The Invention of Improvement

Download or read book The Invention of Improvement written by Paul Slack and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2015 with total page 334 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The idea of improvement - gradual and cumulative betterment - was something new in 17th century England. It became commonplace to assert that improvements in agriculture, industry, commerce, and social welfare would bring infinite prosperity and happiness. The word improvement was itself new, and since it had no equivalent in other languages, it gave the English a distinctive culture of improvement which they took with them to Ireland, Scotland, and America. Slack explains the political, intellectual, and economic circumstances which allowed notions of improvement to take root.