The Laboratory of Progress

Switzerland in the Nineteenth Century, Volume 1

Joseph Jung, Ashley Curtis

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2022
• eBook ISBN: 9781000624731
• Edition: 1
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Modern History
• Index: History

The Laboratory of Progress: Switzerland in the 19th Century tells the improbable story of how a small, backward, mountainous agricultural country with almost no raw materials became an industrial powerhouse, a hub of innovation, a touristic mecca and a pioneer in transportation – all in the course of a single century.

That a tiny landlocked country should become a dominant steamship builder for the rest of the world; that a country that had never seen a cotton plant should become the world's second-largest textile producer; that a country with hardly any level terrain should come to boast the world's most highly developed railway network; and that a country whose main export was impoverished emigrants should be transformed into one of the world's major financial centres – these astonishing developments, among many others, are explored and explained, both through the specific stories of individual innovators and through a prescient analysis of the political, economic, societal and cultural structures that formed the context in which Switzerland's astonishing transformation took place.

The book is a compelling read both for professional historians and for general readers with an interest in Switzerland; it highlights the roles of transport networks and individual pioneers in industrial and political development.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title Page
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• List of Figures
• List of Milestones
• List of Tables
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• 1 The Discovery of the Mountains
• 2 New Beginnings: The Pull of the World
• Appendix: Brief Glossary
• Bibliography
• Index of Places
• Index of Persons