The work of Abraham Darby is considered by many to be the cornerstone of the Industrial Revolution. His development of the coke-burning blast furnace in 1709 made possible the mass production of commercial grade iron. It, along with later improvements made by others, led to the evolution of the iron and steel industries, and the many industries they spawned in turn-- aircraft, automobiles, shipbuilding, and construction.

Darby was born near Dudley, Worcestershire, England in 1678. The iron industry at this time was hampered by its inability to produce sustained amounts of heat at high temperatures necessary for continuous smelting operations. In the seventeenth century, charcoal was the leading fuel for stoking (feeding) furnaces. As demand for iron grew, so did the demand for charcoal. This drove the price for charcoal higher. Also, soft charcoal was incapable of physically supporting large amounts of iron ore inside the furnaces.

Darby had been...