We do not know when man began to use salt, but we do know that it has been used in many different ways throughout history. Historical evidence shows, for example, that people who lived over 3,000 years ago ate salted fish. Thousands of years ago, salt was used to keep the dead from decaying in Egypt. Stealing salt was considered to be a major crime during some periods of history. In the 18th century, for instance, if a person was caught stealing salt, he would be put in jail. History records that about ten thousand people were put in jail during that century for stealing salt. About 150 years before, taking more than one’s share of salt was punishable as a crime. The offender’s ear was cut off. Salt was an important item on the table of a king. It was traditionally placed in front of the king when he sat down to eat. Important guests at the king’s table were seated near the salt. Less important guests sat away from it.
In the 16th century, what would happen
Imagine a chart that begins when man first appeared on the planet and tracks the economic growth of societies from then forward. It would be a long, flat line until the late 16th or early 17th century, when it would start trending upward. For most of humankind life was as the English philosopher Thomas Hobbes famously described it in 1651—"solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short." But as Hobbes was writing those words, the world around him was changing. Put simply, human beings were getting smarter.
People have always sought knowledge. The scientific revolution, followed by the Enlightenment, marked a fundamental shift. Humans were no longer searching for ways simply to fit into a natural or divine order; but they were seeking to change it. Once people found ways to harness energy—using steam engines—they were able to build machines that harnessed far more power than any human or horse could ever do. And people could work without ever getting
A. Knowledge and World Economy
B. Diffusion of Science
C. The Earth’s Learning Curve
D. Knowledge and Wisdom
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