The Rise of the Engineer: Inventing the Professional Inventor During the Industrial Revolution

W Walker Hanlon

The Economic Journal, 2025, vol. 135, issue 670, 1749-1781

Abstract: How did the Industrial Revolution generate sustained economic growth? One hypothesis is that the innovation system changed. This paper provides direct quantitative evidence documenting this fundamental change in the innovation system: the emergence of a new type of inventor, the professional engineer. Using rich patent, biographical and other data, I document the emergence of the engineering profession starting in the late eighteenth century and show that engineers differed from older types of inventors in important ways. These findings improve our understanding of the Industrial Revolution and provide perspective for evaluating more recent changes in the innovation system.

Date: 2025
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