Europe and the Near East: The Presence and Absence of

Metals queries the assumption of the earlier advantage of

the West in attaining industrialization. Professor Goody

contends that the Near East (an area which includes the

Middle East) started what archaeologists call civilization

with the Bronze Age, developing its own renaissance and

extension of trade influencing Europe. However, it was

always handicapped by the absence of iron and coal. And

it was the plentiful exploitation of these in Britain, with

the help of German metallurgists, that made way for the

industrial revolution in Europe, rather than any Protestant

ethic which represents a Europeanist point of view.