History of technology
The study of how technologies develop and how they shape and are shaped by societies, economies, and cultures.
Technological innovation: The creation and introduction of new or improved products, processes, or systems. Innovation is one source of change traced across technological histories.
Technology: The practical application of knowledge, tools, and techniques to achieve human purposes. The broader subject whose past the field investigates.
Technological system: A network of artifacts, organizations, people, and practices that jointly deliver a technological function. Histories often examine connected systems rather than isolated inventions.
Industrial Revolution: A period of major economic and social transformation driven by mechanized production, beginning in Britain in the eighteenth century. It is a defining case of technologies transforming labor and production.
Labor history: The study of workers, workplaces, labor movements, and employment relations over time. Mechanization and automation have repeatedly changed work and workers' bargaining power.
Technology diffusion: The spread of technologies among people, organizations, or regions. Diffusion explains how inventions travel beyond their places of origin.
History of science: The study of how scientific knowledge, institutions, and practices have changed over time. It developed alongside technology history, though their subjects are not identical.
Artifact (archaeology): An object made or modified by humans, studied as evidence of past life and practice. Artifacts preserve material evidence where written records are absent or limited.
History of computing: The study of the development of computation, computers, and information-processing practices. Computing offers a modern case linking technical change to institutions and culture.
Environmental impact of technology: The effects of technological production and use on ecosystems, resources, and climate. It tracks material and ecological consequences often omitted from invention-centered narratives.