people alive in 1913 were further away from the world of their great-grandparents who lived in 1813 than those were from their ancestors in 1513.

and for the first time in history, their success was shaped by close links and rapid feedbacks between research and commercialization.

ceilings were freed for installation of better illumination and ventilation, steps that further aided in boosting labor and capital productivity.

numerous examples documenting slow improvements in the efficiency and power of waterwheels, in greater maneuverability of sails, or in higher productivity and lower use of fuel in metal smelting

But the first area where mechanization, and other new modes of production, made the greatest difference to an average consumer was in the production of food. The combination of better machines (inexpensive steel plows, efficient harvesters and threshers), increased fertilizer use, improved storage, and cheaper long-distance transportation brought s

after millennia of dependence on just three basic sources of energy—combustion of fuels (biomass or fossil), animate metabolism (human and animal muscles), and conversion of indirect solar flows (water and wind)—everything changed in the course of a single decade.

the widespread adoption of new prime movers have invariably long lead times—for

chemical wood pulping process (patented in 1867) opened the way for mass production of inexpensive paper. And by 1867 Alfred Nobel was ready to produce his dynamite,

Mechanization made mass production the norm in all modernizing economies as it began to deliver food surpluses and affordable consumer goods while cutting the labor hours and enhancing the quality of life.