4. Industrial Revolution 工业革命 （1764-1790）

Following James Watt’s improvement of the steam engine in 1764, almost every year in the late 18th century brought a new revolution. The science of chemistry was founded by Lavoisier; Hutton introduced the principles of geology; Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations founded economics; Mozart developed the forms of classical music; Burke and Hamilton/Madison defined British-American political theory; Blackstone’s Commentaries did the same for law; photosynthesis was discovered. Technical advances included electrolysis, the ship’s chronometer, chemical processing, tool-making machines, and the water frame.

在詹姆斯 瓦特于1764年蒸汽机发明之后，18世纪末的每一年几乎都有新的重大变革。拉瓦锡创立了化学；赫胥黎提出了地理学的原理；亚当斯密的《国富论》创立了经济学；莫扎特发展了古典音乐的形式；柏克和汉密尔顿/麦迪逊定义了英美政治理论；布莱克斯通的《英格兰法律解释》发展了法理学；光合作用被发现。技术进步包括电解、船上的精密计时器、化学反应、机床和水力纺纱机等等。