Throughout human history man has lived a drab and dreary existence; being born into poverty, living an uncomfortable and unforgiving life, and then dropping dead in their fifties (if they were lucky). It was a level of existence unimaginable – indeed never even though of – by modern man.

So how did we get here? How did we go from abject poverty for 99 percent of human beings to the society we live in today of unprecedented and unimiginable wealth? The answer lies in the scientifc and industrial revolutions that came out of western Europe.

By bringing these innovations to the world, western civilization is the greatest civilization that has ever existed.