Overview

Inventors in the eighteenth century worked to make life easier. Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) introduced bifocal eyeglasses and a stove that warmed a whole room. The three-color print process and wood-pulp paper brought us newspapers, magazines, and wallpaper. The piano was invented and so was drip coffee. Joseph Priestley (1733-1804) gave us soda pop. A popular appetite for comfort, convenience, and amusement was created that has come to dominate the populations of developed countries, both culturally and economically.

Background

Daily life today is full of small comforts and conveniences that originated in the eighteenth century. Some of these, such as Franklin's bifocals, stemmed from personal needs. Others, like Joseph Priestley's soda pop, for example, came about by accident, as byproducts of research. Moreover, clever entrepreneurs such as Robert Barker, who invented the panorama, consciously pursued the market opportunities that emerged in rapidly...