Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP14885
Authors: Morgan Kelly; Cormac Grada
Abstract: Disputes over whether the Scientific Revolution contributed to the IndustrialRevolution begin with the common assumption that natural philosophersand artisans formed radically distinct groups. In reality, these groups mergedtogether through a diverse group of applied mathematics teachers, textbookwriters and instrument makers catering to a market of navigators, gunnersand surveyors. From these “mathematical practitioners” emerged specializedinstrument makers whose capabilities facilitated industrialization in twoimportant ways. First, a large supply of instrument and watch makers providedBritain with a pool of versatile, mechanically skilled labour to buildthe increasingly complicated machinery of the late eighteenth century. Second,the less well known but equally revolutionary innovations in machinetools—which, contrary to the Habbakuk thesis, occurred largely in Britainduring the 1820s and 1830s to mass produce interchangeable parts for irontextile machinery—drew on a technology of exact measurement developedfor navigational and astronomical instruments.
Keywords: Practical Mathematics; Scientific Revolution; Industrial Revolution; Economic History
JEL Codes: N00
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| availability of instrument and watch makers in Britain (L64) | increase in mechanically skilled labor (J24) |
| increase in mechanically skilled labor (J24) | construction of complex machinery (L64) |
| innovations in machine tools (L64) | advancements in measurement technologies (O33) |
| expertise from mathematical practitioners (C02) | precision manufacturing for mass production of interchangeable parts (L64) |
| advancements in measurement technologies (O33) | mass production of interchangeable parts (L23) |