Tyson loves history.
Though Greek, Roman, and Persian histories - and the ways in which they intertwine - are fascinating to Tyson, the industrial revolution is of particular interest to him for the ways in which it advanced engineering; and the cost at which it came.
He loves engineering. It’s mathematics given physical form. Tyson finds it much easier to convey his love of mathematics, in a way that others can comprehend and actually share in, through engineering. Through physical, rather than theoretical.
There are other periods of history where great innovation and change were achieved, but none of those draws Tyson’s attention so keenly as the industrial revolution. Perhaps its a lingering sense of patriotism coming from Tyson or his adoration of London bleeding through, but the industrial revolution is almost magical to Tyson.
And yet, he doesn’t view it through the same rose-tinted, romanticised lenses as he does ancient history. He can acknowledge the errors and cost of Roman (et cetera) histories, but Tyson isn’t as caught up on the cost that the innovations of those eras cost as he is the price that was paid for the industrial revolution.
Perhaps, it simply comes from a place of believing that they are still paying the cost for the innovations of the industrial revolution. That sharp knowledge that the technology and engineering - the mathematics - he loves so much, came about through blood and suffering.
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