Earlier:

And you thought the Rechtsstaat was central to Germans (until Hitler)

On the other hand…from a review in The Economist (but note the last para):

The industrial revolution
Fire and brimstone
Why it started in Britain

Later it became the museum of iron [oddly similar to photo in post immediately below]

The Most Powerful Idea in the World: A Story of Steam, Industry, and Invention. By William Rosen. Random House; 400 pages; $28. Jonathan Cape; £20. Buy from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk
…
The author dismisses the more traditional explanations about why the industrial revolution began in Britain—such as an abundance of coal or the insatiable demands of the Royal Navy—concluding, instead, that it was England’s development of the patent system that was the decisive factor. By aligning the incentives of private individuals with those of society, it transformed invention from a hobby pursued by the idle rich into an opportunity for spectacular commercial gain open to anyone with a bit of skill and a good idea. That allowed England to harness the creative potential of its artisan classes in a way that no other country had managed before.

It is a plausible conclusion and Mr Rosen makes a powerful case. Having wisely waited until the very last chapter to reveal that his book, in the end, plumps for intellectual property as the biggest single spur, Mr Rosen retires, content with that thought. That is appropriate in a history, but it would have been interesting to know what Mr Rosen thinks of the way intellectual-capital laws are being challenged at the moment. Biotechnology companies patent genes, the very stuff of life, while scientists worry that this risks compromising basic research. Technology companies take out controversial patents on software or on such “ideas” as being able to order books with a single click, opening patent systems to ridicule. The duration of copyrights, an idea closely related to patents, has been extended again and again by governments captured by vested interests. These are debates of vital importance. After all, the industrial revolution is far from finished.

Mark
Ottawa