In trying to explain the process of change in nature, one often takes recourse to the theory of evolution. Understanding biological changes in species over the millennia, as also their adaptation to a changing environment, is extremely interesting. With regard to human civilisation, the study of man's biological evolution provides vital inputs to the understanding of history. But in deciphering the past, what is even more crucial is an understanding of the human efforts to use the environment to his own advantage, and the hows, whys and whens of the changes he has wrought on it.

The journey of man through the ages, from the primitive stage to modernity, from a creature who did not know the use of fire to man who split the atom to harness its energy, has been a tremendous journey indeed. Would it be possible to explain this transition? Can generalisations be made and patterns discerned so as to adequately explain the phenomenon of change in human history? In the process, would it be possible to identify the motive force that propels the progression of history? These are some of the questions that have been often debated by students of history.

In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the process of intellectual development, particularly in Europe, was dictated by the search for scientific truths and for ensuring objectivity of knowledge. In addition to this trend of making the study of history a scientific endeavour, another equally important development, as observed by Barnes, was the adoption of a more historical attitude towards the human past and the gradual rise of an idea of progress.