SILAS ABAYOMI

Silas abayomi

INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

CHANGE AGENT OF THE WORLD.

How It Began:

Johannes Gutenberg blazed

the trail,

fired the printing revolution

salvo,

fusillade that ignited

socio-political adventure

in Europe.

Adventure that birthed

renaissance,

nurtured reformation,

hand-reared enlightenment,

finally stopped at the great-

terminus,

Europe’s Industrial Revolution

Bus Stop.

Industrial Revolution-vehicle-

that moved Europe from

agrarian society to industrial

world,

trajectory that launched

Europe from a feudal state to

a representative democracy.

Revolution that rescued

Europe from shackles of

questionable religious dogmas

to research-based-

scientific-proven matters,

previously left to the

Church to decided.

What the Few Did to

Change the World-

From hand-woven cloth,

mankind moved to spinning

machines,

thanks to James Hargreaves’

spool thread machine that

simplified loom-for-weaving;

just as Abraham Darby’s

coke fuel method of iron casting,

made iron purification by

charcoal system obsolete.

Iron! Iron!! Iron!!!

From time long past

iron was breastwork of

economic development,

from simple household wares

to the fortified city walls, and

from military equipment to

wagon production owed

existence to iron.

Just like old world depended on

iron for development,

same iron through

“a decarbonization process” of

mass production pioneered by

Henry Bessemer created

a new industrial world.

A world every sector stands

upon iron;

a world iron becomes

indispensable with a

commanding lead,

a world iron leads,

others follow.

Transportation sectors-

waterways, land, and railroads-

became immediate beneficiaries of

iron production;

steam engines from the likes of

Thomas NewComen, James Watts,

and Robert Fulton transformed

transportation beyond

human imagination;

revolution that soon changed

trans-Atlantic crossing,

invention that later changed

sea voyages.

Coach-drawn-locomotive-engine-

on-rail-track debuted,

handiworks of George Stephenson and

Richard Trevithick;

macadam or road construction and

bridge building by John McAdam

followed as foot and pathways

gave way to highway, flyover,

and overpass.

Bridges over rivers to span

physical obstacles eventuated,

canal dredging by Thomas Telford

created man-made-waterway

that link rivers and seas for easy

transportation of goods and

services.

Yesterday’s Inventions:

The Joy of Today

New communication system of

message encoding to message

transfer, and decoding

radically transformed human

society;

telephone-electrical speech

transmitter device-

enchantment from Alexander

Graham Bell,

heralded modern man that could

communicate with an out-of-sight

fellow receiver.

Like its twin sister,

telegraph took man several

steps forward,

just as “harmonic telegraphy”

another wonder from

Alexander Graham Bell,

a multi-message-transmission device,

written-message-by-wire-system

became most outstanding change

agents of the 20th century.

With voice-turned-

electrical-signal-medium,

the telephone and

coded-message-medium,

the telegraph,

foundation for information

technology was laid,

mankind was just only few

decades away to conquer

the world by means of

information superhighway.

Electricity-light in homes-

light on streets and

neighborhood,

light in factories,

light in everywhere;

thanks to Thomas Alva Edison,

thank to your lamp.

Mankind little moon at night and

the little sun during the day;

Edison-your filament-designed

bulb,

the “carbonized sewing thread”

lit the world,

displaced the wick-inserted-wax-

produced-candle.

Yes, your bulb overthrown-

still and  moveable lanterns-

more so, your lamp or globe

inspired many;

not until incandescent light bulb

invented,

not until wide range bulb

sizes, volts, and output

accomplished;

tasks of several years.

Wilbur and Orville Wright-

two great brothers from

Dayton, Ohio,

the world of mankind

will ever be grateful

to your tenacity of purpose,

as you conquered airspace

by flying a suspended metal bird.

Neither will humankind forget

George Eastman in a hurry,

the man that perfected

camera obscura,

object that creates images on

room walls by means of

pinhole when light reflects.

Fewer they were,

but great were their

accomplishments,

industrial revolution

created several templates,

patterns others soon followed

to replicated and to improved

on what makes man a unique

creature.

The world of humankind may

spin in mire of greed,

gyrates in all form of

corrupt practices,

swings in hate, cause bloodshed

created partially, or wholly

through the effects of industrial

revolution;

still world cannot dismiss the

benefits of this revolution,

neither will the world say:

it needs no more scientific

revolutions.

Silas abayomi