Iron & SteelAngela, David, Emily, Joseph,

Lindsay

Important People

William Kelly

Henry Bessemer

Kelly and Bessemer developed a cheaper and more efficient method of producing steel. This method is still used today, and is widely known as the Bessemer Process.

Emily

Advancements/improvements to existing technology

It was discovered that coal worked better than wood and charcoal.

After using wood and charcoal for a while, the need for steel got stronger and manufacturers needed a stronger material, eventually they started using steel, which is iron without all of the impurities.

1850’s- Kelly and Bessemer developed the Bessemer Process

David

What was going on in Great Britain /what did it have available to make all of this possible?

The Industrial Revolution was bolstering and iron and coal became a necessity.

Great Britain had a large amount of both iron and coal, which are the two main products for making steel.

Since Great Britain had so much of iron and steel, they had a great advantage towards other countries.

Lindsay

What inventions do we still use today? How are they the same? How have they changed?

Today we still use the Bessemer Process.

It has changed slightly but is still similar to the technique to make steel used more than 1,500 years ago by the Haya people in southern Africa.

Joseph

Why is your topic the most important factor in the advancement of the Industrial Revolution?

Iron and steel is the most important factor in the advancement of the industrial revolution because without out iron and steel, there wouldn’t be anything to make the machines and buildings.

Machines were being produced at a great demand and they were in need of more iron and steel.

They used to use wood and charcoal which they found to be not efficient enough for their needs, so not having iron and steel would be damaging the production of the machines.

Angela

http://www.diytrade.com/china/manufacturer/813973/main/Anshan_Jin_Guan_Iron_and_Steel_Co_Ltd.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Kelly_(inventor)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Bessemer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bessemer_process

http://www.climateshifts.org/?p=6176

http://www.cssd.org/instruction.cfm?subpage=24462

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