The link between science, empire and capitalism are obvious in many ways. After all, according to Harari, “We are living in a technical age” (Harari pg. 271). Without advancements in science we many of us would not have the advantages we have today living in a first world country. Without science, we wouldn’t have the technology of phones, radios, Bluetooth devices, or bombs and many guns either. All of these items that science helped to create helped us as Americans and as first world countries around the world to become the powerhouse countries, an empire is you will, we are today. One example in specific of how scientific discovery was shaped by political and fiscal interest was “…the American Manhattan Project successfully developed atomic bombs” (Harari pg. 261). Americans developed this during World War II in order to be ready to fight and defend America during the war, a fiscal and political situation that forced scientists into new worlds and created better links between science, empire and capitalism.
I think Harari has an excellent point about progress linking the three concepts together. My previous example is a wonderful way to explain the concept. If empire, (America), had not needed defense for its people, (Capitalism), then they would not have created the atomic bombs, (Science). Progress is the common denominator in this because if Americans had not progressed through science and capitalism into one of the top countries worldwide, then Americans wouldn’t have needed to develop bombs to protect its progressive interests. So progress does indeed link together the three concepts together well.