The Enlightenment Period made the industrial revolution possible. Advances in science and technology and the invention of the steam engine propelled a drastic change in society. The industrial revolution is marked by the transition from individual manual manufacturing of goods to the mass production of goods by use of machinery. The major invention that led to the development of the industrial revolution was the steam engine. This invention made reliance on machinery possible. People moved from rural areas to cities and began working in factories. There was an economic shift at this point. The industrial revolution is the major event that sparked the birth of Sociology since Sociologists were interested in studying how the effects of this major shift affected society.