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Richard Arkwright
Arkwright's achievement was to combine power, machinery, semi-skilled labor and the new raw material of cotton to create mass-produced yarn. His organizational skills earned him the accolade "father of the modern industrial factory system." Notably through the methods developed in his mill. -
Thomas Malthus
Thomas Malthus, English economist and demographer who is best known for his theory that population growth will always tend to outrun the food supply and that betterment of humankind is impossible without stern limits on reproduction. This thinking is commonly referred to as Malthusianism. -
Robert Owen
In the early 1800s Owen became wealthy as an investor and eventual manager of a large textile mill at New Lanark, Scotland. He initially trained as a draper in Stamford, Lincolnshire, and worked in London before relocating at the age of 18 to Manchester and going into business as a textile manufacturer. -
Cotton Gin
A cotton gin – meaning "cotton engine" – is a machine that quickly and easily separates cotton fibers from their seeds, enabling much greater productivity than manual cotton separation. The fibers are then processed into various cotton goods such as linens, while any undamaged cotton is used largely for textiles like clothing. The separated seeds may be used to grow more cotton or to produce cottonseed oil. -
Interchangeable Parts
The concept of interchangeable parts was invented by Eli Whitney, creator of the cotton gin. Before this idea was introduced, each part of a firearm had been handmade, and if a part on one of them broke. It was not guaranteed that a part from another firearm would fit. -
Charles Darwin
Was an English naturalist, geologist and biologist, best known for his contributions to the science of evolution. His proposition that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestors is now widely accepted, and considered a foundational concept in science. He introduced his scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection, selective breeding. -
Communism
Though the term "communism" can refer to specific political parties, at its core, communism is an ideology of economic equality through the elimination of private property. The beliefs of communism, most famously expressed by Karl Marx, center on the idea that inequality and suffering result from capitalism. -
Thomas Edison
These inventions, which include the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and the long-lasting, practical electric light bulb, have had a widespread impact on the modern industrialized world. He was one of the first inventors to apply the principles of organized science and teamwork to the process of invention, working with many researchers and employees. He established the first industrial research laboratory. -
Socialism
The history of socialism has its origins in the 1789 French Revolution and the changes which it brought, although it has precedents in earlier movements and ideas. The Communist Manifesto was written by Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels in 1848 just before the Revolutions of 1848 swept Europe, expressing what they termed "scientific socialism". In the last third of the 19th century, social democratic parties arose in Europe, drawing mainly from Marxism. -
Social Darwinism
Social Darwinism is any of various theories of society which emerged in the United Kingdom, North America, and Western Europe in the 1870s, claiming to apply biological concepts of natural selection and survival of the fittest to sociology and politics. Social Darwinists argue that the strong should see their wealth and power increase while the weak should see their wealth and power decrease -
Social Gospel
The social gospel is an idea that arose particularly in Protestant denomination churches in the US and in parts of Europe during the 19th century. It was the concept that efforts should be made to share wealth, and especially that people should emulate Christ’s examples by acting with charity toward those less fortunate. -
Automobile
In 1885, Karl Benz developed a petrol or gasoline powered automobile. This is also considered to be the first "production" vehicle as Benz made several other identical copies. The automobile was powered by a single cylinder four-stroke engine. -
Airplane
The Wright brothers patented their invention on May 22, 1906. An airplane is a fixed wing aircraft powered by fuel and is driven forward by the thrust of a jet engine or a propeller. The plane was invented by two American brothers, Orville Wright and Wilbur Wright. -
Assembly Line
An assembly line is a manufacturing process in which parts are added as the semi-finished assembly moves from workstation to workstation where the parts are added in sequence until the final assembly is produced. By mechanically moving the parts to the assembly work and moving the semi-finished assembly from work station to work station, a finished product can be assembled faster and with less labor than by having workers carry parts to a stationary piece for assembly. -
Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism is a family of consequentialist ethical theories that promotes actions that maximize happiness and well-being for the majority of a population. Although different varieties of utilitarianism admit different characterizations, the basic idea behind all of them is to in some sense maximize utility. Which is often defined in terms of well-being or related concepts.
