[rembicilious]

I don’t think fossil fuels truly come into play until the late 19th century.. Even then to a smallish extent. The great inventors and discoverers did not require them. They are definitely key in manufacturing at scale and globalisation, but I don’t think the development of technology is/was dependent on access to fossil fuels.

[thfuran]

>I don’t think fossil fuels truly come into play until the late 19th century

Oil may not have been used much before the latter half of the 19th century, but coal certainly was.