As the chapters carry on the author narrows in on how exactly science, empire, and capitalism are tied together. A perfect example from the book that ties into this comes from Harari when he states, “Two forces in particular deserve our attention: imperialism and capitalism. The feedback loop between science, empire, and capital has arguably been history’s chief engine for the past 500 years” (Harari, pg. 306). As stated in the book many times, there is a marriage between science and empire. These are the two main dilemmas that every country has had to deal with. It is critical because the government of a country has to work with the people who develop the advances within it. An example of how scientific discovery shaped political interest was in Europe for the large part but specifically one place was in Great Britain. The big question in the 1700s was, how far is the sun from the earth? As described in the reading many astronomers and scientific people were intrigued by the question. The best way to find this is when Venus goes in-between the sun and earth. Astronomers wanted expeditions sent up there to test it out. It was discovered that scientists had to be dispatched to Canada and California to test this. This is where empire twists together with science. The Royal Society of London found out that this was in deed not far enough. It was voted that scientists should be sent to south-western Pacific Ocean for more accurate estimates.
I believe that his argument is completely fair and justifiable. Progress is everything in building an empire and succeeding. For an empire to succeed there needs to be major advances happening within for it to stay afloat with the rest of the world. Without progress of science, empire, and capitalism than an empire is always behind.