Science, Technology and the
Industrial Revolution
A Focus on Chemistry
Two Questions
• Musson and Robinson address these two
questions
– “What were the connections between Science
and the Industrial Revolution?”
– “And how was technological knowledge
developed and diffused?”
An Approach
• Their premise is that science and
technology (applied science, empiricism)
were fundamentally and necessarily
interrelated during the Industrial
Revolution.
• Neither science alone nor technology
alone drove the IR.
Scientific Discoveries and
Technological Inventions Fueled the
Industrial Revolution
• Scientific Revolution of the 16th and 17th
centuries  principles and laws of physics
(heat, work, energy, thermodynamics,
motion) and chemistry (elements,
reactions, thermochemistry)
• 1660 Establishment of the Royal Society
of London for Improving Natural
Knowledge
Science
• Science - from the Latin word, scientia, for
knowledge
• An intellectual enterprise whose goal is to
explain the natural world. This means the
development of principles and laws that
are tested and that can predict outcomes.
• The main areas of science are physics,
chemistry, geology, biology, astronomy.
Natural Philosophy
• This term was used widely in the 18th
century to mean the study of the natural
world.
• Musson argues that this study
encompasses what we call science and
technology. ( pp. 3-4)
Scientific Method
• Identify a question
• Propose a hypothesis
• Construct and carry out experiment to test
hypothesis
• Observe and record results
• Refine hypothesis
• Test refined hypothesis with more expts (repeat
as needed)
• Develop theory that is consistent with
observations and accepted laws of nature and
predicts future exptal outcomes
Technological Inventions and
Scientific Discoveries Fueled the
Industrial Revolution
• Industrial Revolution of the 18th-19th
centuries represented practical application
of science to increase agricultural and
industrial production, to create new
materials, processes and manufacturing
methods, to improve health, to create new
sources of power; in fact, a collaboration
of science and technology.
Technology
• Technology: from the Greek word technologia
for the study of craft.
• Application of scientific discoveries to practical
problems with the goal of increasing the quality
of life, productivity, improved health and
sanitation, etc.
• The success of a new technology is reflected in
goals above, adoption and adaptation rates,
minimalization of deleterious outcomes and
optimizing economic benefit.
English Patents of Invention Issued
1660-1890
• From Clow and Clow pp 2-3
• Note 1760 in particular
# Patents Grants vs Year
# English Patents
600
500
400
300
Series1
200
100
0
1640 1660
1680 1700 1720 1740
Year
1760 1780 1800
Science and Technology
• “The eighteenth century witnesses a
closer rapprochement between science
and technology. On the one hand, men of
science took a more active interest in
practical problems; on the other hand,
practical craftsmen or technicians showed
a new interest in the scientific aspects of
their work” (A. Wolf, History of Science,
Technology, and Philosophy, XVIIIth
Century, p 499; from Clow and Clow p 4)
The Distinction Fades
• In fact, science and technology are
collaborators and complementary.
– Science informs technological advances
through theories and principles (what is
possible).
– Technology provides vast experimentation
and results (what happened).
• See Musson and Robinson, pp. 3-4
Boundaries of Time and Space
• Scientific and technological advances are
based on prior discoveries and accepted
theories. They do not emerge without
historical context.
• In addition, these advances are made
across national and continental borders.
Knowledge is disseminated, supported or
rejected, refined and revised through
additional experimentation.
Synergy of Disciplines and
Industries
• We will note the synergy (impact and
progress is greater than sum of the parts).
• The synergy between the iron and coal
industries is a good example.
• Also the synergy between physics and
engineering in the invention of the steam
engine.
Skill Transfer
• The skills of a clockmaker were
fundamental to the making gear wheels for
the textile machines.
• The millwright working on windmills
brought essential skills to the steam
engine.
• Carpenters honed their skill on cart wheels
and then applied them to mill wheels.
Chemical Transformations
“Among the useful arts, it is difficult to select one
that is not very immediately dependent upon
chemical principles … bleaching, dyeing, calicoprinting, and tanning; in the arts of pottery, of
glass, and porcelain, or in the apparently more
remote operations of the brewer and distiller…oil
of vitriol, of preparing vinegar form wood, of
extracting pure acid from the lemon …
propagation and effects of heat…” (Quarterly
Journal, 1819, 7, 205; from Clow and Clow, p xi)
Other Dimensions
• This course is focused on science and
technology during the IR, and, in
particular, those with chemical basis.
• Obviously, this is not the whole picture.
• Economics
• Social changes
• Government
Government Actions
• Actions of government bodies played a
critical role in industrialization. They
– passed Acts giving privileges to investors in
industry (capitalists),
– provided awards for inventions,
– granted patents
– passed Acts of Enclosure
– lowered interest rates making cheap capital
available
References
• Clow, A; Clow; N. L. The Chemical
Revolution: A Contribution to Social
Technology; The Batchworth Press:
London,1952.
• Musson A. E.; Robinson, E. Science and
Technology in the Industrial Revolution;
University of Toronto, 1969.