The document discusses the emerging Third Industrial Revolution characterized by distributed manufacturing enabled by digital fabrication technologies like 3D printing. It describes how this revolution builds on previous industrial revolutions powered by new energy sources and communication technologies. Key figures discussed include Neil Gershenfeld who founded the Fab Lab network to provide access to digital fabrication tools, and Jeremy Rifkin who argues this new revolution will shift society away from hierarchical structures towards lateral peer-to-peer networks as manufacturing becomes more distributed.