Why did the science of metallurgy take giant strides in the 18th century?

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The Industrial Revolution of the 18th century saw giant strides being taken in the field of metallurgy. One reason for this was that there were many improvements in the methods of making and working steel. The invention of steam power and electric power made it possible to have great machines that could make thousands of metal parts in a short time.
Till the time of the Romans, only seven metals were known to man. They were gold, copper, silver, lead, tin, iron and mercury. Later, during the Middle Ages two more metals antimony and bismuth were discovered. However, the invention of the electric battery led to the discovery of a process known as electrolysis, which in turn led to the discovery to many new metals, like magnesium and aluminium.
Today, the search for new and better metals continues, in order to cope with the growing need for metals and the science of metallurgy is on the fast track of progress.