EBOOK Creating the Twentieth Century:Technical Innovations of 1867-1914 and Their Lasting Impact

The period between 1867 and 1914 remains the greatest watershed in human history        since the emergence of settled agricultural societies: the time when an expansive        civilization based on synergy of fuels, science, and technical innovation was born.          At its beginnings in the 1870s were dynamite, the telephone, photographic film, and        the first light bulbs. Its peak decade - the astonishing 1880s - brought electricity        - generating plants, electric motors, steam turbines, the gramophone, cars, aluminum        production, air-filled rubber tires, and prestressed concrete. And its post-1900        period saw the first airplanes, tractors, radio signals and plastics, neon lights        and assembly line production. This book is a systematic interdisciplinary account of        the history of this outpouring of European and American intellect and of its truly        epochal consequences. It takes a close look at four fundamental classes of these        epoch-making innovations: formation, diffusion, and standardization of electric        systems; invention and rapid adoption of internal combustion engines; the        unprecedented pace of new chemical syntheses and material substitutions; and the        birth of a new information age. These chapters are followed by an evaluation of the        lasting impact these advances had on the 20th century, that is, the creation of        high-energy societies engaged in mass production aimed at improving standards of        living.