Virginia Postrel on why the history of textiles is the history of technology itself - from the spindle to the spinning jenny to synthetic fibers. Based on her book 'The Fabric of Civilization.'
“Virginia is one of WiP's star writers and a genuinely original thinker. This piece reframes the industrial revolution through textiles - the original high-tech industry. You'll never look at your clothes the same way.”
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The fact that textile production was the original 'tech industry' - driving innovation in mathematics, chemistry, and mechanical engineering - completely reframes the industrial revolution. Virginia makes you see history differently.