Research topics

Here are the topics I’m interested in at the moment.

Materials & manufacturing

Resource extraction: mining, drilling, forestry
Materials: metals, cement, textiles, clay, glass, plastic, rubber, paper, sand/silicon
Chemicals: soap, acids, dyes, bleach, pharmaceuticals, fertilizer, *-icides
Processes: automation, mass manufacturing, precision
Construction: buildings & infrastructure, surveying
Products, especially the proliferation of household goods particularly in the 20th century
Retail & supply chains

Agriculture: soil management, seeding, irrigation, fertilization, pest & weed control
Crops: breeding, Green Revolution, GMOs
Animals: domestication, livestock, fishing & acquaculture
Food preservation: salt & spices, drying, pickling, preserves, smoking, canning, freezing
Mechanization of agriculture and food processing
Food retail: markets, grocery stores

Infectious diseases: smallpox, tuberculosis, influenza/pneumonia, malaria, polio, etc.
Germ theory
General hygiene
Pharmaceuticals, especially antibiotics
Vaccines
Surgery: anesthetics, antiseptics
Epidemiology
Sanitation: water/sewage, food safety
Other public health: pest control, education

Water: shipbuilding, sailing, canals, steamboats, transition to coal/oil
Locomotives & railroads
Automobiles: internal combustion engine, paved roads, highway system
Airplanes
Infrastructure: bridges, tunnels, surveying
Maps & navigation
Cargo transportation, including containerization and other aspects of logistics

Finance: banks, lending, corporations, stock & exchanges, etc.
Management
Research: universities, corporate labs, government, etc.
Cities
Work & jobs: physical labor, working hours, productivity & wages, vacation & leisure, retirement

(Many of these overlap with other topics above)