Also what is the second branch of meteorology, while the first branch is atmospheric physics?
Wikipedia says that meteorology has three branches:
- atmospheric physics
- atmospheric chemistry
- climatology
Also what is the country or state that a society will become when it industrializes?
We just call it an
industrial nation.
Today, the Industrial Revolution has reached virtually every part of the earth, so we no longer distinguish between industrial nations and agricultural nations. That
paradigm shift is essentially complete.
The paradigm shift that we are currently experiencing does not yet have a standard name. Its essence is the invention and spread of
electronic communication, but it also embraces computer technology, so it includes all electronic storage, manipulation, retrieval and sharing of information, not just communication. It began in 1833 with the first commercial telegraph. Later milestones include the telephone, recorded music, radio, television, digital computers, cellphones and the internet.
Depending on one's particular area of interest, this paradigm shift has been called the
Post-Industrial Revolution, the
Electronic Revolution, the
Computer Age, the
Information Age, the
Internet Era, and many other names.
Alvin Toffler called it the
Third Wave many years ago in his book
Future Shock. According to him, the First Wave was the technology of agriculture and the Second Wave was the technology of industry, whose fundamental element was, in my opinion, the conversion of the chemical energy in fossil fuels into kinetic energy for powering machinery.
I identify six paradigm shifts in human history:
- 1. The Agricultural Revolution. This created the world's first food surplus, so that we were no longer at the mercy of the weather. It both allowed and required us to stop being nomads, since we had to build permanent villages where we could cultivate our crops and herd our livestock. Eventually we discovered the advantages of economy of scale and division of labor, so we invited nearby tribes to come and live with us to increase our prosperity. This was our first step away from the tribal lifestyle that we had lived for millions of years.
- 2. The building of cities. Cities continued to leverage the advantage of a larger population. Some people were free to take up occupations other than providing food, such as teachers, artists, musicians, brewers and explorers. However, people had to learn to live in harmony and cooperation with total strangers, so a formal multi-level system of government had to be created and respected.
- 3. The Bronze Age. Metal tools and materials revolutionized life, from farming to construction to war. Metal blades allowed the wheel to be invented and the wheel inspired us to tame horses and other large, fast-moving animals for riding and draft. The commerce among strangers required record-keeping, the result of which was written language.
- 4. The Iron Age. Bronze is an alloy of tin and copper, requiring cities to maintain alliances so they could trade ore. Iron has no such requirement so empires arose that made war upon one another. Even barbarian tribes learned to build iron weapons and attacked the cities. There was considerable chaos in the Iron Age, yet many empires reached their greatest power then, including Egypt, Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome, China, India, Spain and Great Britain.
- 5. The Industrial Revolution. Industrial technology greatly leveraged the power of human labor. The percentage of the population who had to work in food production and distribution fell from 99.99% to less than 50%. The printing press made written material more available, so schools were built to eventually teach almost 100% of the population to read and write. The work week was reduced from 100 hours to 60, and "knowledge work," which could be done sitting down, became a common occupation. Leisure time and recreational travel became common. The economy toggled from scarcity-driven to surplus-driven, resulting in the rise of the advertising industry and cultural icons such as Santa Claus. Science and engineering revolutionized life: antibiotics, vaccines, covered sewers, wrapped food, abundant fresh water, and streets no longer half a meter deep in horse manure thanks to the invention of the automobile, reduced infant mortality from 80% to less than 1%, relieving the entire population of the constant grief over a dead child.
- 6. The Electronic Revolution. Professionally composed and performed music is now available to everyone 24/7. We communicate with people on the other side of the world, who were once only anonymous abstractions to us, making us less likely to want to make war on them. We have access to news from all countries and points of view. Television brings education to the poorest tribal villages. The ability to communicate is the ability to organize, making it harder for despots and religious zealots to hang onto power. Information makes it easier for people to migrate from impoverished countries into places where they can earn income. * * And this is just the beginning.
