Humans have created some amazing inventions. The first sharp-edged tool, the debut of the wheel to the development of Mars rovers and the Internet are some of the most revolutionary developments of our time. The science behind the invention and how it came about are included in our top picks for the most important inventions of all time.
James Steidl has an image on his website.
Humans were limited in how much stuff they could transport before the wheel was invented. The wheel wasn't the most difficult part. David Anthony, a professor of anthropology at Hartwick College, said that connecting a platform to a rolling cylinder was difficult.
The wheel-and-axle concept was the stroke of brilliance. Making it was also difficult. He said that the holes at the center of the wheels and the ends of the fixed axles had to be round and smooth. The snugness of the hole and the size of the axle were both important factors.
The hard work paid off. Wheeled carts were used to facilitate agriculture and commerce, as well as easing the burdens of people travelling great distances. Our way of life is dependent on wheels, found in everything from cars to machines.
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The nail.
The image is from alexcoolok.
Humans developed the ability to cast and shape metal more than 2,000 years ago, which is when the invention of this key invention began. Wood structures used to be built by interlocking adjacent boards, a much more difficult construction process.
The University of Vermont says that until the 1790s and early 1800s, hand-wrought nails were the norm, with a blacksmith heating a square iron rod and then hammering it on four sides to create a point. Between the 1790s and the early 1800s, nail-making machines came online. The University of Vermont says that 10 percent of the US's nails were created from soft steel wire by 1886. 90 percent of nails produced in the U.S. in 1913 were steel wire.
The invention of the screw, a stronger but harder-to-insert fastening, is thought to have been invented by the Pythagorean philosopher Archytas of Tarentum.
The compass is a device.
A reproduction of the world's first compass.
It was dangerous to travel far from land during the day and on cloudy nights because the stars didn't work for navigation.
The first compass in China was made of lodestone, a naturally-magnetized iron Ore, and was invented during the Han dynasty. During the Song Dynasty, it was used for navigation for the first time.
The technology to the West came through nautical contact. The development of global trade can be traced back to the opening up of the world for exploration and navigation by the compass. The compass has changed our knowledge and understanding of the Earth forever.
The press is used for printing.
The first page of the Bible was printed in the 19th century.
The printing press was invented by Johannes Gutenberg. The hand mold, a new technique that allowed the rapid creation of large quantities of metal, was the key to its development. Gutenberg was the first to create a mechanized process that transferred the ink from the movable type to the paper.
The rapid dissemination of knowledge for the first time in history was made possible by the rapid and widespread dissemination of book copies through this type of process. In her book, Elizabeth L. Eisenstein wrote that by the year 1500, every important municipal center would have a printing workshop.
The printing press allowed for wider access to the Bible, which in turn led to alternative interpretations, including that of Martin Luther, whose "95 Theses" document sparked the Protestant Reformation.
The engine that runs on fuel.
The image is from the Creative Commons.
The high-temperature gas released by the combustion of fuel applies a force to the piston to move it. Chemical energy can be converted into mechanical work. The internal combustion engine, which took its modern form in the latter half of the 19th century, was designed by many scientists. The invention of a huge variety of machines, including modern cars and aircraft, was enabled by the engine.
The operating steps of a four-stroke internal combustion engine are pictured. Air and vaporised fuel are drawn in during the intake stroke. The fuel vapor and air are compressed. The power stroke is when the fuel is pushed down and the machine is powered. Exhaust is driven out.
The phone.
The image is from the public domain.
Alexander Graham Bell, a Scottish inventor, was the first to be awarded a patent for the electric telephone on March 7 1876. Bell called his assistant, Thomas Watson, three days later, saying he wanted to see him.
Bell had an inspiration for the telephone. His mother lost her hearing when she was young and his wife, who was also a musician, had been blind since the age of five, according to Evenson. The invention changed the way business and communication are done. All telephone service in the US and Canada was stopped for one minute to honor Bell.
The light bulb has light.
The image is from the Creative Commons.
The invention of the light bulb changed our world because it allowed us to be productive at any time of day or night.
The invention of this invention caused the introduction of electricity in homes throughout the Western world, but it also had an unexpected consequence of changing people's sleep patterns. Instead of sleeping in segments throughout the night separated by periods of wakefulness, we now stay up except for the 7 to 8 hours allotted for sleep, and ideally, we sleep all in one go.
Penicillin is a penicillin.
Alexander Fleming is pictured in his laboratory.
It's one of the most famous discoveries. Alexander Fleming, a Scottish scientist, noticed a petri dish in his laboratory with ajar lid in 1928. The sample had become contaminated with a mold and thebacteria were dead. The antibiotic mold turned out to be the Penicillium, and over the next two decades, chemists purified it and developed the drug penicillin, which fights a huge number of infections in humans without harming the humans themselves.
By 1944, penicillin was being mass-produced and advertised. World War II servicemen were told to take the drug to rid themselves of venereal disease, thanks to a poster attached to a mailbox.
According to a study published in 2003 in the journal Clinical Reviews in Allergy and Immunology, about 1 in 10 people have an allergic reaction to the antibiotic, but most of those people are able to tolerate the drug.
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There are contraceptives.
The pill was combined with early contraception. The photo was taken by the sspl
Birth control pills, condoms, and other forms of contraception sparked a sexual revolution in the developed world by allowing men and women to have sex for leisure rather than procreation, and they have also reduced the average number of offspring per woman in countries where they are used. Modern families have achieved higher standards of living and can provide better for each child. The contraceptives are helping the human population gradually level off, and we will probably have a stable number by the end of the century. Condoms are one of the contraceptives that curb the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.
Natural and herbal contraception has been used for thousands of years. According to Jessica Borge in her book "Protective Practices: A History of the London Rubber Company and the Condom Business", condoms have existed in one form or another since ancient times. The FDA approved the first oral contraceptive pill in 1960 and by 1965, more than 6 million American women were on the pill, according to author Jonathan Eig.
Some labs are even working on a male form of the pill. The FDA warned users about the risks of using Essure after it was approved for use in 2002.
There are 7 surprising facts about the pill.
The internet.
The Opte Project has an image credit.
Billions of people worldwide use the internet, a global system of computer networks. A group of computer scientists working for the U.S. Defense Department built a communications network to connect their computers. It used a method of data transmission called "packet switch", developed by Lawrence Roberts, a computer scientist.
In his book, Harry R. Lewis states that the internet was developed in the 1970s by scientists Robert Kahn and Vinton Cerf. Kahn and Cerf are often credited with inventing the internet.
Tim Berners-Lee, a computer scientist at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, invented the World Wide Web in 1989. The basic idea of the World Wide Web was to combine evolving technologies of computers, data networks and hypertext into a powerful and easy to use global information system. The development of the World Wide Web opened up the internet to everyone and made it possible for the world to be connected in a way it had never been before.
The inventor of the World Wide Web won the top prize in computer science.
