The New Industrialism

Lessons from the Lunar Society

David A. Mindell

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Hardback

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English

MIT Press
25 March 2025

History

How to create our industrial future with inspiration and lessons from the originators of the industrial revolution.

Climate change, global disruption, and labor scarcity are forcing us to rethink the underlying principles of industrial society. In The New Industrialism, David Mindell envisions this new industrialism from the fundamentals, drawing on the eighteenth century when first principles were formed at the founding of the industrial revolution. While outlining the new industrialism, he tells the story of the Lunar Society, a group of engineers, scientists, and industrialists who came together to apply the principles of the Enlightenment to industrial processes. Those principles were collaboration, the marriage of practical and scientific knowledge, and the belief that the world could progress through making things.

The Lunar Society included pioneers like James Watt, Benjamin Franklin, and Josiah Wedgwood, and their conversations did no less than ignite the Industrial Revolution and shape the founding of the United States. Telling the stories of these makers in parallel with those of our current moment of crisis on multiple fronts, Mindell argues for a new industrialism. He asks- What does industry look like when it strives to optimize for the lowest carbon footprint as well as the greatest profit? When it values resilience as much as efficiency? When it upholds dignified, inclusive, sustainable work? Optimistic but not utopian about our ability to build the world, The New Industrialism shines a light on how a new generation can re-animate the best ideas of our thinking doer forebears and begin to build a future that is both realistic and human-centered.

By: David A. Mindell
Imprint: MIT Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm,
Weight: 567g
ISBN: 9780262049528
ISBN 10: 026204952X
Pages: 216
Publication Date: 25 March 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

David Mindell is Professor of Aerospace Engineering and Dibner Professor of the History of Engineering and Manufacturing at MIT. He has led or participated in more than 25 oceanographic expeditions, written seven books, and holds 34 patents in RF navigation, autonomous systems, and AI-assisted piloting. He is also Founder and Executive Chair of Humatics, a navigation technology company, and co-Founder of Unless, an investment firm that is catalyzing the next industrial revolution.