The Virtues of Rigorous Comparison: Peter Stearns's Contributions to Global History

In virtually every conceivable sort of scholarly and educational endeavor Peter Stearns has made major contributions to the increasingly important subfield of global history. The article focuses on his many books and essays on the centrality of the industrial revolution in the profound transformations in virtually all aspects of human societies and the planet they inhabit in the last three centuries CE. Stearns's unobtrusive, but sophisticated, use of the comparative method yields both original insights into the origins, nature, and impact of industrialization and allows him to engage productively in ongoing debates regarding these pivotal historical processes.