Industrial Revolution (IR1-IR2-IR3-IR-4)
In my earlier post only the first industrial revolution was generally discussed.
Let
us discuss the detail of four stages of Industrial Revolution.
First Industrial Revolution - IR1
(Year 1765):
Mile
Stone in the History of Mankind…
Abraham
Darby-I (14 April 1677 – 5 May 1717, the first and
best known of several men
of that name), was a British iron master and foundry-man. He lived in a small village called Coal Brook Dale
in Shrophire County, England. Shrophire is called the cradle of industrial revolution
because it was Abraham Darby who discovered how to melt iron ore using coke for
heating. (Coal is converted to coke by heating without air). The First
Revolution was driven by limited use of steam engines, interchangeable parts and mass production and was largely water-powered (especially in the
United States).
Second
Industrial Revolution – IR2 (Year 1870).
Henry Bessemer in 1856 laid the milestone by inventing Bessemer converter for steel making. The second industrial revolution can rightly be identified by invention of Steel.
As you know that iron
is inferior to steel and can’t be used in many applications such as machine
parts, rails, construction industry due to its elasticity and corrosion.
A
different path was taken by Continental metallurgists and a German-born
engineer Carl Wilhelm Siemens developed Open-Hearth
furnace. In 1865, the French engineer Pierre-Émile Martin took out a license
from Siemens and first applied his regenerative furnace for making steel.
In many ways, 2nd
Industrial Revolution was the continuation of the first one. In many industries
there was direct continuity but differed regarding certain aspects. Most
important aspect was that it shifted the geographical focus of technological
leadership away from Britain. The leadership, however, remained firmly with industrialized
West till the third industrial revolution.
The
Second Industrial Revolution was characterized by the railroads, large-scale
iron and steel production, widespread use of machinery in manufacturing, increased use of steam
power, use of petroleum, use of the telegraph and beginning electrification.
Third Industrial Revolution (IR3)
The
Age of IT, Electronics and Nuclear Science (Year 1969)
IR3
has demonstrated the quantum leap from mechanical and analogue technology to
digital electronics and high tech solid state devices. Nano, Bio, and IT
technologies, 3D printing, artificial intelligence, robotics, Photo voltaic
Cell (PV solar Energy) and LED (light emitting diodes) lighting and display
devices, etc. were made possible because of applied solid state physics.
Western Europe and the USA were developed during the IR1& IR2 only but the world becomes about 10 times wealthier and development spreads almost every part of the world during the IR3. Major modern inventions are happened in the IR3.
Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR4)
The
Age Internet and Renewable Energy in Year 2000 and Onwards
Due
to mushroom growth in world population and our desire to keep real-time connection
to the entire globe we use digital gadgets such as cell phones, lap tops, computers
and other connectivity devices most of the time. Similarly mass production,
extensive travelling, goods transportation and countless business/commercial activities
across the globe consumes energy enormously and continuously. This has resulted
in shortage of energy and the quest for searching other sources of energy to
maintain the wheels rolling.
But the good news is
that as we continue moving through the fourth industrial revolution, the world
is going to shift to renewable energy such as solar, wind and geothermal. The acceleration
of digital technology has translated renewable energy in to a reality now. It is
hoped that renewable energy will replace the conventional energy very soon to
mitigate potential danger posed by conventional energy to environment.
The Author is Mechanical Engineer working as Consulting Engineer in Construction Industry.
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