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Jethro Tull and the seed drill
Jethro Tull (1674 – 21 February 1741, New Style) was an English agricultural pioneer from Berkshire who helped bring about the British Agricultural Revolution. He perfected a horse-drawn seed drill in 1700 that economically sowed the seeds in neat rows. He later developed a horse-drawn hoe. -
Abraham Darby and the blast furnace
Abraham Darby (1677-1717) developed the coke burning blast furnace that made it possible to produce commercial grade iron cost-effectively. His work helped launch the Industrial Revolution and contributed to the development of the iron and steel industries. -
Thomas Newcomen and atmospheric engine
Thomas Newcomen was a prominent British engineer, best known for inventing the atmospheric steam engine, the world's oldest known steam engine for pumping water. The first operational Newcomen engine was built in 1712 at the Coneygree Coal Works near Dudley Castle, Staffordshire. -
james Hargreaves and the spinning jenny
Hargreaves, James (1722–1778) English inventor and industrialist. In 1764 he invented the spinning jenny, a machine that greatly speeded the production of cotton by simultaneously spinning eight threads -
James watt and the steam engines
James Watt was an inventor and mechanical engineer whose improvements in steam engine technology drove the Industrial Revolution. Watt did not invent the steam engine. Steam engines were already in existence, mainly being used to pump water out of mines -
samuel crompton and the spinning mule
Samuel Crompton (3 December 1753 – 26 June 1827) was an English inventor and pioneer of the spinning industry. Building on the work of James Hargreaves and Richard Arkwright he invented the spinning mule, a machine that revolutionized the industry worldwide. -
Henry Cort and the puddling process
Henry Cort, 1740–1800, English inventor. He revolutionized the British iron industry with his use of grooved rollers to finish iron, replacing the process of hammering, and through his invention of the puddling process. -
Robert Owen and the first island sea cotton
made use of the first American Sea Island cotton (a fine, long-staple fibre) ever imported into Britain and made improvements in the quality of the cotton spun. On becoming manager and a partner in the Manchester firm, Owen induced his partners to purchase the New Lanark mills in Lanarkshire. -
David Ricardo and the
David Ricardo (1772–1823) was a classical economist best known for his theory on wages and profit, labor theory of value, theory of comparative advantage, and theory of rents. David Ricardo and several other economists also simultaneously and independently discovered the law of diminishing marginal returns. -
Adam Smith and classical school of economics
Smith's ideas became the foundation of the classical school of economics and gave him a place in history as the father of economics. Concepts Smith pioneered, such as the invisible hand and the division of labor, are now quintessential economic theories. -
Robert Fulton and the commercial steam boat
American engineer and inventor Robert Fulton is best known for developing the first successful commercial steamboat, the North River Steamboat (later known as the Clermont) which carried passengers between New York City and Albany, New York. Fulton also designed the world's first steam warship -
Elias Howe and the sewing machine
Elias Howe invented the first practical sewing machine. Born in Spencer, Massachusetts, he spent his childhood and early adult years in Massachusetts. He became a skilled machinist, apprenticing in a textile factory and then for a master mechanic. By April 1845, Howe had created a practical sewing machine.
