First, the Industrial Revolution not only gifted us with steel—less brittle, more workable and durable than iron—it gifted us with huge volumes of steel so that workers could access the raw metal without having to forge it themselves. With that messy, expensive, dangerous step taken care of, skilled workers could focus on adding value and specializing further. For the first time in human history, specialists in multiple fields could meaningfully collaborate. Interaction brought advancement. Second, the Industrial Revolution brought us precision manufacturing, both in tools and molds.
