I am currently writing a book on why innovation accelerated in the eighteenth century in Britain, which in turn led to the Industrial Revolution. (You can read a summary of the book's argument here). One of my key findings is that innovation is a practice that spreads from person to person. I argue that people became innovators because they adopted an improving mentality - and that Britain experienced an acceleration of innovation because its innovators were committed to evangelising that mentality further.
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In terms of roles, I am currently historian-in-residence at the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce. I wrote a new history of the organisation from 1754 to the present day, which will be published by Princeton University Press in Spring 2020. For the past two years I was lecturer in Economic History at King's College London, and before that a post-doctoral research associate at Brown University's Political Theory Project. I received my PhD in Political Economy from King's College London in 2016. ​​ To contact me:
Email me: anton.howes [[at]] rsa.org.uk Or follow me on Twitter.
Previous work: The Relevance of Skills to Innovation during the British Industrial Revolution, 1547-1851 (working paper)
Syllabi: The World Economy and its History (link) Capitalism: For & Against (link)