Third, the Industrial Revolution brought us fossil fuels. We’ve already covered their role in generating power and enabling us to move beyond muscle and water, but there is far more to oil and coal than that. Derivatives of the pair of “power fuels” often have nothing to do with energy at all: paints, pigments, antibiotics, solvents, painkillers, nylon, detergents, glass, inks, fertilizers, and plastics.
