Knowledge, Technology, and Economic Growth During the Industrial Revolution

and an anonymous referee for helpful comments and to Steve Nafziger for research assistance. 1 " It is clear from the preceding that every " art " [technique] has its speculative and its practical side. Its speculation is the theoretical knowledge of the principles of the technique; its practice is but the habitual and instinctive application of these principles. It is difficult if not impossible to make much progress in the application without theory; conversely, it is difficult to understand the theory without knowledge of the technique. In all techniques, there are specific circumstances relating to the material, instruments and their manipulation which only experience teaches. " Denis Diderot, article on " Arts " in the Encyclopédie