The most comprehensive attempt to tell the story of Western technology in many years, engagingly written and lavishly illustrated, 'A Culture of Improvement' documents the ways in which the drive for improvement has shaped our modern world.

Technology and improvement -- Plows and horses -- Power -- Buildings for God and man -- Transforming matter -- Light and time -- Types of change -- Earth, fire, water, and air -- Improving knowledge -- Improvers and engineers -- Raising fire -- Fabrics of change -- Artisans, philosophes, and entrepreneurs -- Airs and lightning -- Mobility -- Messages -- Engineering emerges -- Stuff, reality, and dreams -- The improvement of violence -- Learning -- Dynamics -- Land and life -- Scale -- The corruption of improvement -- Networks -- Improvement's end.