the fourty pages of endnotes provide extra detail for those really interested in the topic.
I came across this book in a reference in Jean Gimpel's Medieval Machine which I enjoyed very much as it detailed the Medieval use of technology to transform their society. I found Gimpel's conclusions convincing and his evidence sound and valid. White's book is significantly more prudent and cautious with the conclusions. At times it seems White is unable to see the forest through the trees and gets bogged down in minute detail. Perhaps this can be expected from a book which anticipated a strong reaction, but it does mean that the book reads heavy and academic.
That said, it is a wonderful book. The three chapters are:
I: Stirrup, Mounted Shock Combat, Feudalism and Chivalry
I.I The Classic Theory of the Origins of Feudalism and Its Critics
I.II The Origin and Diffusion of the Stirrup
I.III Mounted Shock Combat and the Temper of Feudal Life (my inner child was disappointed in how White made Feudal knights boring)
II: The Agricultural Revolution of the Early Middle Ages
II.I The Plough and the Manorial System
II.II The Discovery of Horse-Power
II.III The Three Field-Rotation and Improved Nutrition
II.IV The Northward Shift of Europe's Focus (here there is an interesting discussion of the Pirenne Thesis which has experienced something of a revival since White wrote this)
III: The Medieval Exploration of Mechanical Power and devices
III.I The Sources of Power
III.II The Development of Machine Design
III.III The Concept of a Power Technology
The balance of the book weighs heavy to Medieval technology and less to the conclusions regarding social change.
June 19, 2012
This is a fascinating introduction to what has been called the First Industrial Revolution. He lists changes in technology that effected social change: the horse stirrup he attributes to helping stop the advance of Islam; the horse collar improved productivity on the land since the horse was faster than an ox; the change from two-field to three-field farming increased crops and growing acreage; and without the crank invented in this period, we would be without steam trains and motor vehicles.
January 5, 2019
I love the way this book connects seemingly disconnected topics like the emergence of the stirrup and the confiscation of church lands by Charles Martel. This is a catalog of unintended consequences.
Read
June 15, 2017I honestly do not know how to rate this. at first I couldn't tell whether it was a methodological/disciplinary difference that made some of White's conclusions seem absurd. It's not common for me to read strictly historical work (though this is fairly interdisciplinary, it feels like the archaeologists, literary critics, economists, and other scholars White draws on are all subsumed in his own historicist maneuverings), so I was really unprepared for the emphasis on extrinsic teleological causality that drives the book. It's a quick, easy read (and honestly his section on steam bellows made the entire thing worth it for me), but I felt skeptical and bemused for most of it.
I should note that if I sound dismissive, I'm coming from a perspective that the book itself enabled. White's broadest claim is that rather than a backwater "dark ages," the medieval period was defined by real technological advancement, and his book was one of the first that really argued for that field as one with scholarly potential. If his underlying argument seems obvious to us now, it's only because he and other scholars (incl. Marc Bloch) did the work in opening up that field to begin with.
I should note that if I sound dismissive, I'm coming from a perspective that the book itself enabled. White's broadest claim is that rather than a backwater "dark ages," the medieval period was defined by real technological advancement, and his book was one of the first that really argued for that field as one with scholarly potential. If his underlying argument seems obvious to us now, it's only because he and other scholars (incl. Marc Bloch) did the work in opening up that field to begin with.
October 29, 2023
This is a short summary of Professor White’s work on medieval change and technology. It is written for a more general audience but the cites and references are useful for more details. The problem with archaic technology is the joint need to document that some technology was employed and to reasonably suggest how a technology affected social and political arrangements. How did apparently small changes in tools and techniques come to contribute to huge societal changes. Both of these objectives are especially difficult for medieval times dues to the extreme paucity of quality records.
All of White’s book is excellent but those seeking excellent examples of explanation should look at his arguments about the innovation and diffusion of the stirrup. Just what difference did it make that riders could use stirrups to permit them to control their horses as they rode?
All of White’s book is excellent but those seeking excellent examples of explanation should look at his arguments about the innovation and diffusion of the stirrup. Just what difference did it make that riders could use stirrups to permit them to control their horses as they rode?
July 8, 2019
Wow—a fascinating read! For years, scholars have debated whether or not technology existed in the Medieval Ages and whether or not society changed. In this book, Lynn White Jr. gives a resounding rebuttal to the scholarly consensus that holds that society and technology were basically exactly the same from 476 AD until Martin Luther published his 95 Theses in 1517. Finally, we can say with confidence regarding technology and society of the Medieval period that yes, those things did exist!
Not giving 5 stars because the writing was too dense
Not giving 5 stars because the writing was too dense
December 30, 2012
White uses three examples to illustrate the potential for technology to have a substantial impact on society. His first, feudalism as a function of the incorporation of stirrups by the Franks (and subsequently spread by them), is the most intriguing and, as a result, the most fantastical. His reasoning seems concrete, though, and is followed up with a similarly interesting (and perhaps more mundane and therefore easier to swallow whole) chapter about the impact of the heavy plough, horses, and three-field rotation on the movement to cities and acceleration of democratic capitalism.
The book is extensively footnoted and concludes with a large notes section of its own. Without delving deeply into either, it is easy to follow White's logical progression from innovation to eventual societal change. Whether the causal relationship is as clear as he makes it out to be would require more time and effort than I have at the moment. Be that as it may, the point is well made: technology can have a significant impact on society. He also points out, though, that it takes a society able to incorporate the technology and visionary leaders for it to actually take off (well illustrated in the case of the stirrups, which had been around for hundreds of years before the Franks incorporated them fully).
The book also offers a good survey of source material for the study of technology in history (not everyone writing in a given period had access to or was enamored of technology, so the author resorts to archaeology and other sources) as well as a lesson in the impact of the eastern hemisphere on societal changes in medieval times.
The book is extensively footnoted and concludes with a large notes section of its own. Without delving deeply into either, it is easy to follow White's logical progression from innovation to eventual societal change. Whether the causal relationship is as clear as he makes it out to be would require more time and effort than I have at the moment. Be that as it may, the point is well made: technology can have a significant impact on society. He also points out, though, that it takes a society able to incorporate the technology and visionary leaders for it to actually take off (well illustrated in the case of the stirrups, which had been around for hundreds of years before the Franks incorporated them fully).
The book also offers a good survey of source material for the study of technology in history (not everyone writing in a given period had access to or was enamored of technology, so the author resorts to archaeology and other sources) as well as a lesson in the impact of the eastern hemisphere on societal changes in medieval times.
March 19, 2018
An interesting look at technology developing through the middle ages and what impact it had. A very academic look and can be exceedingly dry. It's clearly written for the guy's contemporaries who would understand offhand references and entire sentences in French or Latin. I am not the intended audience in other words. Still, it gave me something to think about so in that it's accomplished.
October 7, 2018
Incredibly important book.
January 29, 2022
Arrived here via Marshall & Eric McLuhan’s “Laws of Media”. Found this to be an interesting primer to the diffusion and impacts of technology during the medieval period, and - to its credit - made new more interested in the subject than I was before.
Broadly speaking, the book is about the emergence of new attitudes towards discovery, technological progress, and man’s relationship with nature itself, as the paradigm transforms to one of seemingly being at the mercy of nature, to slowly unlocking its secrets, and along with them the resources of the earth and with them man’s key to mastering nature itself.
Of particular interest to me were the details surrounding the difficulty of precisely tracing the time and places of discovery of these innovations in many cases, given the various misleading clues historians have to contend with. Likewise the parts about how the differing circumstances and beliefs of certain cultures suited them to realize more immediately the applicability of certain advancements, versus others who seemingly overlooked their potential. The latter is a key component, understated in the book, is that it is the discovery & recognition of fundamental principles of mechanical design, more so than specific inventions, that unlocked subsequent development for those who found opportunities to apply those principles to their particular societies.
The first third deals about equally with the actual technical aspects and the impacts to society, where the latter two thirds are more technical. I do wish more discussion of the social aspect was included in the latter chapters.
Recommended as a good overview of this topic, but if you’re already familiar with the history of mechanical development you can probably skip it.
Broadly speaking, the book is about the emergence of new attitudes towards discovery, technological progress, and man’s relationship with nature itself, as the paradigm transforms to one of seemingly being at the mercy of nature, to slowly unlocking its secrets, and along with them the resources of the earth and with them man’s key to mastering nature itself.
Of particular interest to me were the details surrounding the difficulty of precisely tracing the time and places of discovery of these innovations in many cases, given the various misleading clues historians have to contend with. Likewise the parts about how the differing circumstances and beliefs of certain cultures suited them to realize more immediately the applicability of certain advancements, versus others who seemingly overlooked their potential. The latter is a key component, understated in the book, is that it is the discovery & recognition of fundamental principles of mechanical design, more so than specific inventions, that unlocked subsequent development for those who found opportunities to apply those principles to their particular societies.
The first third deals about equally with the actual technical aspects and the impacts to society, where the latter two thirds are more technical. I do wish more discussion of the social aspect was included in the latter chapters.
Recommended as a good overview of this topic, but if you’re already familiar with the history of mechanical development you can probably skip it.
January 4, 2022
Lynn White en su clásico libro Medieval Technology and Social Change presenta uno de los trabajos pioneros en el estudio de la tecnología como factor de transformaciones económicas y sociales. Su trabajo se centra alrededor de tres evoluciones tecnológicas diferentes:
1) El del estribo y su impacto en el surgimiento de la caballería pesada y con ello la necesidad de hacer reformas sociales que pudieran soportar los costos de mantenimiento de unidades de combate tan caras como un caballero, su armamento y sus caballos, requiriendo todo esto grandes extensiones de tierra y con ello una estructura feudal.
2) El arado en el norte de Europa y con ello el uso del caballo para incrementar la producción agrícola y la introducción de la agricultura en ciclos de tres años. Cambios importantes para soportar el crecimiento poblacional.
3) El uso de la energía con propósitos mecánicos , desde molinos de agua, distintos tipos de proyectiles e innovaciones en embarcaciones que tuvieron un gran impacto en la guerra y en el desarrollo económico durante la alta edad media y el renacimiento.
El argumento de Lynn White es sumamente elegante, nuevas invenciones simplemente abren puertas, la aceptación o rechazo de estas innovaciones y la extensión con la que se difunden e implementan depende de las condiciones de la sociedad y de la imaginación de sus lideres tanto como en las restricciones de la naturaleza y de la tecnología misma.
Un libro que vale mucho la pena.
1) El del estribo y su impacto en el surgimiento de la caballería pesada y con ello la necesidad de hacer reformas sociales que pudieran soportar los costos de mantenimiento de unidades de combate tan caras como un caballero, su armamento y sus caballos, requiriendo todo esto grandes extensiones de tierra y con ello una estructura feudal.
2) El arado en el norte de Europa y con ello el uso del caballo para incrementar la producción agrícola y la introducción de la agricultura en ciclos de tres años. Cambios importantes para soportar el crecimiento poblacional.
3) El uso de la energía con propósitos mecánicos , desde molinos de agua, distintos tipos de proyectiles e innovaciones en embarcaciones que tuvieron un gran impacto en la guerra y en el desarrollo económico durante la alta edad media y el renacimiento.
El argumento de Lynn White es sumamente elegante, nuevas invenciones simplemente abren puertas, la aceptación o rechazo de estas innovaciones y la extensión con la que se difunden e implementan depende de las condiciones de la sociedad y de la imaginación de sus lideres tanto como en las restricciones de la naturaleza y de la tecnología misma.
Un libro que vale mucho la pena.
Want to read
September 9, 2023PG: “I just picked up White's _Medieval Technology and Social Change_ and found to my delight that I've forgotten it well enough to read it again. Now if only I could forget Wodehouse.”
Anna Gat reply: “Ah!! I've recently re-read the book and two parts struck me:
1 Crossbow trade-off question
2 Development of chimneys affecting development of concept privacy (and private reading, studying)
(Went straight on to read 'At Home', which provides even more info, and is fun!!)”
Anna Gat reply: “Ah!! I've recently re-read the book and two parts struck me:
1 Crossbow trade-off question
2 Development of chimneys affecting development of concept privacy (and private reading, studying)
(Went straight on to read 'At Home', which provides even more info, and is fun!!)”
September 25, 2023
I really like this type of book sometimes it would get lost in the reads and I feel like they didn't really conclude the book well. However the number of new stimulating and ahh moments made this very pleasant
December 5, 2020
Interesting data points, but not easy to read due to:
- Quotes in Latin and other languages are not translated
- Technical concepts are not described well enough
- Quotes in Latin and other languages are not translated
- Technical concepts are not described well enough
Want to read
September 1, 2021Recommendation source: Paul Graham, Twitter
March 21, 2022
Oh those stirrups …
November 9, 2022
Fascinating.
October 17, 2023
This book was written in 1962 but is still authoritative I gather on medieval technology. It is best known for the author's work on the stirrup, but also covers agriculture and wind power.
November 9, 2011
It was really difficult for me to figure out quite how to rate this book. In terms of how enjoyable it is to read, it's pretty awesome: it's clear, it's fun, and it's very engaging. I learned quite a bit reading it. It even worked in one of my all time favorite subjects, perpetual motion machines! However, I also pretty solidly disagree with a lot of White's conclusions, so I can't quite bring myself to give it five stars.
The first two sections are loads of fun to read. White structures his argument by taking two older and seminal theories about the development of medieval civilization and tweaking them. In his first chapter, White presents Heinrich Brunner's theory that feudalism derived from Charles Martel's response to the 732 Battle of Poitiers (he decided that he needed mounted warriors and provided them with land in exchange for service). White accepts that, but says that it wasn't caused by the Battle of Poitiers, but the introduction of the stirrup into western Europe. The stirrup then enabled knights to utilize lances and longswords without falling off their horses, allowing for mounted warfare to become preeminent. Similarly, in chapter 2, White presents Henri Pirenne's thesis that the shift of focus from Mediterranean to northern Europe could be attributed to the spread of Islam cutting off trade in the Mediterranean. White takes the first part as valid, but says it wasn't caused by Islam, but the agricultural innovations in response to the northern climate that led to agricultural surplus and proto-urbanization. Basically, lots of the big political/economic/social changes of the Middle Ages get their impetus not from political/economic/social factors, but key technological innovations.
It's a really clear and daring thesis, but I kept getting the feeling that White was a little too eager to attribute clear, simple strings of causality when the historical reality would have been quite a bit more complicated. I really like that White wants to bring technology into the discussion for all of these developments (it absolutely deserves to be there), but it almost feels like he's over-correcting: much more attention should have been paid to cultural and social institutions at the time in order to give a more balanced picture. The stirrup probably allowed feudalism to be created, but that doesn't mean it created it all by itself. Similarly, if open fields and crop rotation hadn't been implemented when they were, urbanization probably wouldn't have occurred when it did. That doesn't mean that crop rotation created urbanization. Also, the third chapter unfortunately looses the focus of the first two, and occasionally just feels like White talking about a bunch of cool technological innovations that he likes (understandable, they are pretty fun).
Regardless of those caveats though, it's a really great book. Even if these innovations weren't quite as seminal as White sometimes suggests, they were still undoubtedly important and White makes them very accessible.
The first two sections are loads of fun to read. White structures his argument by taking two older and seminal theories about the development of medieval civilization and tweaking them. In his first chapter, White presents Heinrich Brunner's theory that feudalism derived from Charles Martel's response to the 732 Battle of Poitiers (he decided that he needed mounted warriors and provided them with land in exchange for service). White accepts that, but says that it wasn't caused by the Battle of Poitiers, but the introduction of the stirrup into western Europe. The stirrup then enabled knights to utilize lances and longswords without falling off their horses, allowing for mounted warfare to become preeminent. Similarly, in chapter 2, White presents Henri Pirenne's thesis that the shift of focus from Mediterranean to northern Europe could be attributed to the spread of Islam cutting off trade in the Mediterranean. White takes the first part as valid, but says it wasn't caused by Islam, but the agricultural innovations in response to the northern climate that led to agricultural surplus and proto-urbanization. Basically, lots of the big political/economic/social changes of the Middle Ages get their impetus not from political/economic/social factors, but key technological innovations.
It's a really clear and daring thesis, but I kept getting the feeling that White was a little too eager to attribute clear, simple strings of causality when the historical reality would have been quite a bit more complicated. I really like that White wants to bring technology into the discussion for all of these developments (it absolutely deserves to be there), but it almost feels like he's over-correcting: much more attention should have been paid to cultural and social institutions at the time in order to give a more balanced picture. The stirrup probably allowed feudalism to be created, but that doesn't mean it created it all by itself. Similarly, if open fields and crop rotation hadn't been implemented when they were, urbanization probably wouldn't have occurred when it did. That doesn't mean that crop rotation created urbanization. Also, the third chapter unfortunately looses the focus of the first two, and occasionally just feels like White talking about a bunch of cool technological innovations that he likes (understandable, they are pretty fun).
Regardless of those caveats though, it's a really great book. Even if these innovations weren't quite as seminal as White sometimes suggests, they were still undoubtedly important and White makes them very accessible.
May 18, 2012
I'm going to miss the best bed-time reader I've ever had. Wow. This thing put me to sleep like nothing else. What else to think of gems like "The flywheel first appears as an element in machinery in the late eleventh-century treatise on technology of the monk Theophilus, who speaks of a 'rotula sive lignea sive plumbea tornatilis' on the axle of a little pigment-grinding mill equipped with a rotary pestle, and also of a 'rotula plumbi parvula' on the spindle of a boring apparatus"?
Droning technicalities aside the book does provide invaluable insights into the origins and adhoc trial-and-error prelude to our industrialized modern world. Then there is the non-Western provenance of the greater part of basic inventions that enabled later technological revolutions. We owe a lot to the Arabs, Indians, and Chinese. Especially the latter seemed to have been dabbling in a lot more than just fireworks for thousands of years without really waking up to the global-dominance-enabling bit of inventing cool stuff.
The core of the book centers around the author's assertion that the lynchpin of the spectacular technological take-off of the past five hundred years hinged on mastering the transferral of reciprocating motion (sole form of movement found in living things) to continuous rotary motion (typical of inorganic matter). I would like modestly to muddle the picture. What the author describes actually took place around the 4th millennium BC with the invention of the wheel. Things don't get a lot more rotary than that. Crucially, I venture, the critical step-up seems to be the casual linking of rotary-to-continuous motion AND back by means of crank and connecting rod. Many machines, like the waterwheel-driven saw, automated bellows, and much later weaving machines and the stamping press are examples of rotary-to-reciprocal motion. Something for yours and Lynn to have a wee coffee over.
Perhaps the very last phrase of the book alone is worth the slog. Apparently c. 1260 a Roger Bacon wrote: "Machines may be made by which the largest ships, with only one man steering them, will be moved faster than if they were filled with rowers; wagons may be built which will move with incredible speed and without the aid of beasts; flying machines can be constructed in which man... may beat the air with wings like a bird... machines which will make it possible to go to the bottom of the seas and rivers." Not sure what the man was smoking but I wouldn't be surprised if they burned him at the stake for writing that. And rightly so.
Droning technicalities aside the book does provide invaluable insights into the origins and adhoc trial-and-error prelude to our industrialized modern world. Then there is the non-Western provenance of the greater part of basic inventions that enabled later technological revolutions. We owe a lot to the Arabs, Indians, and Chinese. Especially the latter seemed to have been dabbling in a lot more than just fireworks for thousands of years without really waking up to the global-dominance-enabling bit of inventing cool stuff.
The core of the book centers around the author's assertion that the lynchpin of the spectacular technological take-off of the past five hundred years hinged on mastering the transferral of reciprocating motion (sole form of movement found in living things) to continuous rotary motion (typical of inorganic matter). I would like modestly to muddle the picture. What the author describes actually took place around the 4th millennium BC with the invention of the wheel. Things don't get a lot more rotary than that. Crucially, I venture, the critical step-up seems to be the casual linking of rotary-to-continuous motion AND back by means of crank and connecting rod. Many machines, like the waterwheel-driven saw, automated bellows, and much later weaving machines and the stamping press are examples of rotary-to-reciprocal motion. Something for yours and Lynn to have a wee coffee over.
Perhaps the very last phrase of the book alone is worth the slog. Apparently c. 1260 a Roger Bacon wrote: "Machines may be made by which the largest ships, with only one man steering them, will be moved faster than if they were filled with rowers; wagons may be built which will move with incredible speed and without the aid of beasts; flying machines can be constructed in which man... may beat the air with wings like a bird... machines which will make it possible to go to the bottom of the seas and rivers." Not sure what the man was smoking but I wouldn't be surprised if they burned him at the stake for writing that. And rightly so.
December 13, 2014
This is a good read, even though it's a tad dated. White sees the Middle Ages as a period of uncommon levels of invention and innovation, focusing on changes in horseback riding, agriculture, and power generation. White's writing is about as good as it gets, for history, certainly. The technologies he identifies are clearly important; the causality piece is less certain.
A worthwhile companion piece is Bert Hall's "Lynn White's Medieval Technology and Social Change after thirty years," which is something of a review essay that provides some interesting perspective on where the field has gone.
There should always be a place in history for books like this: it is provocative, readable, and stimulating. Problematizing, refuting, and refining some of its broader claims has provided work to many historians, and the field cannot advance without some scholars going out on limbs.
A worthwhile companion piece is Bert Hall's "Lynn White's Medieval Technology and Social Change after thirty years," which is something of a review essay that provides some interesting perspective on where the field has gone.
There should always be a place in history for books like this: it is provocative, readable, and stimulating. Problematizing, refuting, and refining some of its broader claims has provided work to many historians, and the field cannot advance without some scholars going out on limbs.
February 27, 2016
This text spent most of its time detailing arguments between archaeologists about the dating of different things that might indicate people had certain types of plows, cranks etc. If I was getting ready to make an academic argument in the archaeology of stuff I never knew was this important, I would find this book ridiculously valuable. However, I was kind of trying to read this for fun, and I wish the argument had been more centered on the ways technology and social change were connected, rather than retroactively trying to assign winners to an arms race about stirrups.
Also this book has convinced me that if my advisor lived in the middle ages, she would have built automatons... and been even more miserable than she is now.
Also this book has convinced me that if my advisor lived in the middle ages, she would have built automatons... and been even more miserable than she is now.
January 26, 2013
Good short book to get back in the swing of things with SAASS and the new year. The main theme for me in this book is the Middle Ages were a time of new inventions, innovations and cultural change that set the stage for major advancements in the modern era. Folks in the Middle Ages had more innovative swag than they are given credit for. An interesting question that I walk away with is what innovations are going on today that we are taking for granted. With the rapid rate of innovation today can we be overlooking something? Either way good book by White.
November 21, 2013
Neat learning about the technology, but this book uses antiquated terminology does not translate latin and french text.
Note: you can't fault the author for this, but we actually have discovered an insect that uses geared motion since publication of the book. Kinda neat though that that is the only living thing that uses them.
Note: you can't fault the author for this, but we actually have discovered an insect that uses geared motion since publication of the book. Kinda neat though that that is the only living thing that uses them.
February 21, 2007
Effect of religion on Technology
April 29, 2008
Informative, his argument is easy to understand, and fun to read.
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