Although the temptation is to focus on technological changes and their application to industry, the Industrial Revolution of the eighteenth century also influenced social life, political and economic institutions, and the physical landscape. The discoveries and changes of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries might seem minor when compared to the technological advances of recent decades, but those advances would not have been possible without the people and developments of the Industrial Revolution. In over 150 entries that cover all aspects of this historical transformation of industry and society, this encyclopedia describes the major people, events, and inventions that defined the Industrial Revolution in Britain, the United States, and elsewhere.

Besides entries that describe the specific course of the Industrial Revolution in such places as Asia, Britain, Canada, France, Japan, Russia, Spain, and the U.S.,the encyclopedia offers entries on such important people as: Alexander Graham Bell, Matthew Bouldton, Thomas Malthus, Adam Smith, Flora Tristan, James Watt. Other entries cover such important inventions as: Electric Dynamo, Repeating Rifles, Sewing Machines, Steam Turbine, Submarines, Typewriters. And still other entries cover such vital social issues as: Child Labor and Child Labor Laws, Ecological Impact of the Industrial Revolution, Slavery, Temperance Movement, Urbanization, Wealth and Poverty in the Industrial Revolution.