The book is excellent, and analyzes battles with a clinical detachment not really found in most history texts.
But each battle is decisive: it shaped the world. There are many skirmishes that would be interesting to analyze but out of scope for the book. That's what makes it a fascinating collection.
If we had to think of 100 technology "battles" that reshaped the world, I wonder what they would be? There is so much freedom in the criteria that it's hard to know where to constrain it: Electricity, plumbing, grocery stores, etc have all shaped the world. Many had a "decisive" effect in that it was technology vs technology, and one tech came out the winner.
I think computing alone could fill a book of 100 tech battles, and it would be interesting to try. Which stories were decisive? It would take months to decide, but it would be enjoyable work.
I'd put the literal Battle of Crécy up there. An army of commoners being able to murder armored nobles with the aid of the longbow certainly changed the world.
English eventually lost Hundred's year war so this battle wasn't world changing. But not seeing Battle of Tours 732 or Vienna 1683 was certainly a surprise.
Interesting idea. Though I'm not sure how many battles there are where one tech won and other(s) lost and the result led to a significantly different path.
For example, VHS won out over Betamax but Sony remained a successful consumer electronics company and I'm not sure things would have played out in a materially different way had Betamax won. (Though maybe the industry would have been a bit more concentrated.)
AC electrical power over DC is probably one with implications. MS-DOS and Windows are certainly examples. As is Linux. x86? Maybe although I'm not sure how different the world would be if you swap in Motorola instead.
Someone should write a book, "100 Decisive Tech Battles: From Ancient Times to the Present," a tongue in cheek reference to https://www.amazon.com/100-Decisive-Battles-Ancient-Present/...
The book is excellent, and analyzes battles with a clinical detachment not really found in most history texts.
But each battle is decisive: it shaped the world. There are many skirmishes that would be interesting to analyze but out of scope for the book. That's what makes it a fascinating collection.
If we had to think of 100 technology "battles" that reshaped the world, I wonder what they would be? There is so much freedom in the criteria that it's hard to know where to constrain it: Electricity, plumbing, grocery stores, etc have all shaped the world. Many had a "decisive" effect in that it was technology vs technology, and one tech came out the winner.
I think computing alone could fill a book of 100 tech battles, and it would be interesting to try. Which stories were decisive? It would take months to decide, but it would be enjoyable work.