Second Industrial Revolution

The second Industrial Revolution proved more drastic, not only in inventions, but in social and government policies and reforms. Art and culture flourished and was transformed into many different and unique styles. The first Industrial Revolution had forever changed England, and later the world. England was now ready for another change, as life with machinery had already been assimilated into society.

The second Industrial Revolution utilized the power of electricity to help them develop their technology and help social and home life. Michael Faraday, a British scientist, demonstrated how an electric current could be made. This concept and principle is still in use today. Electricity improved life by supplying people with light, and electricity to power machines. Communications improved as a result of electricity. The telephone and telegraph were the first communicational devices that were for public use. With the development of technology, radio waves were discovered. Now messages could be sent over long distances in virtually no time.

New products and services were introduced which greatly increased international trade. Improvements in steam engine design and the wide availability of cheap steel meant that slow, sailing ships were replaced with faster steamship, which could handle more trade with smaller crews. The chemical industries also moved to the forefront. Britain invested less in technological research than the U.S. and Germany, which caught up.

Michael Faraday discovered electromagnetic induction, and his inventions of electromagnetic rotary devices formed the foundation of electric motor technology. In 1880, pioneer of electric light Sir Joseph Swan began installing light bulbs in homes and landmarks in England, with the Savoy in London electrically lit in 1881.^[17] The Bessemer process was the first inexpensive industrial process for the mass-production of steel from molten pig iron. The process named after its inventor Sir Henry Bessemer, revolutionized steel manufacture by decreasing its cost, from £40 per long ton to £6-7 per long ton during its introduction, along with greatly increasing the scale and speed of production of this vital raw material. The process also decreased the labor requirements for steel-making. After the introduction of the Bessemer process, steel and wrought iron became similarly priced, and most manufacturers turned to steel. The availability of cheap steel allowed large bridges to be built and enabled the construction of railroads, skyscrapers, and large ships.^[30] Other important steel products—also made using the open hearth process—were steel cable, steel rod and sheet steel which enabled large, high-pressure boilers and high-tensile strength steel for machinery which enabled much more powerful engines, gears and axles than were possible previously. With large amounts of steel it became possible to build much more powerful guns and carriages, tanks, armored fighting vehicles and naval ships. Industrial steel also made possible the building of giant turbines and generators thus making the harnessing of water and steam power possible. The steam turbine invented by Sir Charles Parsons in 1884, has almost completely replaced the reciprocating piston steam engine primarily because of its greater thermal efficiency and higher power-to-weight ratio.^[31] As the turbine generates rotary motion, it is particularly suited to be used to drive an electrical generator – about 80% of all electricity generation in the world is by use of steam turbines. The introduction of the large scale steel production process perfected by Henry Bessemer, paved the way to mass industrialization as observed in the 19th-20th centuries.

The development of more intricate and efficient machines along with mass production techniques (after 1910) greatly expanded output and lowered production costs. As a result, production often exceeded domestic demand. Among the new conditions, more markedly evident in Britain, the forerunner of Europe's industrial states, were the long-term effects of the severe Long Depression of 1873–1896, which had followed fifteen years of great economic instability. Businesses in practically every industry suffered from lengthy periods of low — and falling — profit rates and price deflation after 1873.

Advances in Science were also made. The discovery of radioactivity by Marie Curie helped discover radioactivity as power source, but also led to the discovery of the nuclear bomb. During the 1800's over 70,000 chemical compounds were broken down. Some of these were Portland cement, vulcanised rubber, synthetic dyes, and petroleum products. Petroleum begun to be widely used as an alternate energy source. Gasoline was also needed for transportation also changed from steam engines to the internal combustion engine. The internal combustion engine made transportation faster and less public. A person could own a car instead of using public transportation. During this time, a new technology was born in the field of transportation. Orville and Wilbur Wright successfully completed the first airplane flight at Kitty Hawk. The airplane industry was born.

Darwin was a naturalist who devised the theory of evolution. It stated that all animals and plants evolution from a lower species. He also developed the concept of Social Darwinism that the strongest survive. Many people contested his ideas and argued against them.

Life was drastically changed during the industrial revolution. People were living in germ infested, crowded and very unhealthy conditions, much like their place of work. Children and women laboured in harsh conditions, working long hours with little pay. The British Parliament stepped in and limited and controlled child labour. This sparked a rebellion. People, especially wealthy capitalists, wanted the government to stay out of its issues, called the laissez-faire system. Many people opposed the laissez-faire system, saying the capitalists would gain too much power and people would be mistreated. The laissez-faire system was disregarded after a few years.

Art changed with the different ideas of social Darwinism, the laissez-faire system and the Industrial Revolution. Romanticism painted emotions that they had no control over, such as love, religion, and beauty. It showed more of how people look at one moment in time. Realism tried to capture what was really happening, all the sadness and tried to make people work to change what was happening.

Socialists were reformers who wanted to construct a better life for all people. Among them, Robert Owen, an owner of a textile mill, whose reforms reshaped the working class. He raised pay, improved working conditions, and didn't allow children under 11 to work. Directly related to Owens reforms, crime and disease rates dropped and life improved. Marx, also a socialist, stated the class struggle, the conflict between the different classes of people, had an impact on the changes that occur in history.

The Industrial Revolution brought on more technology, wealth and power, but at what consequence? The people were living in filth, working unthinkable hours and being paid very little. The revolution shaped modern society to what it is today. As Rousseau said, "Civilization spoils people", but did people spoil civilization by implementing machines to do our work?

Дата добавления: 2015-11-16