David Saul Landes (April 29, 1924 – August 17, 2013) was a professor of economics and of history at Harvard University. He is the author of Bankers and Pashas, Revolution in Time, The Unbound Prometheus, The Wealth and Poverty of Nations, and Dynasties. Such works have received both praise for detailed retelling of economic history, as well as scorn on charges of Eurocentrism, a charge he openly embraced, arguing that an explanation for an economic miracle that happened originally only in Europe must of necessity be a Eurocentric analysis.

Career

Landes earned a Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1953, after a B.A. from City College of New York in 1942. While he waited his call-up to serve in World War II, Landes studied cryptanalysis. He was assigned to the Signal Corps, where he worked on deciphering Japanese coded messages. Historian Niall Ferguson called him one of his "most revered mentors". Landes was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the United States National Academy of Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society. His son Richard Landes is a historian and author.

Works