Man has always needed to work. But throughout history, as work moved from farms to factories to offices, it has improved in many ways. Work has become easier, safer, more reliable, more enjoyable, more flexible. Above all, it has become more productive, resulting in both soaring real wages and increased leisure. This talk will tell the story of how we got from the hunter-gatherer life to the modern working world, and will celebrate the industrial heroes who brought us here.