Let’s turn back now to 1804, the year that James Watt’s son Gregory died of tuberculosis. In May of that year, Napoleon Bonaparte was named Emperor of France; in July, Aaron Burr shot Alexander Hamilton. I understand if this all feels like ancient history, but it’s really not. As of 2025, around 117 billion modern humans have lived. Over 100 billion were born before 1804. Almost everything that ever happened to us, and almost everyone who ever happened, happened before 1804.
