Page 81 - SST Class 05

to pull eight coal wagons at a speed of about 6 km per hour. Today this speed may
look very slow, but it was a milestone in further development. In 1829, he built another
quicker locomotive, the Rocket . It could go up to a Know It!
speed of 50 km per hour and could carry a wagon
v Karl Benz of Germany was the first
with 30 passengers. This was an important
person to make a petrol car in 1888.
improvement in the railway engine.

James Watt Steam engine George Stephenson Blucher engine An industrial area

Mass Production
The steam engine now made it easy to automate machinery. This meant that the tools

which had to be operated by hand could now run on steam. It aided in mass industrial
production too. Now, many industrial operations came to be undertaken by machines.
New machines were invented to meet new needs in different fields. This led to a large
production. Moreover, new machines needed less energy and manpower, while it
ensured a uniform quality of goods. This made the goods cheaper and ensured their
better availability.

As more machines were introduced in industries, the ideas of division of labour and
specialisation in production came into being. Larger production meant that new
markets were needed to sell the goods, while more of raw material was also needed to
manufacture goods. This expanded the scope of trade, transportation and
communication. As more and more industries were set up, more workers sought
employment in them, who now lived near their factories; this was how industrial

towns came into being. The very shape of the world was undergoing a change with
this phase of development which is called Industrial Revolution.
Today, very large and complicated machines are used in different industries which can
produce goods in a very large number.

Machine Age : the present age, when machines are used aplenty.
alloy : a mixture of two or more metals to produce another metal.
Bronze Age : the age about 5,000 years ago when bronze was primarily used.
Iron Age : the present age when iron is abundantly used.
Industrial Revolution : the period in 18th and 19th centuries in England when machines began to
be used in industry.

The Machine Age 81