Original version

BBC World Service West and Central Africa Schedule

BBC World Service West and Central Africa

50 Things That Made the Modern Economy

Factual: Money

The stories of inventions, ideas and innovations which helped create the economic world

Tim Harford tells the fascinating stories of inventions, ideas and innovations which have helped create the economic world.

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

BBC World Service schedule for American satellite radio and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa Schedule

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

BBC World Service East Asia

BBC World Service South Asia

BBC World Service Online

BBC World Service Australasia

BBC World Service

50 Things That Made the Modern Economy: Dynamo

Discussion & Talk

News

Dynamo

15/07/2017 GMT

BBC World Service - 50 Things That Made the Modern Economy, Dynamo

The big story behind the way dynamos made electricity useful

Tim Harford tells the big story behind the way dynamos made electricity useful.

You might think electricity had an immediate and transformative impact on economic productivity. But you would be wrong. Thirty years after the invention of the useable light bulb, almost all American factories still relied on steam. Factory owners simply couldn’t see the advantage of electric power when their steam systems – in which they had invested a great deal of capital – worked just fine. Simply replacing a steam engine with an electric dynamo did little to improve efficiency. But the thing about a revolutionary technology is that it changes everything. And changing everything takes imagination. Instead of replacing their steam engines with electric dynamos, company bosses needed to re-design the whole factory. Only then would electric power leave steam behind. As Tim Harford explains, the same lag has applied to subsequent technological leaps – including computers. That revolution might be just beginning.

Producer: Ben Crighton
Editors: Richard Knight and Richard Vadon

(Image: Dynamo AC exciter Siemens, Credit: Igor Golovniov/Shutterstock)

Accessibility links

Programme Index

50 Things That Made the Modern Economy

Dynamo

Genres

Formats

Brand

BBC World Service West and Central Africa

About BBC World Service