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United Kingdom Leads the Information Revolution

High modernized, automated, data-driven, and technologically advanced-these best describe our society
nowadays, as evidenced by how information could be transferred or shared quickly. According to James R. Messenger
who proposed the Theory of Information Age in 1892, "the Information Age is a true new age based upon the
interconnection of computers via telecommunications, with these information systems operating on both a real-time
and as a need basis".
Science and technology in the United Kingdom has a long history, producing many important figures and
developments in the field. The United Kingdom has made significant contributions to the world economy, especially in
technology and industry. Since World War II, however, the United Kingdom’s most prominent exports have been
cultural, including literature, theatre, film, television, and popular music that draw on all parts of the country. Perhaps
Britain’s greatest export has been the English language, now spoken in every corner of the world as one of the leading
international mediums of cultural and economic exchange. (Britannica)
Great Britain is just a little island but a major power and became a powerful empire because it was the
birthplace and leading force in the Industrial Revolution, which was a cultural and economic shift from home-based
production, traditional agriculture, and manual labor to a system of factory-based manufacturing that included complex
machinery, continual technological growth, new energy sources, and developments in transportation. As the Industrial
Revolution took hold, Great Britain turned its attention from the rural home to the urban factory and from human power
to mechanical power, and it grew so wealthy that it was able to expand and extend its influences across seas and
continents.
Some of the major theories, discoveries and applications advanced by people from the United Kingdom are
given below. (Encyclopedia)
The development of empiricism and its role in scientific method, by Francis Bacon (1561–1626)
The laws of motion and illumination of gravity, by physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher,
alchemist and theologian, Sir Isaac Newton (1643–1727).
The discovery of hydrogen, by Henry Cavendish (1731–1810).
The steam locomotive, by Richard Trevithick (1771–1833) and Andrew Vivian (1759–1842).
An early electric motor, by Michael Faraday (1771–1867), who largely made electricity viable for use in technology.
The theory of aerodynamics, by Sir George Cayley (1773–1857).
The first public steam railway, by George Stephenson (1781–1848).
The first commercial electrical telegraph, co-invented by Sir William Fothergill Cooke (1806–79) and Charles
Wheatstone (1802–75).
First tunnel under a navigable river, first all iron ship and first railway to run express services, contributed to by
Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806–59).
Charles Darwin (1809–82) whose theory of evolution by natural selection is the foundation of modern biological
sciences.
Evolution by natural selection, by Charles Darwin (1809–82).
The invention of the incandescent light bulb, by Joseph Swan (1826–1914).
The unification of electromagnetism, by James Clerk Maxwell (1831–79).
The first practical telephone, patented by Alexander Graham Bell (1847–1922).
The discovery of penicillin, by biologist and pharmacologist, Sir Alexander Fleming (1881–1955).
The world's first working television system, and colour television, by John Logie Baird (1888–1946).
The first meaningful synthesis of quantum mechanics with special relativity by Paul Dirac (1902–84) in the equation
named after him, and his subsequent prediction of antimatter.
The invention of the jet engine, by Frank Whittle (1907–96).
The invention of the hovercraft, by Christopher Cockerell (1910–99).
The colossus computer, by Alan Turing (1912–54), an early digital computer (a code breaker in WWII made in
Bletchley Park).
The structure of DNA, by Francis Crick (1916–2004) and others.
The theoretical breakthrough of the Higgs mechanism to explain electroweak symmetry breaking and why some
particles have mass, by Peter Higgs (1929–).
Theories in cosmology, quantum gravity and black holes, by Stephen Hawking (1942–2018).
The invention of the World Wide Web, by Tim Berners-Lee (1955–).
The United Kingdom plays a leading part in the aerospace industry, with companies including Rolls-Royce
playing a leading role in the aero-engine market; BAE Systems acting as Britain's largest and the Pentagon's sixth
largest defence supplier, and large companies including GKN acting as major suppliers to the Airbus project. Two
British-based companies, GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca, ranked in the top five pharmaceutical companies in the
world by sales in 2009 and UK companies have discovered and developed more leading medicines than any other
country apart from the US. The UK remains a leading centre of automotive design and production, particularly of
engines, and has around 2,600 component manufacturers. Investment by venture capital firms in UK technology
companies was $9.7 billion from 2010–2015. (Claudia F.)
References:
Bender the Both.(n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved December 25, 2019, from
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_and_technology_in_the_United_Kingdom.

Asa Brigs, et al.(2020)United Kingdom of Bratain. In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from

https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom#accordion-article-history

Claudia F. (n.d.). Great Britain leads Industrial Revolution. Retrieved from

https://study.com/academy/lesson/great-britain-leads-the-industrial-revolution.html#

In Ecyclopidea. United Kingdom-Science and Technology. Retrieved from

https://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Europe/United-Kingdom-SCIENCE-AND-TECHNOLOGY.html

Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 28 February 2020), memorial
page for James Robert Messenger (4 Sep 1948–21 Apr 2015), Find A Grave Memorial no. 89595832, citing Elmwood
Cemetery, Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama, USA ; Maintained by James Messenger (contributor 47792899) .