This book describes a comprehensive history of the 'craft tradition' that has appeared in human history from 10,000 years ago to the present.
This book, which summarizes how handicrafts developed and were inherited from ancient times to the present, examines the artisans who created handicraft products, the value and meaning of the handicraft products they produced, the importance of the 'tools' that appeared in the process, and the impact that political and social changes had on handicrafts.

From the 'record' of the history of handcrafts, from hand axes to sky disks, we can draw much more universal conclusions.
The conclusion is that it was thanks to the dedication of the 'nameless people' that we were able to discover, create, and design all the conditions for making what is still needed today.
Moreover, they have refined their work and the tools they create to a degree that they can be useful in other fields as well.
The means they used were simple, but they knew how to use them optimally.
Modern people cannot help but be humbled when they consider the broad thinking they had about resources and tools.
--- p.52

In 1710, the Royal Polish and Electoral Saxon Porcelain Manufactory was finally established in Meissen, Poland.
The recipe for making pottery was classified as a state secret and sealed under the name 'Arkanum'.
However, the secret was soon leaked, and in 1718 Vienna succeeded in producing its own porcelain, which was then moved to Vincennes in 1740, Sevres near Paris in 1756, St. Petersburg in 1744, Berlin in 1763, Limoges (the second production site in France after Sevres) in 1771, and Copenhagen in 1775.


At that time, Saxon pottery artisans risked punishment to produce, spread, and distribute pottery.
In England, the pharmacist William Cookworthy (1705–1780) pioneered porcelain production, and in 1751 the manufactory profited greatly from his knowledge.
He was a major influence in the birth of what is today the Royal Worcester Porcelain Company.
The work of making high-quality porcelain involved highly trained, specialized artisans.
Not only pottery, but also shipyards, ironworks, and saltworks required highly trained people, who had to be thorough and impeccable.

--- p.207~208

The 17th and 18th centuries were a great era for clockmaking.
Watches were objects that symbolized philosophy, were luxury goods that guaranteed high profitability, and were also inventions that demonstrated the highest level of mechanical precision.
A clock that turns on its own without stopping once it starts moving has been likened to a creation of God.
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646–1716), an early Enlightenment philosopher, preached the idea that the human body and soul work in harmony like two clock hands.


Clockmakers went to great lengths to form their own independent guilds, free from the constraints of medieval lockmaking methods, and it was not until the 17th century that guilds were formed throughout Europe.
On 22 August 1631, King Charles I of England approved the establishment of the 'Society of Illustrious Clockmakers' in London, with whom they had significant financial interests.
Watchmaking and parts production was restricted to members of the Livery Company, which required a five-year apprenticeship.
They managed training hours, product quality, and watch trade, and with the help of the police, they could search workshops, warehouses, and even ships.
Although the Livery Company still has a long tradition, its influence is no longer as strong as it once was.

--- p.215

The Italian city of Cremona gained great fame for the violins made by Andrea Amati (1525–1577), his sons Antonio (1560–1649), and Girolamo Amati (1555–1630).
Nicola Amati (1596-1684), the son of Girolamo Amati, was the teacher of Andrea Guarneri (1623-1698), who founded a dynasty of violin makers. The instruments left behind by his grandson, Bartolomeo Giuseppe Guarneri (1698-1744), are considered to be among the best in the world and are extremely rare.
Violin virtuoso Niccolò Paganini (1782-1840) also played the [Canone Guarnerius] dedicated to Guarneri.


Antonio Stradivari (1644/48–1737), a disciple of Nicola Amati and one of the world's most famous instrument makers, made approximately 1,100 violins, violas, cellos, guitars, and harps.
Of these, 650 instruments, including about 60 cellos, are preserved to this day.
--- p.220

‘Electrification’ meant ‘modernization’.
In 1907, 409 out of 446 carpentry workshops in Berlin used electric motors, accounting for 91.7% of all workshops.
In contrast, Bavaria had only 164 out of 453, or 36% of the total.²⁴ Ultimately, eight years later, Nuremberg was by far the most advanced city in Bavaria when it came to commercial electrification.
Thus, modernization, which began in some central parts of Germany, gradually spread to many regions.
Although it took decades for electricity to penetrate even the craft sector, its use fundamentally transformed technology.
Traditional handicrafts primarily used tools to perform their work, but in modern times, more and more machine tools have been used to facilitate numerous work processes such as assembling, sawing, cutting, machining, drilling, turning, eroding, milling, planing, filing, and polishing.
Today, there are probably at least 70 and possibly as many as 100 such machines in existence, and the number is steadily increasing as various specialized designs are studied.

--- p.255