ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at the ripple effects of the last three industrial revolutions. In an industrial revolution, it is the larger changes that matter. The decline of the high street, bemoaned by the British media and the subject of periodic French legislation, has its roots in the decline of the monopolistic general store in the US during the second industrial revolution. The communication of the second industrial revolution has roots in the 18th century. The communication changes of the second industrial revolution also started to change politics. The ripple effects of technological change are widespread, but employment has to be the main focus of any industrial revolution. Economic data gives us a snapshot of the world by taking a look at the way it used to work. The Great Exhibition of 1851, between the first and second industrial revolutions, is perhaps the greatest symbol of technological worship.
