Bier, Wissenschaft und Wirtschaft in Deutschland, 1800–1914. Ein Beitrag zur deutschen Industrialisierungsgeschichte. By Mikulás Teich. Vienna: Böhlau-Verlag, 2000. Pp. 355.

Extract

The author concludes with a quotation from J. D. Bernal (Die soziale Funktion der Wissenschaft. Berlin: Akademie, 1986: 22) to the effect that this book will have served its purpose if it manages to demonstrate that there is a problem. This is indeed the case, partly as a result of the author's research, and partly as a result of his omissions. Mikulás Teich, Emeritus Fellow of Robinson College, Cambridge, tries to reconstruct the brewing industry's importance for the German Industrial Revolution, emphasizing the surprising fact that before 1914 the brewing industry ranked first, alongside machine construction, in terms of capital investment. And although there are some general histories of brewing, none of them treats the interdependence of demand, scientific research, and technological innovation.