History

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1. 
   enotechris Teacher
   Vocational

   Best answer as selected by question asker.

   The steam engine was the key invention leading to industrialization. Although variants had existed for centuries, the technical modifications made by James Watt in the 1760’s allowed for an efficient source of new power. Steam engines had been used for many years to pump water out of shafts in England to mine coal; with Watt’s improvements, coal production increased; with an increase in production, coal began to be used for other things rather than just heating. With an abundance of coal, iron production increased, leading to the ability to produce steel. An abundance of these metals allowed better steam engines to be built. First used as a water pump on land, placing it on iron rails created a locomotive, placing it on a boat created a steamship, linking it to a loom created a power loom, attaching it to a bellows created a blast furnace, which could produce more iron and steel. These inventions are really just modified steam engines, but their application forever altered and improved transportation, manufacturing, and metallurgy. An analogy to the influence of a single invention can be drawn to the “Computer Revolution” of our time. The first transistor, invented in 1947, led the way to integrated chips by 1970, and the application of these microprocesssors has forever altered our lives.

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   Posted by enotechris on Wednesday May 7, 2008 at 11:44 AM
   
   

2. 
   ash27 Student
   High School - 9th Grade

   mechanical reaper and the cotton gin and steam engine and interchangeable parts

    we just learned this so im a 100% sure!!  : )) ur very welcome

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   Posted by ash27 on Thursday May 8, 2008 at 10:12 AM