Mining and the British industrial revolution

The first industrial revolution took place in Britain, which played significant roles in the global economic and societal developments. Looking into the origin and development of the industrial revolution, the roles of mining should not be overlooked. Basically, the first industrial revolution represented the substitution of organic fuels by fossil fuels, which was driven by more efficient use of coal, hence stimulated the development of coal industry, steel industry, manufacture, transport, agriculture, service industry and science and technology. A review of the British industrial revolution history suggests that: ①the British Industrialization could not succeed without the support of the domestic mineral resources, and benefited greatly from the revolutionary technological innovation in exploitation of the minerals; ②mining industry was part of the British industrial revolution, and the industrial revolution was a process during which mining and other industries interacted with and promoted each other; ③industrialization is endless, therefor mining’s commitments for supporting the economic and societal development will go on and mining needs to improve itself to meet the demands from the economic growth.