Industrial Revolutions in a Nutshell
– Mohan Chandra Shekhar
The Industrial Revolution, also known as the First Industrial Revolution, was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Europe and the United States, in the period from about 1760 to sometime between 1820 and 1840. This transition included going from hand production methods to machines, new chemical manufacturing, and iron production processes, the increasing use of steam power and water power, the development of machine tools, and the rise of the mechanized factory system. The Industrial Revolution also led to an unprecedented rise in the rate of population growth.
The First Industrial revolution ushered in among other inventions, the Steam Engine and forged metals. The textile industry dominated the Industrial Revolution for its extraordinary output, job creation, and value for money as it used improvised production methods (Fuel: coal). The Second and the most glamorous where movies and our history were vastly influenced was, the Invention of the Assembly line (Fuel: electricity). Alongside it brought in the automobile/the airplane/the telephone/telegraph etc. The world went bonkers. The first two industrial revolutions happened in Britain/Europe. The Tale of two cities was written in such a setting (London and Paris). No wonder, London and Paris are so indelibly etched in the memory of the Bibliophiles.
The third revolution happened in the US. It’s the invention of the computer. (Fuel: Internet/networks). Man and a machine combined to achieve wonders. Though the initial function was to make quick and complicated calculations easy. However, UCLA used it for research sharing. This led to the use of the internet for knowledge sharing and the rest is history, as the idea spread to the world like wildfire.
The fourth one is here and the fuel that runs it is DATA and Machine-Machine combo. Smart cities/campuses/housing complexes are its applications. It encompasses NINE Pillars – Simulation, BIG DATA Analytics, Cloud computing, Robotics (RPA), AI/ Machine Learning, Augmented Reality, Additive Manufacturing (3 D printing), Internet of things(IoT), Cybersecurity etc.
Our future/jobs will revolve around this. Change will make us evolve or extinct. When computers came in, everyone said, they will kill jobs. No! It has created more jobs and Jobs/entrepreneurs. An industrial revolution, according to history, lasts 50-60 years. So far, India during revolutions was catching up with the world and at a disadvantage or a consumer. ‘Make in India’ is an attempt for it to be at the forefront of this industrial revolution- 4.0. Watch out for India!
Who will ride this wave? Everyone who equips and prepares to ride on – Employees and Employers alike! Are you?
References for more reading:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_Revolution
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_industrial_revolution
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Revolution
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_Industrial_Revolution
Photo Credits: Joshua Sortino on Unsplash