Lecture 43: The 20th Century
A sixth wave of innovation began at the end of the 20th century.
Computerization and the Internet transformed communications, business,
and information exchanges. Genetic engineering promised to transform
medicine and agriculture. Communist societies, lacking the innovative
drive of their capitalist rivals, eventually collapsed or reintroduced market
economies, leaving capitalism as the dominant form of society. Accelerating
globalization allowed instant global transfers of information and money. It
also generated new cultural conÀ icts as groups with very different values
and traditions were forced into closer contact with each other. When those
conÀ icts turned violent, the availability of
modern weaponry ensured that even small
guerilla armies could wield signi¿ cant
military power. Asian economies revived,
challenging the dominance of the Atlantic
hub zone.The pace of change itself accelerated.
Between 1900 and 2000, world population
quadrupled, rising from 1.6 billion to
more than 6 billion. The urban population
multiplied by 13 times, and by the end
of the century, almost half the world’s
population lived in communities of more
than 5,000 people.Population increases were made possible
by increasing industrial and agricultural
production. Global economic output
increased by about 14 times, and industrial
output by about 40 times. Global grain
production rose 5 times, from about 400 million tons to about 2,000
million tons. Agricultural productivity tripled, with increased irrigation,
increasing use of arti¿ cial fertilizers and pesticides, and the introduction
of more productive genetically engineered crops. Because food production
outstripped population growth, we have not yet seen a global Malthusian
crisis in the Modern era (that is, a crisis caused by underproduction), though
there have been many regional famines. Energy use increased by about 16The dropping of the atomic
bomb in Japan ended World
War II.Courtesy National Archives, photo no. 342-AF-58189.