Things That Made the Modern Economy

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Inventions, ideas and innovations that have helped to create the modern economic world

Tim Harford introduces inventions, ideas and innovations that have helped to create the modern economic world

Things That Made the Modern Economy: Series 2: Bricks

Bricks

Series 2

BBC Radio 4 - Things That Made the Modern Economy, Series 2, Bricks

Bricks: used for tens of thousands of years and still such a vital building technology.

Bricks have been used for tens of thousands of years. They are all rather similar and are absolutely everywhere. Why are bricks still such an important building technology?

“I found Rome a city of bricks and left it a city of marble”, Caesar Augustus apparently boasted. If so he wasn’t the only person to under-rate the humble brick. Bricks have been used for tens of thousands of years. They are all rather similar – small enough to fit into a human hand, and half as wide as they are long – and they are absolutely everywhere. Why, asks Tim Harford, are bricks still such an important building technology, how has brickmaking changed over the years, and will we ever see a robot bricklayer?

Producer: Ben Crighton
Editor: Richard Vadon

Things That Made the Modern Economy: Series 2

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More inventions, ideas and innovations that helped to create the modern economic world.

More inventions, ideas and innovations that have helped to create the modern economic world.

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Things That Made the Modern Economy

Series 2

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