The Technology and its Diffusion

Abstract

Modern society is to a very considerable extent a machine-based society. A specialized machinery-producing industry was developed in the nineteenth century and the share of the metalworking industry in manufacturing output grew from approximately 10 per cent at the turn of the century to more than 40 per cent today (see Table 2.1). Of particular importance to the development of the machinery industry were innovations in the field of machines to make machines or machine tools. The central role of the machine tool industry in enabling the development of a specialized machinery industry was analysed in detail by K. Marx. One innovation of special importance, according to Marx, was that of Henry Maudsley, who produced the first lathe. With this lathe, it was possible for the first time to produce geometrically accurate straight lines, circles, cylinders, cones and spheres required for the parts of machines (Marx, 1974, p. 363). Other authors, e. g. Landes (1969) and Rosenberg (1976), also emphasized the role of the machine tool industry in diffusing new innovations in the nineteenth century.