ABSTRACT
The twentieth ce ntury was remarkable for the growth of industrial goods and services. Human ingenuity appears to be almost limitless in turning the natural substances of the planet into objects and processes that serve our needs, whims and fantasies. Upon such a platform we erect our economic order: producing, selling, buying, consuming. The computers, cars, televisions, aircraft, heating and cooling systems, plastics, fashion clothes, cosmetics, hamburgers, hi-fi players and building materials that define modern life are both coveted and accumulated.
