Answer

Being a scientist, MacLeod talks in the first instance about the revolution in research and applied science in the late nineteenth century; the reference he makes is to the florescence of science in England and Germany. It is precisely in the latter two countries where, due to technological advances, new branches of industry such as the chemical industry first took off. Germany´s high-quality education system and technical training were notorious. It is likely that MacLeod´s one-sided view of France – a country which, sure enough, economically was not growing as fast – was also affected by Germany overtaking France in this period, both demographically and in international politics.

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