ABSTRACT
For thousands of years, financial systems, roads, water systems, and continuity of government were the critical infrastructures of societies. As the dawn of the industrial age occurred, and with the introduction of mass production through machine-based automation, it was only a short time before critical infrastructures would be introduced to society. This dawn was brought about by scientific breakthroughs in many areas in the 1800s. These included increased understanding of mechanical systems and machines of all types and improved understanding of materials and in the area of mining, fostered largely by the invention of dynamite; breakthroughs in transportation associated with railroads; increased understanding of power generation through fossil fuels, such as coal in steam engines and, eventually, other petroleum-based sources; and the introduction of mathematics associated with optimization and motion studies.
