Four Industrial Revolutions

The history of mechanical engineering goes back to the time when the man first tried to make machines. We can call the earlier rollers, levers and pulleys, for example, the work of mechanical engineering.

Mechanical engineering as we understand it today starts from the first Industrial Revolution.

People have labeled as "revolutions" three episodes in the industrial history of the world and now we are entering the fourth.

The first industrial revolution took place in England between 1760 an 1840. Metal became the main material of the engineer instead of wood, and steam gave man great reserves of power. This power could drive not only railway engines and ships but also the machines which built them.

In the second revolution, from 1880 to 1920, electricity was the technical driving force. It provided power for factories that was easier and cheaper to control than steam. It was marked also by the growing importance of science-based industries such as chemicals and electrical goods, and the use of scientifically-designed production methods such as semi-automatic assembly lines.

The third industrial revolution coincided with the advent of automation in its inflexible form. In this revolution, the main features were advances in the control of manufacturing processes so that things could be made more cheaply, with greater precision and (often) with fewer people. And this change which occurred around the middle of this century also featured a new machine that was to greatly influence the world, the electronic computer.

The fourth industrial revolution will be characterized by automated machines that are versatile and programmable and can make different things according to different sets of computer instructions. It will be characterized by flexible, automated machinery, the most interesting example of which are robots.

Vocabulary

3. Match the words from the text with the meanings (1-7) below:

a. label 1.affect

b. provide 2. make a product

c. advance 3. capable of being bent

d. flexible 4. to supply with what is needed.

e. influence 5. to name

f. manufacture 6.modern

Writing and Speaking

3.Sum up the information from the text and fill in the table:

№	Year	Main features
1.

4.Work with a partner. Discuss with your partner the questions below:

1. Does an industrial revolution make always good for people?

2. What do you think will be expected results of using robots?

Unit 7

Computers

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