Medieval technology and social change

Name: Medieval technology and social change
ISBN: 9780198581161

by Lynn White Jr · first published 1962

8mentions

5recommended by

7HN commenters

2009–2023first – last mentioned

71% recommend14% neutral14% critical

Why HN recommends it

Argues that technological innovations such as the stirrup, the heavy plow and water power reshaped medieval society; a rich, wide-ranging read for anyone curious about how tools change social structures.

Summarised by Claude from recommending comments

History

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What Hacker News says

pg · Oct 12, 2009 · Recommends

My Family and Other Animals Medieval Technology and Social Change
on “Ask HN: Please name two of your most favorite books.” ↗
HamptonFounders · Jul 10, 2023 · Recommends

…Lightning: Xerox PARC and the Dawn of the Computer Age by Michael S. Malone -The Perfectionists: How Precision Engineers Created the Modern World by Simon Winchester -The Innovators by Walter Isaacson -Medieval Technology and Social Change by Lynn White Jr. -The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation by Jon Gertner -Electricity in the 17th and 18th Centuries: A Study of Early Modern Physics by Eric H. Chaney…
on “Ask HN: Good Books on the History of Technology?” ↗
pg · Jan 17, 2010 · Recommends

Medieval Technology and Social Change. The title sounds boring, but this one of those books that just cranks your brain open. There is so much new stuff in it. Or at least, stuff that was new when it was published in the 1960s. Carlo…
on “Ask HN: What history of economics and technology book would you recommend?” ↗
mmorris · Jun 30, 2014 · Recommends

I think the list mr_luc is referencing is in the second answer on this page: http://www.paulgraham.com/raq.html EDIT: Here's the whole list, for completeness: Clark, Civilisation White, Medieval Technology and Social Change McEvedy, Penguin Atlases of Ancient and Medieval History Laslett, The World We Have Lost Bernal, The Extension of Man Franklin, Autobiography Girouard, Life in the English Country House Pirenne, Mohammed…
on “The IPO is dying – Marc Andreessen explains why” ↗
dpeck · Jul 4, 2023 · Recommends

Medieval Technology and Social Change - Medieval Technology and Social Change https://a.co/d/8RuGXQM Not a book, but the old Connections series is really wonderful for broad overviews - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connections_(British_TV_series...
on “Ask HN: Good Books on the History of Technology?” ↗
thimkerbell · Nov 28, 2023 · Recommends

And from Paulg, "White's Medieval Technology and Social Change is the most fabulous book. http://goo.gl/cPujcr "
on “'Nuts and Bolts' Review: The Levers That Move the World” ↗
mcguire · Jul 6, 2022 · Mentions

…looking at Islamic, Indian, and Asian data. And then there's radiometric dating and dendrochronology, which are chaotic in their own right, but 300 years? Nah. Weirdly, I was just reading Lynn White's Medieval technology and social change (1966), discussing the introduction of the stirrup and the heavy plow (as opposed to the scratch plow), both of which happened in this period. There's little in the way of good dates, but some very big…
on “Did the early medieval era ever take place?” ↗
JacobDotVI · May 16, 2019 · Critical

The author's point about dissemination of information is spot-on. A couple of years ago, I read Medieval Technology and Social Change, by Lynn White (https://www.amazon.com/Medieval-Technology-Social-Change-Whi...) as recommended by PG. Technically a textbook, it was a dry and drab look at the history of various innovations during Midlevel…
on “Free Solo and Economic Growth” ↗