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Jethro Tull and the Seed Drill
Jethro Tull invented the seed drill in order to make planting seeds easier and more efficient. The seed drill was a mechanical seeder that sowed efficiently at the correct depth and spacing and then covered the seed with dirt so it could grow properly. This made farming much easier and ended up having a better outcome as well. -
Abraham Darby and Sand Casting
He developed the process of sand casting which allowed iron and brass goods to be mass produced at a much lower cost. The mold was made up of compact sand that the iron was poured into. -
John Kay and the Flying Shuttle
John Kay created the flying shuttle, which made weaving faster and more efficient. The board on the loom runs side to side which forms a track in which the shutter runs. The lower threads rest on the track and the shuttle runs over them. This invention put a lot of hand weavers in factories out of business because the machine was much faster. -
Richard Arkwright and the Spinning Frame
The roving, or the thick pieces of thread, are passed between three pairs of rollers which reduces the thickness and increases the length. It made spinning cotton easier. However, the machine was too big to be controlled by a person so he had to also invent a new power source. -
Jeremy Bentham and Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism is the theory that actions are morally right if they tend to promote happiness or pleasure, and that actions are morally wrong if they promote unhappiness or pain, no matter what the action is. It also rejects moral codes or systems that consist of taboos based on tradition. -
Samuel Crompton and the Spinning Mule
This machine revolutionized textile production by increasing the amount of cotton that could be spun at one time. This made production time must faster, and it made it so factories no longer had to individually pay their weavers for their hard work. -
Edmund Cartwright and the Power Loom
The power loom was used for combing wool, which made weaving much faster. The loom weaved threads together in order to produce fabric instead of it being done by hand. -
Nicolas Leblanc and Soda Ash
Invented the process of making soda ash from common salt . Soda ash was used in making paper, glass, soap, and porcelain. They were not very expensive to make in small amounts, but if the industry wanted to expand they had to find a cheaper way to make soda ash. This is what Nicolas Leblanc did in 1790. -
Eli Whitney and the Cotton Gin
Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin which gradually sped up labor time. The machine made harvesting cotton much faster because it removed the seeds from the cotton that was difficult to clean. Smaller cotton gins could be cranked by hand while larger ones could be powered by horses. The cotton gin had hooks that dragged the cotton through, removing the seeds. -
Elias Howe and the Sewing Machine
Elias Howe made the first sewing machine which is very different than ours today, but still features many of the modern parts. Many people before him had the idea of a machine that sews for you, but he was the first to come up with the significant refinements to the design to make it work at its best. -
Cyrus Field and the Telegraph Cable
Made the line so it could reach across the Atlantic ocean, it made international "calls" possible. Later, he made more telegraph lines reach across oceans such as ones that reached from Hawaii to Asia. -
Henry Cort and the Puddling Process
He discovered the puddling process that converted pig iron into wrought iron. The puddling process made it so the iron was stirred in its molten form, which removed the carbon from the iron. In the next ten years, British iron production tripled.