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Jethro Tull
English agronomist, agriculturist, writer, and inventor. He operated his father's farm in Oxford for 10 years. In 1701 he perfected a horse-drawn seed drill that put seeds in neat rows. He later developed a horse-drawn hoe and successfully adopted the vineyard method to his farm -
John Kay
English machinist and engineer, he is the inventor of the flying shuttle. The flying shuttle improved weaving. "It allowed a single weaver to weave much wider fabrics, and it could be mechanized, allowing for automatic machine looms." -
Adam Smith
Scottish social philosopher. In 1759, Smith introduced his first work, "The Theory of Moral Sentiments." In this, Smith describes the principles of human nature. In 1776, became famous by his influential book, "The Wealth of Nations." Then became a turning point, people were really influenced by his work. He then began to pay more attention to jurisprudence and political economy. -
James Watt
Scottish instrument maker and inventor of the steam engine. In 1764, Watt was repairing a model Newcomen steam engine. He saw how much steam was being wasted. The following year he was determined to fix it. He then came up with a solution, he invented a separate condenser. The original use of a steam engine was to remove water from mines. -
Henry Cort
Known for the Inventions relating to puddling and rolling in the manufacture of iron. In the puddling technique, molten iron in a reverberatory furnace was stirred with rods, which were consumed in the process. -
Nicolas LeBlanc
French surgeon and chemist. He developed the process for making soda ash, from common salt. The Academy of Sciences had offered a prize to whoever discovered a way to convert salt to soda ash. LeBlanc was determined to get it. He treated the salt with sulfuric acid to get "salt cake", then it was roasted with limestone or chalk and coal to get black ash, that was made up of mostly sodium carbonate and calcium sulfide. The sodium carbonate was then dissolved in water and then crystallized. -
Eli Whitney
American inventor who invented the cotton gin. A cotton gin is a machine that quickly and easily separates cotton fibers from their seeds. This is one of the key inventions of the industrial revolution. -
Robert Fulton
Impressed with the many engineering feats, especially areas in canals, mines, bridges, roads and factories. He was the son of Irish Immigrants. Robert then moved to Philadelphia to become an artist. He ended up traveling back to Europe to further his art career. When in Europe he studied science and mathematics. His love for art then changed to a love for invention. Robert had an idea that was to make a boat powered by a steam engine. In 1811 Robert introduced a steamboat named the "New Orleans" -
Robert Owen
He improved houses that sanitation was neglected. He encouraged people in habits of order, cleanliness, and thrift. In 1813 Owen published an essay in "A New View of Society; or, Essay on the Principle of the Formation of the Human Character." This is where He expanded on which his system of the "educational Philanthropy" was based. He developed his own idea that man's character was formed by circumstances over which he had no control. In 1816 he opened the first "infant school." -
Elias Howe
An American inventor. He has been interesting in machinery ever since he was little. He worked in a cotton factory and during that time he was told that a man that were to invent a machine that could sew would earn a fortune. He spent 5 years trying to develop a machine that could sew. He then created a machine in 1846. It got little attention at first in the United States, but then they started to be sold rapidly. -
Karl Marx
Revolutionary, sociologist, historian, and economist. He published "Manifest der Kommunistischen Partei" in 1848. This is the most celebrated in the history of the socialist movement. His writings exhibited Christian devotion and a longing for self-sacrifice on behalf of humanity. -
Cyrus Field
An American financier. He started off in the paper business, then became interested in a proposal to lay a transatlantic telegraph cable. Because of that he became one of the founders of the New York, Newfoundland and London telegraph company. In 1857, there were many attempts that turned to be unsuccessful, to lay a cable. But, in 1866, it was finally achieved. Field was acclaimed on both sides of the Atlantic.
