Dynamics of Innovation the Expansion of Technology in Modern Times by François Caron (review)

To succeed in the global economy, all modern economies must continually innovate—be they developed or emerging. As we well know, it is knowledge and human capital—more than other factors—that decide about competitiveness in the contemporary global economy. Not surprisingly, we see an outpouring of books on various aspects of the “innovation race” between nations and companies. The majority of these books focus on the policies and practices of known innovation leaders: nations like Israel, Korea, or the United States and companies such as Apple or 3M. In the case of books dedicated to America, many of them pose the problem of how the United States can continue to be the top performer in science and innovation into the future as America faces expanded new competition from emerging powers. Relatively fewer books about innovation have been written from a French perspective.

François Caron’s book published first in French in 2010 and more recently translated into English (2013, Berghahn Books) as Dynamics of Innovation – the Expansion of Technology in Modern Times stands out for two reasons. It is written by a historian and presents a distinctly French perspective on the development of technology in the Western World since the Middle Ages. François Carron—a noted expert on the history of French railways—poses the question of how three types of knowledge—tacit knowledge, formalized knowledge, and codified knowledge—have interacted and evolved over time. Knowledge structures in turn, as Caron shows, develop in constant interaction with institutions and social networks composed of technicians and scientists. A key dynamic is the constant interplay of knowledge production and consumption.

The book is divided into four distinct parts. The first part analyses the evolution of technology from the twelfth to the nineteenth century—that is from the early artisanal mode of knowledge to the birth of modern industry based on formalized scientific discoveries. Part two concentrates on a later period and the roles of technicians and scientists from the nineteenth century to World War II. Part three, which is relatively short, breaks up the strict chronology and first presents the case of the development of metallurgy in France since the nineteenth century and then attempts to draw general conclusions from that case to discuss social networks, global communities, and local productive systems defined as “concentrated centers of knowledge.” The story of the French city of Grenoble as a “scientific pillar” from 1892 to 1970 concludes the section. In showing this connection between scientific excellence and strong economic performance, Caron comes close to the contemporary concept of industrial and innovation clusters, although he avoids this term and tends to stick to his own distinctive terminology.

Part four of the book starts with Great Britain in the eighteenth century and takes us to the present age of IT, social media, and the Internet and explores the relationships between consumers, technology, and the modes of production. What Caron attempts to show is how powerful technological networks have increasingly established domination over forms of social activity and collective behavior.

Thus Caron’s goals are much more ambitious than tracing the chronological evolution of technology in modern times—although the detail of his historical analyses of key developments (such as the birth of engineering or of mechanized production) are highly informative and profound. Caron’s book sets out to seek answers to important universal issues of technology development. Using his detailed historical approach, he poses a number of key theoretical questions such as how different forms of knowledge create a dynamic of growth and innovation. Ultimately, he poses the great question formulated by Eric Von Hippel (1987): what are the sources of innovation? But can a historical analysis going back hundreds of years really help us find answers or do modern conditions shape very differently the way knowledge is generated, inventions made, and innovation implemented today?

Many writers have emphasized the role of...