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Thomas Newcomen
British engineer and inventor who in 1712 developed the first practical steam engine which he called the Newcomen atmospheric engine. -
James Hargreaves
An English inventor who in 1764 devised the spinning jenny which made weaving an easier task in the Industrial Revolution. -
Adam Smith
Scottish economist and philosopher who is best known for writing his book ¨The Wealth of Nations¨ which he proposed the concept of Laissez-faire. He is also known as the ¨Father of Economics¨. -
James Watt
Scottish inventor who improved on the Newcomen steam engine with his Watt steam engine in 1781, which included two improvements with the separate condenser and rotary motion. This would be one of the most fundamental devices in the Industrial Revolution. -
Nicolas LeBlanc
French chemist who in 1790 developed the process for making soda ash (sodium carbonate) from common salt (sodium chloride). This process, which bears his name, became one of the most important industrial-chemical processes of the 19th century. -
Samuel Crompton
British inventor of the spinning mule (1779), which permitted large-scale manufacture of high-quality thread and yarn. -
Eli Whitney
An American inventor who invented the cotton gin in 1793 which was a device that highly streamlined the process of extracting fiber from cotton seeds. -
Robert Owen
British socialist who was successful in the cotton mill industry and is best known for his efforts to improve conditions in his textile factories in 1800. -
David Ricardo
British economist who was best known for contributing his labor theory of value which explained that the rate of profit for society as a whole depends on the amount of labor necessary to support the workers who farm "the most barren land that can still maintain agriculture". -
George Stephenson
Renowned as the ¨Father of Railways¨, George Stephenson constructed the first locomotive and railroad which made travelling faster and easier. -
Karl Marx
German philosopher and revolutionary socialist who formed the basis of Marxism, a concept of practicing communism. -
Elias Howe
An American inventor that revolutionized garment manufacturing in factories and homes with his invention, the sewing machine, in 1846.
