Society's Source 1990 A Journal Entry Entire lives are lived without considering the origin of all we need, until there's looting and destruction in the darkness that instantly follows a simple mistake, made by one worker in the electric industry.
I'm betting it's a question you never asked, but what is Rankine Cycle?
It's by far the most critical factor in industrialized society, yet few people even know it's name.
People mostly know the terms internal combustion, four cycle, two cycle and diesel. They refer to the engines we often depend upon for mundane tasks, or for recreation while water skiing.
On the flip side, William Rankine is the person to thank for all of modern society. He invented the Rankine cycle, one design for an external combustion engine.
While slightly reduced in recent years, by environmentally friendlier options, Rankine cycle is still by far the most responsible for the electricity which fuels human life.
Remove Rankine cycle engines and everything we take for granted, ends at very nearly the speed of light from it's distance to the generating station. That's a very very quick end to everything that is needed by humanity.
The lives of all but the most remote small groups of primitive people, are 100% dependent upon electricity. Absolutely everything requires it to exist in quantities sufficient to support billions of humans.
Millions would die within days. Billions would perish in a few short months without electricity. It's the only single feature of the modern world upon which all else depends... and precious few even know it's name.
