I would say Industrial Revolution to be the greatest as well as the worst ever achievement. Good or bad, for humans it was a turning point in the history of mankind.
The industrial revolution that came in mid nineteenth century it brought with it improvements in almost every aspect of the planet. Be it agriculture, Mining, Transportation, Chemical industries or any other. Industrial Revolution single handily rose the standard of living for those who became part of it. But also lowered those standards for those who were at the bottom of the social ladder. As quoted from the wiki, "The Industrial Revolution was the first period in history during which there was a simultaneous increase in population and in per capita income."
But the industrial revolution also introduced factories. In an effort to increase productivity and efficiency automation of the production began to take shape. Large number of workers started to migrate to Cities in search of employment and started to expand the urban areas. And then came Luddites. Again a quote from the wiki: "These group of English workers known as Luddites formed to protest against industrialisation and sometimes sabotaged factories... At one time, more British soldiers were fighting the Luddites than were fighting Napoleon on the Iberian Peninsula".
Industrial revolution brought with it increased literacy needs and also increased life expectancy. But it also brought Child Labour. Wiki: "Many children were forced to work in relatively bad conditions for much lower pay than their elders, 10-20% of an adult male's wage. Children as young as four were employed. Beatings and long hours were common, with some child coal miners and hurriers working from 4 am until 5 pm... Many children developed lung cancer and other diseases and died before the age of 25."
No doubt Industrialization brought with it better transport, communications and mechanized goods which made life comfortable for man, and brought countries and people together and developed an international awareness among people because developments in one country influenced the others. But cities became crowded, smoky, with problems of slums, housing, sanitation, accidents and epidemics, Women and child labour was badly exploited and Society, became divided into rich and poor. And craftsmanship started to become lost. Also with the advent of industrial revolution, environment started to get the most impact. Earth got polluted. Lakes and Sea became dirty. Species started to go extinct. Ozone layer also made a dent. Glaciers started to melt causing floods and unexpected climate change.
Industrial revolution also started the Age of Enlightenment. It challenged the age old traditions to be rethought. And promoted innovation. Then came the Technology Revolution which catapulted the capabilities of human being to a whole another level. Suddenly the distance between planning, collaboration and execution became incredibly short. But technology revolution hadn't come sooner if there were no infrastructure to connect the world and which only started with industrialization.
Whether you think the Industrial revolution was worth it I leave it to you. But surely it is the thing which have the most impact on humans. Good OR bad.
Credits and Further Reading:
*en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_Revolution
*en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luddite
*en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Enlightenment
What were the Advantages and Disadvantages of Industrialization?