tech

Has China obtained the world's most important machine?

The Dutch punch above their weight in technology transfers that shaped the modern world. In the 17th century their financial and farming innovations spread to Britain, spurring the Industrial Revolution and the British empire’s expansion. Peter the Great, a Russian tsar, studied Dutch shipbuilding techniques to build the navy that made Russia a maritime power in the 18th century. And in the 1970s a Pakistani scientist, A.Q. Khan, stole blueprints from a Dutch lab to launch his country’s nuclear-weapons programme and seed similar efforts in North Korea, Iran and Libya.

Has China obtained the world's most important machine?

TL;DR

  • Dutch financial and farming innovations in the 17th century influenced Britain's Industrial Revolution and empire.
  • Peter the Great studied Dutch shipbuilding to develop Russia's navy in the 18th century.
  • A Pakistani scientist stole blueprints from a Dutch lab in the 1970s, aiding nuclear programs in Pakistan, North Korea, Iran, and Libya.