Causes
¡@
The increase in population was
vigorous in the 18th century. As long ago as 1789, 
Thomas Malthus studied the nature of population growth in Europe. He claimed
that population was increasing faster than food production, and he feared even-
tual global starvation. Of course he could not foresee how modern technology
would expand food production, but his observations about how populations in-
crease were important. Population grows geometrically (1, 2, 4, 8 ), rather than
arithmetically (1, 2, 3, 4 ), which is why the numbers can increase so quickly. In
order to feed the fast-growing population, Europeans developed faster ways of production of food. They introduced new techniques
and invented new machines to raise the amount of food produced. This is the first cause of the Industrial Revolution.
¡@
The next cause is the invention of a great number of new machines. The production methods were changed. People used to do
everything by hands until the changes took place during the Industrial Revolution. People began to use machines and new
technology in industry, farming, sources of power, transport, communications, science and medicine. The use of machines started
the Industrial Revolution.
¡@
The development of world trade during the Industrial Revolution was fast. European states set up many overseas colonies in the 18th
century. As the trade among different places grew, demand rose rapidly. The speed of production needed to be quicker to satisfy
the rapid increase of demand. This leads to the Industrial Revolution.
The fourth cause is the accumulation of capital. When trade grew in a high rate, people in
Europe accumulate capital. To make more money, they invested their capital in developing
faster ways of production. So the Industrial Revolution started.
¡@
¡@
¡@
¡@
¡@