Engineering

Denis Papin built the first steam engine in 1705 and, by 1800, Boulton and Watt had built 451steam engines. In 1870, the British produced 4 million tons of coke for iron and steel production and locomotive and industrial engines.

Axel Cronstedt identified tungsten in 1757. Tungsten carbide, proved almost as hard as diamond making it invaluable for cutting tools.

Li Chun's Zhaozhou Bridge, in China, was finished in 605 CE and it is still in use.

The Kap Shui Mun Bridge, Hong Kong, completed in 1997, has a main span of 430 metres (1,410 ft).

In 1886, P.Héroult and C.Hall both dissolved alumina in cryolite, to make pure aluminum by electrolysis.

E.Fouché and C.Picard developed oxygen-acetylene torches for welding and cutting steel in 1903.

Henry Wickham smuggled 70,000 rubber tree seeds from Brazil, in 1876.

Charles Goodyear developed vulcanization in 1840 and by 2017 the world produced 28 million tons of rubber; more than half of which was synthetic.

WHO THE HELL ARE WE? is a series of short books and videos describing the evolution of civilization.

Almost everyone on the planet is five times wealthier than their ancestors only 50 years ago. This astonishing phenomenon has also improved health, education, and longevity. The cause; an explosive growth in ideas and productivity.

It began when we learned to control fire, evolved articulate speech and stumbled onto the way to create infinite wealth; free trade. The discovery of agriculture made us richer but we also learned how to destroy wealth. Great civilization grew up but then disappeared leaving only incredible ruins and ideas.

Later books detail some of the ideas and developments that increased the average life span from about 40 years to more than 80 and the average world income from less than $3 to more than $33 per person per day (and to $140 per day in some countries).