During the 19^th century, the industrial revolution began and brought new forms of transportation, communication, and technology. Some of the cool new inventions were steamboats, steamed locomotive, telegraph, telephone, electric lighting, and the cotton gin—just  to name a few. In my opinion, one of the most important inventions was the telephone. The telephone was patented by Alexander Graham Bell who was a teacher at a school for the hearing impaired. The great thing about the telephone is that it was much faster and inexpensive. Within a year of the first phone call, a company by the name of Bell Telephone Company was established and calls were placed over one hundred miles away. Over 50,000 telephones were in use in the United States by the end of 1880. Another cool and important invention was the invention of electric lighting. This was important because lighting up streets and buildings allowed for more efficient opportunities like not having to worry about your candle blowing out. Thomas Edison developed a light bulb that was safe and inexpensive and allowed for improvement in electric lighting. Edison did not invent the light bulb but his improvement made electric lighting reliable.   

Even though the emergence of the industrial revolution had positive outcomes, not all changes were good. The revolution brought forth many challenges such as the high demand for fuel and other energy sources as well as more pollution. Researching the negative impact the industrial revolution brought forth, reminded me of the conversation we had in class about Frankenstein. In the book “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelly, two major themes were the concern with the use of knowledge for good or evil purposes and the invasion of technology into modern life. Victor Frankenstein—the creator of the monster—goes down the path of self-destruction with the help from the new and old knowledge he gained. Shelly’s main theme, in regards to technology, is the question: When do we know when technology is self-destructive and when do we know that technology is beneficial? For instance, Victor used his knowledge in a destructive way because he created a monster that was hurting the community. In contrast, new technology such as the telephone can be seen as beneficial because it allows for a better form of communication. Another concern of Shelly is the fact that technology is invading modern life. One of the main problems with this invasion is the fact that humans will become dependent on technology. The fact that Victor was very passionate about using science to bring the dead back resulted into his presence as a human being to crumble. He was more concerned about his new creation than anything. To conclude, the power of science and technology can either lead to a positive or negative outcome.