Defining The Industrial Revolution

In this lecture, Prof. Emma Griffin (University of East Anglia) looks at what the Industrial Revolution was. Firstly, we’ll explore what pre-industrial society looked liked and how the economy functioned before mass production. We’ll then turn to look at the components of the Industrial Revolution. These were: (i) the use of new technology to mass produce products; (ii) the worldwide trade in commodities to fuel manufacturing; and (iii) the increased use of fossil fuels to meet energy needs.

[walterbennie]

Something really significant did happen!
James Watt invented the world's first PRACTICAL Steam Engine in Scotland.
It was a brand new scource of Power.
Up till then all we had were Water-wheels and Newcomen Atmospheric Pumps dotted here and there.
With Watt's Steam Engines, for the first time in human history, ( for good or bad ), every business could have it's own serious scource of Power wherever they wanted.
Canals, Water-wheels, coal, spinning and weaving, Factories, big business, capitalism etc. had all been around for millenia.
The only things that hadn't existed previously, in all of human history were James Watt's Steam Powered Engines.