[Eumenes]

One important thing that I feel this article left out was how technological innovation was driven by military endeavors. From antiquity to Europe getting comfortable with gun powder was a very long time. Prior to gun powder, the focus was on siege warfare - how to destroy walled defenses in a timely fashion before supply chains before untenable. With the rise of gunpowder, innovation followed. Alot of industrial success came out of America, and with a giant ocean between itself and any potential invaders, they were able to focus that innovation for industry as opposed to militarily.

[thom]

That isn’t left out - everything rested on the three centuries European countries had spent perfecting the cannon.

[bombolo]

You do realise that "america" didn't happen for more than a thousand of years since the roman empire right?

[Eumenes]

The Byzantine empire fell in 1453 and you can argue that the Vatican maintained some institutional power of western Europe through the middle ages