Person
Joel Mokyr's book recommendations
Key facts
- Joel Mokyr has recommended or discussed 4 books on podcasts, as of July 8, 2026.
- Joel Mokyr has talked about books on 2 podcasts, as of July 8, 2026.
- Those books came up in 2 episodes, as of July 8, 2026.
- The 3 books Joel Mokyr has mentioned in the most episodes, not counting Joel Mokyr's own, as of July 8, 2026: Science and Civilisation in China: Volume 2, History of Scientific Thought, The Condition of the Working-Class in England and The WEIRDest People in the World.
- The latest episode with a book mention from Joel Mokyr aired on July 8, 2026.
Updated
Across 2 podcasts. Every show Joel Mokyr appears on, in one place — not just one.
Joel Mokyr is an American and Israeli economic historian and the Robert H. Strotz Professor of Arts and Sciences at Northwestern University, as well as a senior adjunct professor at the Eitan Berglas School of Economics at Tel Aviv University. He was awarded half a share of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 2025 for having identified the prerequisites for sustained growth through technological progress. During podcast appearances, Mokyr discussed several works related to history and growth. He referenced Joseph Needham's 'Science and Civilisation in China' to examine technological stagnation, cited Joseph Henrich's 'The WEIRDest People in the World' to discuss Western family structures and culture, and mentioned Friedrich Engels' 'The Condition of the Working-Class in England' in the context of nineteenth-century industrial cities. Furthermore, he discussed his own book, 'A Culture of Growth', highlighting its central argument about the Republic of Letters as an overlooked driver of the Industrial Revolution.
Books recommended by Joel Mokyr
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A Culture of Growth
A Culture of Growth by Joel Mokyr is a historical examination of the cultural and economic changes that drove technological progress and the Industrial Revolution in the West.
Discussed“and that plays a very important role in this book which is known as the Republic of Letters the rest pública litter area as they call it in Latin and what it is it's it's a virtual network”
Where to get it
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Science and Civilisation in China: Volume 2, History of Scientific Thought
Science and Civilisation in China is a monumental multi-volume scholarly work by Joseph Needham, with contributions from Ling Wang, that explores the history of science and technology in Chinese civilization.
Discussed“Somebody actually went out and looked at Joseph Needham’s many volumes on Chinese technology and science, or Science and Civilisation [in China], as he called it”
Where to get it
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The Condition of the Working-Class in England
Discussed“The most famous book about that was, of course, Friedrich Engels’ Condition of the Working-Class in England, which was largely plagiarized from a whole bunch of doctors living in the Midlands”
Where to get it
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The WEIRDest People in the World
The WEIRDest People in the World by Joseph Henrich is an anthropological and psychological exploration of how Western populations became psychologically unique compared to the rest of the world.
Discussed“That’s essentially the tenor of Joe Henrich’s book called The WEIRDest People, in which he points this out.”
Where to get it
Books by Joel Mokyr
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The British Industrial Revolution
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Twenty-Five Centuries of Technological Change
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The Oxford encyclopedia of economic history
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The invention of enterprise
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The enlightened economy
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Why Ireland Starved
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A Culture of Growth
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Economics of the Industrial Revolution (Routledge Revivals)
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The Economics of the Industrial Revolution
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Lever of Riches
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Research in Economic History
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Gifts of Athena
Appearances
Other mentions (4: passing, ad reads, own books)
“and if you're looking for the answer to a question that you have this go look in the books you know the books could be you know the Bible”
“you know the books could be you know the Bible or it could be Confucius or it could be the Talmud”
“or it could be Confucius or it could be the Talmud or it could be the Quran you know there are these self revelations of wisdom”
“or it could be the Talmud or it could be the Quran you know there are these self revelations of wisdom and this is an age at which Europe sheds that”