In this ongoing study of innovation and progress, we have explored these questions from different angles: foundational breakthroughs, incremental improvements, the synthesis and integration of diverse innovations into something much more effective, and much else besides. We have also explored this in a chronological manner with the two main early periods covered being the Bronze Age and the Iron Age, much of the latter story being part of what is generally considered the Classical Era.

We saw, in Episode 20 - Systems Scaling, Systems Shattered, how after rising to great heights, the Bronze Age in many areas, came crashing down in a sudden collapse. We now come to a similar milestone at Episode 30.

I promised in Episode 21, Schumpeterian Renewal, that I would revisit some of the questions posed during that turning point in Episode 30. Some of the...

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Article written by Ash Stuart

Images and voice narration generated by AI

Further Reading & Reference

* Holland, Tom (2004). Rubicon. Doubleday. ISBN 978-0385503136.

* Gibbon, Edward. The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire - (historiographically dated but a classic).

* Scheidel, Walter (2021). Escape from Rome. The Failure of Empire and the Road to Prosperity. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0691216737.