L&MR announced a competition.
The prize was a massive 500 pounds (in the year 1829).
About 10,000 spectators turned up to see the competition.
They were not invited. They just came because they heard about it.
L&MR or Liverpool & Manchester Railway had tramlines spanning the entire region.
Back then, the region was producing immense amounts of cotton.
This cotton needed to be transported to the ports.
Here’s the catch: there were no locomotives back then!
Train wagons were pulled by horses or using just gravity.
Cotton was being produced in increasing quantities. Demand for trams and wagons was increasing.
L&MR felt like they needed a faster way to move wagons.
The competition was for that – to build a locomotive.
A 1.5-mile section of track was built. Competitors had to build a locomotive that would cover this stretch 10 times with a certain load.
The amount of fuel and water consumed would be measured.
The winner would be decided based on reliability, efficiency, and power.
10 entrants filed.
After lots of trials, some locomotives broke down. Some were fast but not reliable.
One winner finally emerged. It was called the Rocket.
L&MR was impressed. They ordered 10 locomotives.
And with that – trains were born!
Before the Rocket and trains, goods were transported using horse-drawn carriages and on boats in canals.
People traveled on foot. Or in horse carriages (if they could afford them).
What caused the locomotive train engine to be invented in 1829?
Why then? Why not before, and why not after?
For this, we have to go back a little over 100 years before 1929.
Before Steam Engine
For most of history, if force needed to be exerted, it was done using hands. That or using animals.
Think of plowing the fields using oxen.
But then, a small change happened.
About 2,000 years ago, someone realized that flowing water could be used to rotate things with force.
The watermill was invented. About 1,000 years later, the same was discovered to be true for wind – the windmill was invented.
Instead of crushing grains using hands, the power of the wind and water could be used.
The rotational energy from water and wind could also be used for metalwork, textile making, and water pumping.
It saved humans an immense amount of time.
It freed up their day – for other activities.
But for this to work, the mills needed a source of water or wind.
Both of these were temperamental. Water could stop flowing during cold winters or during summers. Wind could stop blowing practically any time.
Steam Engine
In the early 1700s, someone invented a very crude steam engine.
For the first time, burning coal produced movement.
This early steam engine was extremely inefficient. It needed a source of cold water and coal to function.
So, it was mostly used in coal mines with excess water.
Back then, mining for coal was stopped after a certain depth.
There was too much water in the mines.
These early steam pumps were used to pump this water out. It allowed coal mines to be deeper.
In effect, the steam pumps were powering themselves!
Efficiency improved in a few decades. It needed less coal. And even less water.
It was at this point that the steam engine really started picking up.
With improved efficiency, it relied less on water. It could finally be placed away from water and coal sources.
Factories, textile mills, and mines. These were the first industries that started replacing manual labor with steam power.
The steam machines were still heavy and required lots of coal and water.
Most industries were skeptical at first. But in the longer run, it was found to be more economical and efficient to use steam power for many applications.
Somewhere in the early 1800s, steam engines grew even more efficient.
That allowed smaller steam engines to produce greater power.
Eventually, they became light and powerful enough to support their own weight – and some extra weight.
This is when we saw the birth of the steam-powered locomotive!
Industrial Evolution
The steam engine enabled mechanical energy.
Until this invention, most force came from human effort, animals, or wind/water mills.
Steam engines replaced that.
The effect of this? A lot more work got done in less time.
More iron was being mined. More clothes were being produced. More paper was being printed. Everything was just – more – and cheaper.
This set off a chain reaction.
It powered evolution in technology itself.
Cheaper coal and steel led to more inventions. It led to more efficient engines.
It allowed tons more goods to be transported – trains and steamships carried unimaginable amounts of load.
It freed human time for other activities – like inventing more technology.
Agriculture was automated. Tractors and threshers vastly improved the amount of food produced – reducing food prices.
It fueled scientific curiosity.
Scientists discovered liquid funds like petrol and diesel because of that. And the modern petrol/diesel engines were invented as a result.
Rotational energy from coal-burning steam engines led to electricity.
In fact, even today a huge chunk of electricity comes from coal-burning power plants.
For hundreds of years, we led lives that looked relatively similar.
And then, someone figured out a way to make machines that exerted force.
That led to where we are – the industrial revolution.
Computer Revolution
A few decades ago, the humble calculator became cheap enough to reach neighborhood shops.
It signaled the arrival of a new kind of device – a device thought computed or calculated.
Steam engines started reducing mechanical effort for us – they reduced the load on our muscles.
Calculators started doing that for our brains – reducing thinking load.
Since then, computers have become blisteringly faster.
The little computer we carry in our pockets today is more powerful than the computers used to send a man to the moon in the 1960s.
Every year, computing has only gotten faster, more efficient, and more reliable.
The age of AI is a part of the computing revolution.
It is making it even easier for us to think – we are able to think more and get more work done.
Steam engines, petrol engines, and electric motors were invented over centuries.
Now, we may argue that we are in the middle of a computing revolution – similar to the engine revolution.
How will things change?
What will the future look like?
How will the compute evolution change the standard of living of human beings?
The images above were generated using AI tools.
Quick Takes
+The RBI reduced the interest rate by 0.25% to 6.25%. The last change was in Feb 2023, when the central bank raised the interest rate by 0.25%.
+RBI has also announced 2 new official domains for banks and finance sector firms to reduce financial fraud. Indian banks will have ‘.bank.in’, and financial firms will have ‘.fin.in’ as official domains (currently, it is just .in or .com). Companies can start registrations for the same in April.
+India’s forex reserves rose by $1.05 billion to $630.61 billion in the week that ended on 31 Jan.
+UK’s central bank reduced its interest rate by 0.25% to 4.5% in Feb. The last rate cut was in Nov (by 0.25%).
+Zomato board approved a change in the legal name of the company to Eternal Ltd. The brand name ‘Zomato’ will remain unchanged.
+SEBI will allow retail investors to participate in algorithmic trading (algo trading) from August. This facility will be available through stock brokers.
+India’s manufacturing PMI rose to 57.7 in Jan (vs 56.4 in Dec). This means that manufacturing activity in India expanded at a faster rate in Jan than in the previous month.
+China’s manufacturing PMI fell to 50.1 in Jan (vs 50.5 in Dec). This means that manufacturing activity in China expanded at a slower rate in Jan than in the previous month.
+Workspace solutions firm, WeWork India has filed draft papers with SEBI for an IPO.
6-Day-Course
Theme of the week: makeup of investment portfolio
We’ve reached the end of this week’s course that started on Monday. Here’s a test you should take. Get pen and paper!
Question 1:
During bear market phases, which asset is generally considered the best to give good returns with low risk?
-Real estate
-Gold
-FD
Question 2:
Real estate gives good returns almost every time because the population is increasing.
-True
-False
Question 3:
Which of the stock markets have consistently given high returns over a long period of time?
-European
-Chinese
-Indian
Question 4:
It is recommended to keep all your money in equity markets in a bull phase. Because cash and deposits have high opportunity costs.
-True
-False
Question 5:
An unconventional way of investing is ____________. It involves investing in assets like paintings, rare coins, etc.
-Alternate investing
-Unconventional investing
-Art investing
Answers:
Q1: Gold
Q2: False
Q3: Indian
Q4: False
Q5: Alternate investing
The information contained in this Groww Digest is purely for knowledge. This Groww Digest does not contain any recommendations or advice.
Team Groww Digest