Aufstieg und Niedergang der Luftschifffahrt: Eine wirtschaftshis- torische Analyse

摘要

In his lightly revised dissertation, Helmut Braun sets out to apply economic theory to explain the rise and demise of the rigid airship. In so doing, he argues that most previous histories have failed to account for the multitude of factors that led to the triumph of heavier-than-air aviation, and that a true multidisciplinary approach is needed. To prove his case, however, Braun ends up treading familiar territory and thus reaches conclusions very similar to other recent histories of the airship.rnReinvestigating known events by casting them in a Schumpeterian perspective certainly is a welcome way of testing previous explanations for the twisted road the airship followed. To ensure that the reader understands his undertaking, Braun also offers detailed backgrounds to each phase of airship history he wishes to investigate. This widens the scope of his work considerably and assumes some prior knowledge of the subject.