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Jean Gimpel

Medieval Machine: The Industrial Revolution of the Middle Ages Paperback – November 17, 1977

by Jean Gimpel (Author)

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A close examination of the industrial life and institutions of the Middle Ages and of that inventiveness that laid the foundations for our present technologically oriented society

Print length

192 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Penguin Books
Publication date

November 17, 1977
Dimensions

5.25 x 0.75 x 8 inches
ISBN-10

9780140045147
ISBN-13

978-0140045147
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The Middle Ages, writes French scholar Jean Gimpel, saw an extraordinary flourishing of technological development throughout Europe. With the era came waterwheels and clock towers, nearly uniform machine parts and improvements in public hygiene, vaulting cathedrals and towering city walls, and a notion of spiritual and earthly progress that promised better things to come. In analyzing the growth of precision in measurement and of the experimental sciences, and in considering the careers of medieval geniuses such as the architect-inventor Villard de Honnecourt, Gimpel clearly conveys the intellectual excitement of the time. Sadly, it was undone by religious intolerance, brutal warfare, and the arrival of the plague as quickly as it rose.

Product details

ASIN : 0140045147
Publisher : Penguin Books; 12th printing edition (November 17, 1977)
Language : English
Paperback : 192 pages
ISBN-10 : 9780140045147
ISBN-13 : 978-0140045147
Item Weight : 7.7 ounces
Dimensions : 5.25 x 0.75 x 8 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,186,254 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #3,050 in Economic History (Books)
- #25,395 in European History (Books)
- #45,850 in World History (Books)

Customer Reviews:
36 ratings

Customer reviews

5 star		58%
4 star		14%
3 star		18%
2 star		10%
1 star 0% (0%)		0%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Andrey Abramov

Very high information density - a real jewel!

Reviewed in the United States on April 4, 2020

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A lot of colorful and substantiated details about a period of history that got later re-branded as "Dark Ages". Yet not boring or overwhelming (the way, say, Jared Diamond can be at times).

I am about to recommend it to my own Dad (who is scary smart), so I figured out it's time to contribute this review.

One person found this helpful

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Alan Fox

Unique perspective on medieval history

Reviewed in the United States on January 31, 2008

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Ask history professors about medieval Europe and they will likely highlight its philosphical achievements and political and theogical conflict. Rarely will they talk about the technological achievements and their effects on society.

This books fill in that gap. For anyone interested in technological history you will find this book very interesting. From the machinery of mills to advancements of building technology to the necessity for unions, this books shows how we are not all that unlike medieval Europe. It even speaks of events that we do not think about; i.e. medieval Europe was much warmer and drier then it is today. Medieval Europe was not technologically stagnant, but made many advancements that lead the way for modern advanced society. Great book!

11 people found this helpful

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Syracusan

But this is secondary to the main development of the book which does a nice job of filling in several hundred years of the ...

Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2015

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Some really interesting material! The author does have the defect of allowing himself to make predictions/analyses of the future which have turned out to be incorrect. But this is secondary to the main development of the book which does a nice job of filling in several hundred years of the history of western technology in a time that we often think of as "primitive".

3 people found this helpful

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garry clements

Satisfied.

Reviewed in the United States on July 24, 2020

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Very satisfied.

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Iggyscrooge

Great treatment of medival technology

Reviewed in the United States on December 11, 2012

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If your interested in medieval tech, this is a great book to start with. Well written and highly recommended read.

4 people found this helpful

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Jenni Rees

Dependent on what you want - this is great. I have to admit

Reviewed in the United States on April 12, 2015

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Dependent on what you want - this is great. I have to admit, I knew Jean Gimpel. I edited some of his treatises on futurism, but we always talked about the philosophy. Nothing wrong with medieval science. Mechanical clocks, prisms - sound and light and time - and Jean puts it all into this book with lots of pictures and diagrams.

4 people found this helpful

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Gerald Ardito

Blew my mind

Reviewed in the United States on September 9, 2011

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During a trip to Portugal this summer, and after being surrounded by so many remnants of Medieval history, I had to learn more about the period. This book just blew my mind.

4 people found this helpful

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Robert J. Crawford

Reassessment of a pivotal moment, the technologies and economics of the Gothic era

Reviewed in the United States on November 2, 2018

We are taught that the Medieval age was one of stagnation and superstition, when all hope of advance was put off until the Renaissance. If this is true for some of that time, Gimpel sets out to prove that in the hundred plus years prior to the Black Death (mid-14C), there was an economic revolution that involved the development of organized industries, complete with their own inventions, technologies, and intellectual traditions.

There are a number of areas where solid advances were made. First, in the field of energy, the power of water was harnessed to a greater extent than ever before, put to crushing grain, forging iron and other metals, pounding fibers for fabrics, and stoking ovens to ever greater temperatures. This enabled significant productivity gains. Second, metallurgy advanced decisively, particularly for iron in hotter forges; mining was also stepped up. New, stronger materials thus became available as well as less expensive iron. Third, agricultural science and practice improved through a variety of techniques, from tri-yearly crop rotations to harnesses that enabled horses to work harder without choking. As a result, there were massive increases in food supply, leading to rapid population growth. Fourth, the mechanical clock was invented, offering new techniques in precision metal working of gears and the like. Finally, in architectural engineering, the flying buttress was invented, enabling men to build the Gothic Cathedral, both greater in height and with larger windows; it was a communitarian project that could span centuries. These were great advances that, if sometimes invented independently elsewhere (viz China) were never put to use is such wide and practical manners.

Gimpel also addresses the impact of these technologies on the environment. Forests, for example, were devastated with the demand for fire fuel, building materials, and arable land. As man gained the mindset in this period that nature was there to exploit, a new problem emerged, pollution, experienced most intensely in the burgeoning new urban centers. Furthermore, the condition of workers changed, sometimes for the better with new occupations, often for the worse in capitalist exploitation.

Perhaps most important, with the relative openness of the western church to innovation, inventors, engineers, and architects grew to prominence and stature, men who applied themselves to remedy concrete societal problems in contrast to the literary elite, the concerns of whom were traditionally other worldly and disdainful of those who worked with their hands. In particular, Villard de Honnecourt produced a notebook for teaching purposes, explaining the building techniques for Gothic Cathedrals, a mix of experimentation, geometry, and aesthetics. Finally, there were the first philosophers to argue in favor of experimentation, such as Roger Bacon, though they never gained a foothold in the most prominent universities of their times.

This movement culminated a virtuous circle of economic development and ambition, displayed most prominently in feudal France: the innovations were self-reinforcing and boosted the economy and society to new levels of achievement. In the end, a number of factors combined to end this golden age: famine, the Hundred Years War, the Black Death, and crucially, a shift in the attitude of the church, favoring mysticism over practical invention and questioning of authority. It would take a full century to Europe to recover at the dawn of the Renaissance, much of the learning of the period being lost through neglect and the lack of proper educational means for their transmission.

Gimpel concludes his book with an essay on the nature of cycles in civilization. They grow, lose momentum, then collapse and/or stagnate. He sketches a myriad of factors to gauge this. Interestingly, he draws parallels between the French ascendance in the high Gothic era with the post-WWII high point of American culture, questioning in the end whether China is set for renewal that will surpass all western nations. Of course, as it was written in the early 1970s, some of his predictions have proven untrue, but they are wonderful food for thought. On the downside, I wish at times he had gone into greater detail. Some of the impacts of the various technologies, such as clockwork, were not clear enough for me and I would have liked much more on the intellectuals.

This book offers a splendid journey into a period of great dynamism that was largely neglected by historians at that time. That is the central point of the book and I agree with it completely. Though many books have subsequently appeared that refine his view, this is still a great read. The writing style is succinct and elegant. Recommended with enthusiasm.

5 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

C. J. Reynolds

Every chapter a very different gem

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 24, 2015

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Easily the best history book I've ever read. Looks of interesting facts. If you are interested in the gritty detail of the medieval era then this is fantastic.
It is not casual reading because it is fact dense. I found myself rationing it. I only allowed myself a chapter a week just so it soaked in.
Each chapter is on a very different topic. So one chapter was about the deforestation caused by dependency on wood. Another chapter was about the legal games mill owners played with water-level in the rivers and so on.
If you are North American, skip the last chapter which tries to draw parallels between a declining medieval France and a declining modern United States.

One person found this helpful

Mags L B.

Badly Faded

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 7, 2019

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Described as in good condition, disappointed, it was badly faded to a tan colour not just on edge but all over every page with a worn cover. It was cheap to buy so give it 2 stars, but would have chosen a different copy if honestly presented.

Amazon Customer

Great

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 18, 2019

Verified Purchase

Good

Beaufort Abenefor

Thorough and Enlightening

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 8, 2015

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Does an excellent job of mapping where the Western Industrial Revolution has its origins. It is written in an easy style which makes it the more better considering the subject matter.

Amazon Customer

Four Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 8, 2017

Verified Purchase

Good purchase. Interesting theory.

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