steam

On a 10 weeks sea trial in 1761, J.Harrison's chronometer was in error by less than 5 seconds.

In 1758, Dr E.Darwin replaced the ancient front axle design with two stub axles, pivoting near the wheel; now a feature of all vehicles.

F.G. Koenig used his steam driven press, to print an edition of The Times newspaper, in 1814.

The Rocket locomotive won the 1829 Rainhill Trials with a top speed of 30 miles per hour.

A steamship, from New York City took 115 days to reach to San Francisco in 1848.

In 1851, all telegraph stations in the USA were connected and by 1940 there were 40 telegraph lines across the Atlantic.

Corrugated paper was invented in 1856, to stiffen tall hats and, in 1874, Oliver Long inventing corrugated board.

In 1861, waterwheel powered air compressors and pneumatic drills, cut construction time by 16 years for a tunnel in Switzerland.

Fritz Haber's discovered a process to make ammonia fertilizer in 1914.

In 1887, Nicola Tesla invented the first AC motor.

In 1903, an automatic machine was able to make 2,500 bottles an hour.


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).