»One can hardly say that Weber is anything other than thorough in her investigation: primary sources in several dozen centuries and numerous languages are cited, with an emphasis on documents emerging after the industrial revolutions in Europe. With these, Weber elucidates the essential Wende from a broader or more general, non-differentiated use of the concept-word »innovation,« which signifies newness and change as such, to a narrower and more specific use of the word centering on technological progress. In this focus, Weber is certainly thorough and excels by all marks... methodologically, the book spans quite the range of subjects and concentrations, seen in the interdisciplinary focus of the research, drawing on studies in the world of business, in economics and the tech industry as well as in the more tried and true fields of history of ideas and philosophy of culture. In this respect, Weber does innovate in her treatment of »innovation«... the breadth of the book’s content gives it a wider appeal beyond the usual purview of academic philosophers or historians of concepts, as experts and enthusiasts in the fields of technology and business could also benefit from consulting its findings... [Suzanna Weber certainly succeeds in] providing a reliable conceptual history of a modern buzzword.«
Charles Ducey, Archiv für Begriffsgeschichte 62/2020, 285. ff