Economic And Cultural Impacts Of Famous Inventors Creations

There have been certain inventions and technological changes that have influenced the world in more ways than we may realize. Many scientific changes and new forms of energy reform the world socially, economically, and culturally. Whether it’s an invention or an idea, it can change more than just science. There are a countless examples of this from throughout history including many intellectuals who changed the world as well.

James Watt

We have all learned about the Industrial Revolution over and over in history classes. There were a few important key inventions to it. James Watt’s modern steam machine happened to be one of those. It is even said that this invention kick started the whole Industrial Revolution!

James Watt was born in January of 1736 in Greenock, Renfrewshire. This Scottish inventor began his career with trying to reform Thomas Newcomen’s steam engine that he viewed as inefficient. Both machines were “atmospheric engines,” which means the steam was under 5psl. But, Watt improved Newcomen’s machine by inventing the separate condenser.

The separate condenser was,”a new method of lessening steam and fuel consumption in fire engines,” as its patent given on January 5th of 1769 said. This is said to be the greatest single improvement made to the steam engine. It burned ⅔ less coal than others. It may not seem like a big deal, but this little object transformed the world by leading to many more inventors wanting to make other things more efficient.

James Watt is mostly known for his steam machine. However, his double-acting machine was one of the most important inventions of the industrial revolution as well. This invention helped advanced manufacturing and transportation. It also influenced many later inventions.

The last one of James Watt’s famous inventions is the Sun-and-Planet gear. This was another asset to the steam machine, invented in 1781. Watt wanted to invent a rotary motion for the steam machine. In this, a shaft produces two revolutions for each cycle of the engine. This improved the steam machine greatly.

Eli Whitney

Cotton was a crucial good in society back then and still is today. Eli Whitney was born on December 8th of 1765 in Westborough, Massachusetts. Without a key invention by him in the Industrial Revolution, cotton picking wouldn’t have been near as efficient throughout the years. This invention is the cotton gin.

The cotton gin is a machine that quickly and easily separates cotton fibers from their seeds. Although the cotton gin made their lives much easier, it offered an excuse for southerners to keep slaves. Despite its success, the cotton gin made little money for Whitney due to patent infringement issues. Eli Whitney died January 8th of 1825.

Henry Bessemer

Henry Bessemer was born on January 19th of 1813. As the son of an engineer, he was skilled with engineering from a young age. Bessemer’s most popular and important idea and invention was the first process for manufacturing steel cheaply.

Bessemer came up with a method that no one else had yet which brought him to many ironmasters’ attention. He was soon granted many licenses. Throughout the years, his method was altered a bit, however, without his general idea, the world of engineering wouldn’t be the same today.

Louis Pasteur

Louis Pasteur, born December 27, 1822 in Dole, France, is the inventor of something still used on almost every product on today’s store shelves, Pasteurization. Without Pasteur starting the study of molecular asymmetry, people wouldn’t have been informed that microorganisms cause disease, which would change the whole course of medical history.

Pasteur began the process of pasteurization on things like beer,wine, and even silk industries in France. He even invented a vaccine for anthrax and rabies. Louis Pasteur’s discoveries have saved countless lives throughout the years by leading to better public sanitization and groundbreaking medical changes.

Thomas Edison

Born on February 11th of 1847 in Milan Ohio, Thomas Edison was one of the most important inventors of all time. He started the invention of things like the phonograph, the incandescent light bulb, and the motion picture camera. He had an impressive 1,093 patents in his 84 years… 389 for electric light and power,195 for the phonograph, 150 for the telegraph, 141 for storage batteries, and 34 for the telephone.

The invention of the phonograph came from Edison trying to improve things on the telegraph. While working on the telegraph, he figured out how to record sound on tin foil-coated cylinders. He created a machine in 1877 that had two needles which could record and playback. In 1879, Edison constructed his first incandescent light bulb. It worked in a way that delayed the filament from melting. Lastly, in 1888, the first motion picture camera was invented by Thomas and his assistant with the Kinetograph and Kinetoscope.

Without Edison’s ideas and inventions, we wouldn’t have half of the technology we have today. For example, we wouldn’t have modern phones, cameras, or even light bulbs. Thomas Edison’s inventions are some of the most important of all time.

The inventions/ideas by James Watt, Eli Whitney, Henry Bessemer, Louis Pasteur, Thomas Edison, and many more have had an influence on much more than just science. They all had an affect on people’s social lives at the time.

Social Influences

Social means,”relating to society or its organization.” An example of a Scientific Revolution inventions that influenced the social lives of people is James Watt’s modern steam engine. We call this the “modern” steam machine because it was improved from the original version to produce less smoke and be more efficient. All inventors today strive to make their inventions as environmentally efficient as possible. James Watt’s way of thinking made people of society care more about inventions being efficient.

By that same law, James Watt invented the separate condenser. This invention burned two-thirds less fuel than others like it. This invention and the thought process behind it was taken on by a lot of people in society after it.

Without a doubt, Eli Whitney’s cotton gin caused an uproar in the society of the past. The cotton gin was a great idea, but at the time, people were trying to stop slavery which the cotton gin promoted in some ways. The cotton gin had a big effect on people socially because society was already arguing over slavery. This invention kind of threw gas on the fire of that.

Henry Bessemer’s idea of manufacturing steel cheaply brought along many changes in society. He caught people’s attention with his new cheap, efficient way of doing things. He was granted many licenses to allow him to make a change with his ideas and influence others.

Louis Pasteur’s ideas and inventions changed society forever. His invention of pasteurization is still used every day today. It made people aware that they they needed to improve public sanitization. This has decreased the amount of sickness and spread of disease around the world an extreme amount.

Thomas Edison’s inventions probably had the biggest impact on today’s society. He started the idea of the telephone, camera, and incandescent light bulb. All of those go into our smartphones today. Without them, our society would be completely different.

Economic Influences

Economic is the word used to describe,”the social science that studies the production,distribution, and consumption of goods and services.” The inventions of James Watt, Eli Whitney,Henry Bessemer, Louis Pasteur, and Thomas Edison had a huge impact on their economy. Without their inventions, our economy today wouldn’t be the same.

Watt’s inventions brought on many economic changes. The economy of his time was greatly improved by his efficient ideas. For example, his invention of things like the separate condenser helped the economy by bringing down the demand for coal.

Bessemer helped the economy grow a lot with his idea. Steel was a very important and popular good. A way of making it cheaper was a great improvement to the economy.

Cotton was already a huge part of the United States’ economy, especially in the south. However, Eli Whitney’s invention helped the cotton economy grow even larger. It sped up the process of cotton production which strengthened the economy.

Pasteurization was and still is a very essential part of the economy. It ensured that the economic goods were safe. It also preserved them for longer.

Thomas Edison’s inventions also greatly improved the economy. Everyone was eager to get their hands on this new technology. Other countries were even interested in them. They have an even bigger effect on the economy today with the inventions of smartphones, based off of Edison’s inventions.

Cultural/Demographic Influences

Demographic means, ”relating to the structure of populations.” For example, how many men or women or rich or poor people live in a certain area. Watt’s inventions could have influenced people to want to live somewhere that has and uses efficient ideas and inventions like his.

Culturally, Watt mostly just made a difference by bringing on a new way of thinking and living to the people around him. He played a role in the Scottish Enlightenment. Watt played a big role in the Scientific Revolution as well.

The cotton gin actually brought along many demographic changes. The appeal of all the money being made from the cotton production in the south caught the attention of entrepreneurs and rich business owners up north. They saw purchasing a cotton gin and moving down south as a smart investment. Also, this promoted the way of African Americans mostly living down south as slaves at the time.

Cotton was a huge part of the south’s culture at the time that the cotton gin was invented. You could also say that slavery was a part of the south’s culture. The invention of the cotton gin basically just went along with the culture of the south at the time by promoting slavery and the production of cotton.

Steel becoming bigger and cheaper to make definitely had an affect on people moving. People from other places saw the steel industry thriving because of Bessemer’s invention. They saw it as a good investment and moved up North to have a job in manufacturing steel.

The invention of pasteurization definitely changed the culture of the people who had access to it. They were more sanitary. Others who did not have access to it may have moved to areas where they could have access to pasteurization and other forms of public sanitization.

The culture around the world wouldn’t be the same without Edison’s inventions. Imagine how different life would be without being able to send text messages and contact people from anywhere you please. These have a huge affect demographically as well because everyone wants to live in areas where there is access to the latest technology. This shows today through areas like New York that have rapidly increasing technology having a large population.

There are many examples of technology or ideas that make people want to live in a certain area. For example, most people today would rather live in a big city with high speed internet and uber than in an isolated country area with no service or food at your fingertips. Today we can clearly see the pattern that the areas with the highest population have access to the best technology.

Influences on Today’s Society

Although there are many examples of science and technological changes influencing people in the past, there are plenty today too. For example, a social influence in today’s society is that there are strong liberal areas and strong traditional areas, resulting from certain new science like abortion. Liberals and traditional people are clearly split up into different areas and social classes throughout the united states.

Culture definitely still has a big influence on today’s society as well. There are distinct cultures throughout the United States like the south which is referred to as the “Bible Belt.” Or the west coast which is far from it. Peoples’ culture and even religion influences their thoughts on new technology and science in today’s society.

Technology and science probably have the biggest effect on the economy today. There are areas with weak or strong economies throughout the world. This is a result of how up-to-date areas are on technology and science because the economy is always needing reform.

Some areas clearly aren’t as high-tech as others in our world today. Like a “third world” country compared to a “first world country.” For example, Haiti compared to Japan.

To sum things up, scientific and technological changes and new forms of energy have caused social, economic, and cultural demographic changes all throughout history and still do today. I have covered intellectuals of the past with their specific inventions and effects as well as broad details about how today’s society is still affected by things like this. There are many similarities that can be seen between how these things have affected society in the past and how they affect it today. Technology and science always have and always will affect the world’s social life, economy, and cultural/demographic ways.