What the Industrial Revolution Did for Us facts for kids
Quick facts for kids What the Industrial Revolution Did for Us |
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| Genre | Documentary |
| Directed by |
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| Presented by | Dan Cruickshank |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 6 |
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| Running time | 23 minutes |
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| Original network | BBC Two |
| Original release | 7 October – 11 November 2003 |
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| Related shows | Seven Wonders of the Industrial World |
What the Industrial Revolution Did for Us is a fascinating documentary TV series from the BBC. It was made with the Open University and explores how the amazing changes of the Industrial Revolution shaped our modern world. The show first aired on BBC Two in 2003.
Contents
Exploring the Industrial Revolution's Impact
This series, presented by Dan Cruickshank, takes viewers on a journey across Britain. It looks at the big ideas and clever inventions from the Industrial Revolution that still influence our lives today. Each episode focuses on a different area, showing how things like how we make stuff, how we work, how we travel, and even how we stay healthy, changed forever.
Episode Guide: How Inventions Changed Everything
The series has six episodes, each looking at a different part of life that was transformed by the Industrial Revolution.
Episode One: Our Material World
This episode explores how people in the 1700s started wanting more and more cool stuff, like tea, fancy dishes, and cotton clothes. Dan Cruickshank shows how new inventions made these "dream" items available to everyone, not just the rich.
- Stronger Metals: People like Abraham Darby I and John Iron Mad Wilkinson found ways to make iron much better. This laid the groundwork for all the metal buildings and machines we see today.
- Power from Steam: The atmospheric engine invented by Thomas Newcomen was like the first big engine. It helped pump water out of mines, which was super important for getting coal and other materials.
- Global Trade Begins: Ideas from people like Joseph Banks and James Cook helped start huge farms in places like New Zealand and Australia. This was the beginning of our global economy, where goods come from all over the world.
- Faster Fabric Making: Inventions like John Kay's flying shuttle and James Hargreaves’ spinning jenny made making cotton fabric much faster. This was a huge step for mechanisation.
- British Porcelain: When William Cookworthy found China clay in Britain, potters could finally make beautiful porcelain right at home.
- Making Things for Everyone: All these new ideas led to mass production. This meant that many more people could afford things that used to be only for the wealthy.
Episode Two: Working Wonders
This episode looks at how the Industrial Revolution completely changed how people worked. Before, most people were farmers. But in just 60 years, many moved from farms to cities to work in factories.
- More Food for More People: New ideas in agriculture meant farmers could grow much more food. This was important because Britain's population was growing fast.
- Building Big: Civil engineering got a boost from people like John Smeeton, who studied how to make waterwheels work better. This helped build bigger and better structures.
- The Powerful Steam Engine: James Watt and Matthew Boulton improved Newcomen's engine, making the steam engine much more efficient. Their company was one of the first big international businesses.
- Early Copiers: Watt even invented a letter copying press to handle all the paperwork for his business. It was like the first photocopier!
- Teamwork in Factories: The idea of the division of labour, where different people do different small tasks to make one product, was talked about by Adam Smith. This led to the production line, making factories super efficient.
- First Computers: The Jacquard loom, which used punch cards to create patterns, was an early step towards modern computers.
Episode Three: On the Move
Before the Industrial Revolution, traveling was slow and bumpy! This episode shows how new inventions made getting around Britain much easier and faster.
- Smoother Rides: Obadiah Eliott's elliptical spring made carriages much more comfortable by adding suspension.
- Better Roads: John Loudon McAdam and Thomas Telford built a national road network. This made trade and travel across the country much easier.
- Amazing Bridges: Telford also built the incredible suspension bridge across the Menai Strait, which was a huge engineering feat for its time.
- Wind Power for Travel: George Pocock's wind-powered charvolant showed people that you didn't always need horses to move around.
- Steam Cars and Trains: Richard Trevithick's high-pressure steam engine powered the very first steam carriage and railway locomotive.
- The Fastest Machine: George and Robert Stephenson's The Rocket was the first machine to go faster than a galloping horse!
- Flying Ideas: George Cayley studied aerodynamics and designed an early aeroplane, even making a crewed flight. His work was key to understanding how things fly.
Episode Four: Modern Medicine
In the 1700s, staying healthy was a big worry, and people often used old superstitions. This episode shows how the Industrial Revolution brought scientific thinking to medicine, leading to huge improvements in health.
- Science in Remedies: Modern medicine began when William Withering scientifically studied traditional folk remedies (old home cures).
- Cleaner Air: Stephen Hales invented a ventilator that helped reduce airborne diseases. It was like the first air-conditioning system!
- Discovering Oxygen: Joseph Priestley discovered "dephlogisticated air" (which we now call Oxygen) through his experiments.
- Fighting Smallpox: Edward Jenner developed vaccinations after noticing that milkmaids didn't get Smallpox. This was a massive breakthrough for public health.
- Listening to the Body: The stethoscope, invented by René Laennec, allowed doctors to listen to what was happening inside a patient's body. Charles Thackerer used it to study how factory work affected people's health.
- Understanding the Body: The Anatomy Act made it easier for doctors like William Hunter to study the human body, leading to huge advances in medical knowledge.
Episode Five: War Machine
This episode looks at how the Industrial Revolution changed warfare, making battles less about just soldier training and more about new technology.
- Clever Soldiers: Riflemen were the first soldiers to wear green for camouflage and were taught to think for themselves in battle.
- Accurate Guns: Rifling (grooves inside the barrel) was used on the Baker rifle by Ezekiel Baker. This made guns much more accurate and able to shoot further.
- Factory-Made Weapons: Marc Brunel and Henry Maudslay created a mechanised production line. This changed how things were made in factories forever.
- Perfect Parts: The Enfield rifle was the first mass-produced item made with interchangeable-parts. This meant if a part broke, you could just swap it out!
- Underwater Warfare: The torpedo, delivered by David Bushnell's Turtle (an early submarine), was the start of underwater warfare.
- Better Cannons: John Iron Mad Wilkinson's boring machine made it possible to cast cannons and steam engine parts much more accurately.
- Iron Ships: Wrought-iron was used to build the iron-hulled HMS Warrior, which also had powerful rifled Armstrong Guns.
Episode Six: City Living
As Britain's economy grew during the Industrial Revolution, cities changed dramatically. This episode shows how new ideas created the modern city life we know today.
- Planned Homes: Architects like Thomas Cubitt designed new houses in London's West End that were built in a standardised way, often with built-in services like water.
- Modern Bathrooms: High-pressure water from cast-iron pipes, made possible by the 1817 Metropolitan Paving Act, led to the development of the modern bathroom.
- Shopping Choices: Arcades and parades with flat shop fronts and big plate glass windows gave people more consumer choice when shopping.
- New Ways to Sell: Marketing really took off with people like Josiah Wedgwood and Thomas Bentley. They used catalogues, billboards, and door-to-door salesmen to sell their goods.
- Faster News: The steam press, invented by Friedrich Koenig and Andreas Friedrich Bauer, allowed newspapers like The Times to print many more copies much faster.
- Colorful Homes: New, bright dyes like the chrome yellow discovered by Louis Vauquelin led to the rise of interior design, making homes more colorful and stylish.
Companion book
There is also a book that goes along with the TV series, offering more details about the amazing changes of the Industrial Revolution.
