Technology, knowledge, and manufacturing before the Industrial Revolution

Abstract

Long‐term vision depends on history, and on history alone. Scholarship in technology, manufacturing, and operations management is incomplete without a knowledge of history. In chronicling the history of technology, knowledge, and manufacturing, we have traced the remarkable continuity in the evolution of humans from hominins to homo sapiens, in the migration of homo sapiens from Africa to the furthest reaches of the world, and in the rise of civilizations and industrialization driven by agriculture surplus. Technology, knowledge, and manufacturing did not and do not exist in isolation and many disciplines have addressed them in the literature. Here, we concern ourselves with human history until 1760, roughly when the Industrial Revolution began. Our companion paper, Singhal and Singhal (2022; Technology and manufacturing‐and‐service operations 1760–1945. Production and Operations Management, this issue), explores the history of technology and manufacturing‐and‐service operations since the Industrial Revolution.

Spatial spillover effects of skilled migration on innovation in China

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“…To shape the future of OM research, one must understand the past. In two sequential papers, Singhal and Singhal (2022a, 2022b) explore the linkage between OM and civilizations and industrialization before and after the Industrial Revolution until 1945. Then, Sethi et al.…”

Development of a readiness model for industry 4.0 using Analytical Hierarchy process and fuzzy inference system: Bangladesh perspective

“…The invention of electricity allowed mass production to take place. Then, at the beginning of 1969, the third industrial revolution started to take place, which can be expressed and characterized by the use of automation in industry [ 1 , 3 ]. The use of computers and programmable controllers started to take place, and supply chains became more complex and larger.…”