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 of industries of the period — ones that experienced dramatic changes especially in the period 1550-1650, but which are almost totally ignored, as well as industries where most people have a general sense of the highlights, but where actually there was a whole lot more development that’s been almost entirely neglected or forgotten.So I have someth...