The Nineteenth Century: Century of the Machine

Overview

The steam engine transformed travel and transport as railways and steamships encircled the earth. Thomas Cook invented mass tourism. Darwin's Theory of Evolution and book The Origin of Species challenged religious certainties. Transatlantic steamers and railroads enabled unprecedented immigration and expansion westwards into and across America. China was unable to withstand the technology and weapons of the West and was humiliated by the Opium Wars. Industrialization in Europe, USA and Japan had huge social consequences. The pace of work changed, damp and filth led to disease and workers struggled for political representation.