106 HISTORY AND SIGNIFICANCE OF SCIENCE 



it spread throughout western Europe and to the New World. 

 Not only were all the old lines of industry remade, but 

 wholly new industries were created just as in our own times. 

 This involved a complete social reorganization, the effects 

 of which have extended to the present day and the adjust- 

 ment to which is not yet complete. There are also many 

 points of interest in the revolution in methods of agricul- 

 ture which proceeded side by side with that of industry. 

 This was stimulated both by the increasing urban popula- 

 tions, with their demands for food, and by the correspond- 

 ing reduction of the available farm labor. As is the case 

 with the industrial situation, betterment of agricultural 

 methods and the social adjustments entailed by excessive 

 urbanization are problems which have continued to the 

 twentieth century. Viewing the entire situation, two fea- 

 tures are in evidence: The Industrial Revolution has pro- 

 ceeded with unbroken continuity from its beginning in the 

 eighteenth century; and this revolution was initiated almost 

 exclusively by practical inventors, who harnessed the forces 

 of nature that they might secure wealth for themselves. The 

 eighteenth century was not lacking in men who understood 

 the visions of Roger Bacon, of Leonardo, and of Francis 

 Bacon, each of whom had foreseen the possibilities in man's 

 control over nature. But it was reserved for the nineteenth 

 century to develop an appreciation of scientific theory in 

 relation to industry. So long as the relatively easy and 

 simple things remained undone, the inventor was the dom- 

 inant figure. He still retains his place in the adaptation of 

 established principles to new combinations of circumstances. 

 But the situation at the present day has become vastly 

 more complicated. 



The material progress of the nineteenth century, based 

 upon this harnessing of the forces of nature, is a familiar 

 story. The steam engine came to perform the labor of mil- 

 lions of men and made possible a production, and hence a 

 consumption, of goods which was previously inconceivable. 



