Something New Under the Sun

John McNeill, in his informative book, Something New Under the Sun, he discusses how the twentieth century brought the world into a steady decline. Although the world has improved technology-wise, it has also had a decline that overshadows the improvement we have seen. McNeil goes on to prove that it is humans, with our new technology are the reason behind this fateful decline. The world’s population has positively and negatively affected the twentieth century world by bringing “ecological changes” that will forever change the world(4).

In his book, McNeill chapter by chapter, explains that the people living in the world are positively affecting the world in an abundance of ways. Firstly, the fact that the worlds population has almost quadrupled within the last one hundred years proves that the world can quickly be manipulated, and made better (271). With hundreds of millions of people all living in unison the world will most definitely be impacted. An invention that helped jumpstart the industrial revolution, and helped better the world is the invention of the Model T automobile. The Model T brought many jobs to the United States in the middle of an economic crisis. First, people were needed to assemble the automobiles, but also, people were needed to pave roads for the automobiles to drive on. This was all apart of F. D. Roosevelt’s New Deal (311). The automobile was not only beneficial to the life of millions, it also brought the use of many new inventions; such as, the assembly line and removable parts. The invention of these parts has since continued to benefit the world. Companies are able to produce machines in a quicker and convenient manner, which thus creates a larger profit for them. With the invention of vaccine...

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... how they greatly effected our world today. This book made me realize the many things I take for granted. Never in my lifetime have I had to worry about breathing in polluted air, or drinking unsanitary water. I never put much thought into how destructive this once was and still is in some parts of the world. McNeil, through his informative and descriptive book most definitely changed my view on the twentieth century. He helped me see the importance of little things, and see their impact on the world years later.

Although the world as a whole has become greater and greater as each decade passes, the world has experienced a decline that overpowers the good that has happened in this century. Technology wise, the world has used this to our advantage, and become a greater and smarter world each day. However, the technology is a main reason for the world’s downfall.