The invention of improvement information and material progress in seventeenth-century England
The idea of improvement - gradual and cumulative betterment - was something new in 17th century England. It became commonplace to assert that improvements in agriculture, industry, commerce, and social welfare would bring infinite prosperity and happiness. The word improvement was itself new, and si...
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| Format: | eBook |
| Language: | English |
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Oxford
Oxford University Press
2014, 2014
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| Collection: | Oxford University Press - Collection details see MPG.ReNa |
| Summary: | The idea of improvement - gradual and cumulative betterment - was something new in 17th century England. It became commonplace to assert that improvements in agriculture, industry, commerce, and social welfare would bring infinite prosperity and happiness. The word improvement was itself new, and since it had no equivalent in other languages, it gave the English a distinctive culture of improvement which they took with them to Ireland, Scotland, and America. Slack explains the political, intellectual, and economic circumstances which allowed notions of improvement to take root |
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| Physical Description: | 1 online resource illustrations (black and white) |
| ISBN: | 9780191757754 |