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James Watt
James Watt was an 18th-century inventor and instrument maker. Although Watt invented and improved a number of industrial technologies, he is best remembered for his improvements to the steam engine. -
Socialism
Socialism is a political, social, and economic philosophy encompassing a range of economic and social systems characterised by social ownership, social control, or socialization of the means of production. -
Cotton Gin
Eli Whitney's most famous invention was the cotton gin, which enabled the rapid separation of seeds from cotton fibres. Built in 1793, the machine helped make cotton a profitable export crop in the southern United States and further promoted the use of slavery for cotton cultivation. -
Charles Darwin
British naturalist Charles Darwin is credited for the theory of natural selection. While he is indeed most famous, Alfred Wallace, simultaneously came to a similar conclusion and the two corresponded on the topic. -
Karl Marx
Karl Marx was a German philosopher during the 19th century. He worked primarily in the realm of political philosophy and was a famous advocate for communism. -
Alfred Nobel
Alfred Nobel was an inventor, entrepreneur, scientist and businessman who also wrote poetry and drama. His varied interests are reflected in the prize he established and which he lay the foundation for in 1895 when he wrote his last will, leaving much of his wealth to the establishment of the prize. -
Thomas Edison
One of the most famous and prolific inventors of all time, Thomas Alva Edison exerted a tremendous influence on modern life, contributing inventions such as the incandescent light bulb, the phonograph, and the motion picture camera, as well as improving the telegraph and telephone. -
Communism
Communism is a philosophical, social, political, and economic ideology and movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society. Communist ideology supports widespread universal social welfare. Improvements in public health and education, provision of child care, provision of state-directed social services, and provision of social benefits will, theoretically, help to raise labor productivity and advance a society in its development. -
Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism is a family of normative ethical theories that prescribe actions that maximize happiness and well-being for all affected individuals. -
Social Darwinism
Social Darwinism refers to various theories and societal practices that applied biological concepts of natural selection and survival of the fittest to sociology, economics and politics, and which were largely defined by scholars in Western Europe and North America in the 1870s. Social Darwinism has been used to justify imperialism, racism, eugenics and social inequality at various times over the past century and a half. -
Dynamo
Dynamos were invented as a replacement for batteries. The commutator is essentially a rotary switch. It consists of a set of contacts mounted on the machine's shaft, combined with graphite-block stationary contacts, called "brushes," because the earliest such fixed contacts were metal brushes. -
Automobile
The automobile gave people more personal freedom and access to jobs and services. It led to development of better roads and transportation. Industries and new jobs developed to supply the demand for automobile parts and fuel. These included petroleum and gasoline, rubber, and then plastics. -
Airplane
From its first successful flight to its ability to fly faster than the speed of sound, the airplane has made the world accessible to everyone. It is quite important because it allowed for rapid transportation of trade goods and weapons become readily available to the world. -
Assembly Line
Henry Ford installed the first moving assembly line for the mass production of an entire automobile. His innovation reduced the time it took to build a car from more than 12 hours to one hour and 33 minutes. It's significant because it allows for the efficient mass production of relatively simple parts, which lowers the cost of goods. -
Social Democracy
Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy.The history of social democracy stretches back to the 19th-century socialist movement. It came to advocate an evolutionary and peaceful transition from capitalism to socialism, using established political processes, in contrast to the revolutionary socialist approach to transition associated with orthodox Marxism.
