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Histories of Innovation are prototypical success stories. Theadvent of the wheel, of writing, printing, the steam engine orcomputers: where would we be without these path-breakingtechnological innovations and their global consequences? At leastretrospectively, innovations appear as linear, straightforwardprocesses. However, this view is too simplistic. Innovations arenot self-evident new elements of life but meet social andtechnological resistance. In accounts of past innovations, wealso often forget that their price is always an irremediable lossof knowledge and practical skills. This collection of essaysshows that innovations, both ancient and more recent ones, arelocated in a network of pre-existing life-worlds. The authorselucidate the wide and often unrecognized impacts of innovationson social structures and cultural practices. Case studies fromancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, central Europe and the modern worldhighlight the preconditions and oft-ignored secondary effects ofinnovation. They address the complex social negotiations and themultitude of unforeseen and unplanned changes which accompany theNew, rather than focusing on intended changes, which are usuallyunderstood as improvements and ways to broaden possibilities foraction. Our ultimate goal is to investigate the complexentanglements of innovations in past and present worlds anddeepen our understanding of mechanisms of cultural change.--- Inder Reihe BERLIN STUDIES OF THE ANCIENT WORLD erscheinenMonographien und Sammelbände aller altertumswissenschaftlichenDisziplinen. Die Publikationen gehen aus der Arbeit desExzellenzclusters "Topoi. The Formation and Transformation ofSpace and Knowledge in Ancient Civilizations" hervor, einemForschungsverbund der Freien Universität Berlin und der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin sowie den Partnerinstitutionen Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften, DeutschesArchäologisches Institut, Max-Planck- Institut fürWissenschaftsgeschichte und Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz.Die Reihe ist Bestandteil der Publikationsplattform EditionTopoi. Alle Bände der Reihe sind elektronisch unter www.edition-topoi.org verfügbar.
