In 1865, William Stanley Jevons first described a paradox. He maintained that more efficient steam engines would not decrease the use of coal in British factories but would actually increase it.

How it works: The Jevons Paradox, as first formulated in 1865 by ... His example was coal: After the Watt steam engine was introduced — which burned much less coal than its predecessors ...

How it’s pronounced The Jevons Paradox is named after the 19th-century economist and logician William Stanley Jevons. In his 1865 book, “The Coal Question,” he noted that as engines improved ...