Book Review: “Reflecting on History: How the Industrial Revolution Created Our Way of Life” by Peter H. Spitz
Read Peter H. Spitz’s Reflecting on History: How the Industrial Revolution Created Our Way of Life and you’ll never look at a microwave, a plate glass window, antibiotics, or your computer the same way again. Spitz tells the origin stories of these and over 20 other groundbreaking inventions in this delightful, enlightening book.
Spitz is an inventor and an entrepreneur himself — and his experience and lifelong passion for the subject shows. He’s candid about what inspired his investigation, which makes the storytelling even more appealing. He recounts a pivotal trip to the Hagley Museum in Delaware while on a consulting assignment for Dupont, where he realized that less than 300 years before, there was no electricity — “grinding energy was supplied by water wheels,” he notes. Another moment involved a remark his father-in-law, born in 1886, said about automobiles — and the shocking sign of steam engine-propelled vehicles where horse-drawn ones had been.
Throughout the book Spitz draws these kinds of parallels, making sure to bring the human element of wonder back into the story. Technology, the book reminds us, is a human invention, which is refreshing to consider, given this era when some humans wonder if their jobs will be replaced by machines.
And as Spitz tells it, the story of inventions is often the story of needing solutions without necessarily following the straightest line from point A to point B. Indeed, one of the hallmarks of the Industrial Revolution is that we didn’t necessarily know how we could change the world, we just knew we had to. Accidents abound, but it’s how they sparked the imagination of the scientists and inventors at work that made the difference. Without giving it away, there’s a great instance in which a melted candy bar leads to an appliance that literally changed how we cook.
Spitz’s perspective is founded on decades of experience in the trenches of invention and technology — his field was chemicals — and he’s been involved in procuring less than 7 patents. He gives plenty of airtime to the many individual inventors, some unsung, who toiled under challenging conditions, often working alone, at times, without support; clearly he identifies with them, and for good reason. These were hardy folk: persevering, endlessly curious, and at times, risking their own lives. Their contributions changed the fate of nations (see the story of the British textile industry, for one) and created modern society.
It’s fascinating, too, to learn how companies often adapted an innovation to serve another purpose, seeing opportunities with compelling foresight. Spitz reminds us that the intersection between innovation and business is, well, eternal — and that the oft-used phrase “to build a better mousetrap” deserves our gratitude and respect. For anyone interested in the intersection of history, technology, and civilization — whether young or old — this is a welcome introduction.
