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A Culture of Growth


A Culture of Growth. By Joel Mokyr. Princeton University Press; 424 pages; $22.95 and £17.99

This book deals squarely with the question of why Europe was the first region to industrialise. It focuses on institutions—how ideas of free debate and free markets became embedded in everyday life. Mr Mokyr talks a lot about the Royal Society, a learned institution founded in London in 1660, with the motto “nullius in verba”—“take nobody’s word for it”. The Royal Society was the site of furious disagreements between different scientists, who nonetheless recognised that they were working towards a common cause: improving humanity. And why did this happen in Europe? Geography probably played a role. Fractured into lots of states, a firebrand intellectual who incurred the wrath of the authorities could easily move elsewhere. In most other places, free thinkers had few escape routes

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