Archive - Age of Invention, by Anton Howes

Age of Invention: The Dutch Salten Age

Part III of the Salt Series

Jun 27 •

May 2024

Age of Invention: The Second Soul, Part II

The Lands that Salt Forgot

May 1 •

March 2024

Age of Invention: The Second Soul, Part I

Here’s a riddle. There was a product in the seventeenth century that was universally considered a necessity as important as grain and fuel. Controlling…

Mar 8 •

January 2024

Age of Invention: Unsung Materials

One of my big goals for this year, as part of finally finishing my book on the causes of the Industrial Revolution, has been to get a handle on a bunch…

Jan 19 •

December 2023

Age of Invention: More the Merrier

Today I’m making good on a promise.

Dec 22, 2023 •

Age of Invention: The Interactive History of the Steam Engine

I’m excited to announce something I’ve been quietly working on for a few months now behind the scenes: the first instalment of the interactive…

Dec 7, 2023 •

November 2023

Age of Invention: How to be a Public Historian

Writing for a public audience is a double-edged sword.

Nov 28, 2023 •

Age of Invention: Outdoing the Ancients

When was the technology of the Ancient World superseded? The views from 1599 and 1715.

Nov 10, 2023 •

October 2023

Age of Invention: Lessons from the Rise of Coal

The surprising rise of muscle power, the salty source of Scottish Lowlands wealth, the Dutch Republic's energy abundance, and why doesn't anybody ever…

Oct 25, 2023 •

Age of Invention: How to Steal Technology

The extraordinary life of John Holker: industrialist, rebel, prisoner, fugitive, soldier, undercover agent, spy-catcher, industrial spymaster…

Oct 10, 2023 •

September 2023

Age of Invention: Open History

I was quite overwhelmed by the response to my last piece, on whether history has a reproducibility crisis — all the more overwhelmed because I posted it…

Sep 22, 2023 •

August 2023

Age of Invention: Does History have a Replication Crisis?

Back in 2011, the field of psychology went into crisis. Some of the most famous and widely-cited experimental results could not be replicated by others…

Aug 29, 2023 •

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