Chapter 1, Problem 1.1A

To determine

A brief report that focuses on engineering in a historical era and cultural area (for example, pre-Columbian Central America, Europe in the Industrial Revolution, Mesopotamia). Analyze the events that you consider to be engineering highlights and explain their importance to human progress.

Answer to Problem 1.1A

European Industrial Revolution started with United Kingdom which had an extremely productive and wealthy agricultural system, and many creative inventors. A boom in the iron industry started with the discovery of converting coal into coke iron. Improved steel production led to more rails to transport steel steam locomotives drawing wagons full of coke and steel. Workers poured into the new industrial centers and in a few years, villages exploded into major cities.

French manufacturers concentrated on finished textile products - luxury goods like woven silk and leather goods. Some good developments in the silk-processing industries were the introduction of minimum wages. This led to the birth of the luxury industry.

In Switzerland the lack of raw materials spurred innovation by specializing in niche products.

Netherlands was covered in waterways and possessed very little natural resources. These two factors made it very difficult to build up heavy industry and construct railway connections. For this reason, businesses tended to concentrate on developing pre-industrial trades like processing of agricultural products like milk and meat which laid down the basis for future mechanization.

This resulted in an innovation in industry - several engineering innovations catalyzed waves of growth. A cycle resulted spurring discovery of more effective ways to do the same earlier task.

One of the biggest positive features of the Industrial Revolution was urbanization - the rise of cities. As migrants moved from the countryside, small towns became large cities.

Gradually, a middle class emerged in industrial cities, mostly toward the end of the 19th century. Until then, there had been only two major classes in society: aristocrats born into their lives of wealth and privilege, and low-income commoners born in the working classes.

New urban industries gradually required more of what we call today “white collar” jobs, such as business people, shopkeepers, bank clerks, insurance agents, merchants, accountants, managers, doctors, lawyers, and teachers. The next steps were education in these trades.

Other positive fallouts were the rise of retail shops, recreation and domestic servants.

Some downsides however, were crowded slums, long working hours, child and women labor. At the end of the 18th century, there were initially no laws to regulate new industries - child labor, safety hazards, accident benefits, lack of recreation, biohazard waste disposal, government role, and town planning.

The densely packed and poorly constructed working-class neighborhoods contributed to the fast spread of disease. Many neighborhoods were filthy with muddy roads. Homes lacked toilets and sewage systems, and as a result, drinking water sources such as wells, were frequently contaminated with disease.

Explanation of Solution

One of the triggers was the unusually high growth in the population in the middle of the 18th century which produced a big reservoir of workers. At the same time new, more efficient methods of production became necessary to supply the basic needs of so many people.

Some salient features of the industrial revolution in Europe are described.

United Kingdom dictated the rhythm of progress to the rest of Europe from 1750 onwards. The start was with textile factories, then the iron industry and railways.

Belgium was able to draw on rich resources of iron ore and coal and a strong tradition of textile manufacturing - industrial development ran along similar lines to that in Great Britain.

French manufacturers concentrated on finished textile products - luxury goods like woven silk and leather goods. Some good developments in the silk-processing industries were the introduction of minimum wages.

In Switzerland the lack of raw materials spurred innovation.

Other countries on the edge of the continent lagged behind in industrial production for many years like − Spain, Greece and the Balkan countries.

In Germany, new methods of production developed very late because the country was divided up into so many small states. Due to their high reserves of capital and high standards of training, German businesses were able to take over a leading role in the new chemical and electro-technical industries in the second phase of industrialization towards the end of the 19th century.

Netherlands laid down the basis for future mechanization.

One of the biggest positive features of the Industrial Revolution was urbanization. An example is Manchester in UK which quickly became the textile capital of the world because its location, railroads and its cool climate which was ideal for textile production. In 1771, the sleepy town had a population of 22,000 .and grew to 180,000 in 50 years.

Gradually, a middle class emerged. New urban industries gradually required more of what we call today “white collar” jobs − the next steps were education in these trades.

Other positive fallouts were the rise of retail shops and domestic servants.

Some downsides however were crowded slums, long working hours (around 14 hours a day) as men were slaves to machines. Women were made to work just as hard for less pay, especially in textile factories. Children too were unscrupulously exploited. The workers lived in constant fear of unemployment and hunger.

However, there were improvements in working conditions to restrict child labor and women's work. German government introduced sickness, accident and old age insurance for workers.

The birth of the Industrial Revolution altered medicine and living standards, resulting in the population explosion that would commence at that point and steamroll into the 20th and 21st centuries. In only 100 years after the onset of the Industrial Revolution, the world population would grow 100 percent to two billion people in 1927 (about 1.6 billion by 1900)