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Joseph Barnes
HSci 1714
Dr. Mary Thomas
6 May 2014
Capture of Technological Improvements
Much to the dismay of inventors and forward thinkers, many ideas fade away into
unrecorded history over the years. In order for these products or processes to stick around, they
must undergo a process called capture. Capture, as defined by Robert Friedel in his book A
Culture of Improvement, is the means by which an improvement becomes not simply an
ephemeral, contingent act or product, but part of a sustained series of changes (Friedel 4).
Capture includes the means by which a technical change adapts and integrates into society, but
also how the new technology is used by people to exert power. Examples of capture can be found
in historical readings and such examples support the idea that a culture of improvement existed
in Western technology.
Control of new coin making processes is a main topic of Alan M. Stahls Technological
Innovation and Control at the Medieval Venetian Mint. This article outlines troubles with the
production of coins in Venice and the means by which they were solved. Technological
advancements were made in order to solve the problem, and were integrated into society by
means of capture. Marco Sanudo worked at the Venetian mint, and faced the problem of a
difficult and time-consuming process used for cutting metals. Sanudo developed a new
innovative method in which the metals were directly casted into sheets rather than made into
ingots then hammered out (Stahl 190). Sanudos process was an improvement to the existing
system, but would need to display its merits before it would be able to undergo capture. The

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method proved to increase net profit for the mint. The efficiency of the process led to the
adoption into the mints system and the innovation proved to be a long-standing success (Stahl
190). Capture also implies that the technological advancement undergoing capture becomes a
part of a series of changes. In the case of this improvement to minting in Venice, refinements of
the process had to come about by adjusting existing technologies and means of control to a
specific situation (Stahl 191). Advancements brought on included keeping the metals pure, and
making them challenging to counterfeit. By maintaining the security of this new and improved
product, the mint exercised control over their new advancements. Despite coins having been
around many years before this innovation, it did change the standard procedure of coin creation
which became big part in a series of changes.
Simon Pepper writes about the issue of siege in his Siege law, siege ritual, and the
symbolism of city walls in Renaissance Europe, and how advancements needed to be made in
order to protect against the problem of siege, which destroyed towns. During siege there was
often little that officers could do to restrain soldiers who had fought their way through the
carnage of the breach to rape and pillage in the captured town, killing anyone who got in the
way (Pepper 577). Seige was a huge problem, and rules started to be implemented in order to
regulate it. Leniency in victory was ruled to be justified in cases such as a town being occupied
by the enemy after a siege, or holding out until artillery had been emplaced agains it (Pepper
578). This was one law that helped spearhead the movement of regulating siege. More efforts
began to be made in order to standardize siege warfare. When the summons was presented the
castellan would reply in conciliatory terms, stressing the strength of his position and proposing
that if, after so many days, it had not been relieved, the place would surrender and the garrison
be permitted to depart. The place would be taken by appointment and there would be no sack

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(Pepper 579). Capture is beginning to take effect as these new rules become standard in siege
warfare and begin a series of changes in the standard model of this warfare. Europe began to
develop a preoccupation with interpreting Laws of War and took it upon themselves to help
control the capture of these practices. They became standardized and spread. Pepper mentions
that these points of siege law were well understood by Italians as well as distant powers such as
Ottoman Turks (Pepper 581). Anyone found entering or leaving a town during a siege is worthy
of death according to the laws of war (Pepper 581). Through formalizing what was brutal
warfare, political integrit was restored as was order and a level of security in the event of siege.
Another time period which showcased great examples of capture was around one of the
greatest technological advancements in history: the printing press. Robert Friedel overviews
some of the processes and advancements involved in the development of this technology in
chapter seven of his A Culture of Improvement. Friedel stresses that the component of printing
that posed the largest problem was the type (Friedel 115). Johannes Gutenberg was a German
metalworker who recieves, albeit controversially, much credit for solving this riddle. His solution
was to create punches which would make impressions which could be molded into types. His
idea and knowledge of metal made this possible and effective. The efficiency at which this
allowed creation of type aided printing and fixed one of the largest hurdles faced in the
development of printing. After outlining this process, Friedel goes on to clarify, Making the
type was the most difficult puzzle to be solved by the first printers, but certainly not the last one
(Friedel 117). Gutenbergs solution to creating types was but one step in the capture of printing
as a large-scale practice into society. Sorting the types, folding papers, and mass producing types
were all now necessary before printing could be fully captured and therefore able to spread into
mainstream society. Before spreading largely, a project was started by a printer in Stasbourg who

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desired to print a Bible. The 1460s and 1470s then began to see an astonishing spread of the new
technology (Friedel 118). As books, Bibles and more were produced, the technology got much
notice and spread remarkably. The spread of printing directly related to an expansion of
European economy as well as an expansion of printing to other continents (Friedel 120). Printing
aided in exploration by virtue of map creation, as well as literature and, eventually, press. This
technology caught on and spread, accepting advancements as societies tried to improve this new
versatile technology. A shift of power came about since before printing, transferring text from
specialized libraries seldom happened because of the difficulty of copying the information
(Friedel 121). Printing changed this and caused control of this technology to shift to those who
could print and relay information as well as literature and more.
Many years passed with inventions and innovations coming into play, but it wasnt until
the early 1600s that England began controlling monopoly and intellectual property law. In
Chapter ten of Friedels A Culture of Improvement, the story of Edward Darcy is presented. Mr.
Darcy was given full rights to monopolizing the sales of playing cards. When it was discovered
that another man was selling them on his own, he was taken to court. This led to the enactment of
the Statute of Monopolies (Friedel 171-172). This forbade the Crown from making exclusive
grants for an industry. Grants could still be made, but only for a limited time which would allow
for others to learn the craft and later be able to make full use of their knowledge. This is a perfect
example of power of capture being taken. The government now could regulate these trades
without them being assigned to one man or family who would become too powerful. This led to
further changes in standard intellectual property legislation. Friedel clarifies that the Crown
continued to seek the expansion of royal privilege and Parliament continued to resist until
Civil War was the inevitable result (Friedel 172). This expansion of powers continued on to

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encompass patents for invention. These patents changed the dynamic of business for inventors
and quickly began to undergo capture and integrate into society. The emergence of a patent
system for various uses in law and economy marked important and permanent changes in the
very conceptualization of invention and improvement (Friedel 172). The growth exhibited and
the continued interest in both common people and government showed a clear desire for
improvement as these changes proved to be beneficial.
These examples of capture, both of ideas and of inventions, exemplify the process as well
as support the claim that Western society had a culture of improvement in the context of
technological innovation. Great minds would visualize an improvement, and if it was good
enough to elicit interest, it would be integrated into society. The continual success of these
processes and products led to the increased desire to improve them. Ideas were built on in a
constant flurry of desire to create and better, whether it be for the good of society or for
recognition. Social and technical paradigms shifted over this time period. They did not only
become defining for this historical context, but they also spread to other cultures and played a
large role leading up to the technological present as we know it. We see these ideas today
because rather than fading into the past, they were captured.

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Works Cited
Friedel, Robert D.. A Culture of Improvement: Technology and the Western Millennium.
Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2007. Print.
Pepper, Simon, and James D. Tracy. "Siege Law, Siege Ritual, and the Symbolism of City Wall
in Renaissance Europe." City Walls: the Urban Enceinte in Global Perspective. New
York: Cambridge University Press, 2000. 573-604. Print.
Stahl, Alan, Jean Gimpel, and Marie Zenner. "Technological Innovation and Control at the
Medieval Venetian Mint." Villard's Legacy: Studies in Medieval Technology, Science, and
Art in memory of Jean Gimpel. Aldershot, Hants, England: Ashgate, 2004. 189-196. Print.