David S. Landes este profesor emerit de economie la Harvard University si profesor de istorie la George Washington University, specialist in istoria economica europeana moderna. Dintre volumele publicate mentionam: The Unbound Prometheus: Technological Change and Industrial Development in Western Europe from 1750 to the Present (1969), Revolution in Time: Clocks and the Making of the Modern World (1983), Dynasties: Fortunes and Misfortunes of the World’s Great Family Businesses (2006).