AutoMobile
Providing people with incredible freedom of movement,the automobile has made traveling great distances simple.
In addition, it has led to the creation of suburbs as people no longer
need to live in the city center.
Sanitation
You know what’s better than dying a horrible deathat the age of 36? Living longer… Sanitation designs across
the board have improved the standard of living
as well as more than doubled life expectancy.
Just think of all the extra years of work you can now enjoy!
Wheel & Axle
No list of top inventions can be complete without the wheel and axle.Before the wheel showed up around 3500BC, we were
very limited in how much and how far we could travel with products.
Adding a wheel to a cart allows for easily carrying large amounts,
opening the idea for trade centers, not to mention improving
the lives of any laborer. Add it onto a cart and you
now have transportation. Add it to the car
and you can travel almost anywhere.
Internal Combustion Engine
This was a tough one, as the steam engine is pretty great too.We decided on the combustion engine primarily because
it’s small! Not to mention you don’t need
some guy shoveling coal into a furnace to make the magic happen.
Without this, we’re still stuck on the train to get everywhere,
the automobile doesn’t exist, and I’m still
cutting my grass with scissors.
Written Language
Dating back to Sumerian in 3300BC, this was the keystep to disseminating knowledge from one generation to the next.
Just think where we would be if everything
we learned was passed down through stories from one person to the next.
I can’t even remember a phone number any longer,
so how could I be expected to how to understand
astrophysics without a book?!
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Semiconductors
Are you reading this on a computer? iPad? iPhone?Watching TV while reading this? None of this would be possible
without our little friend the semiconductor.
And considering the top inventions on the list, this stepping stone
is crucial for so many other amazing inventions!!
Compass
Navigating by star light is a pretty cool skill to have,but it sure doesn’t work very well during the day
or on a cloudy night. The compass took care of that
problem, enabling mariners to travel far away from land,
opening up trade routes around the world,
and resulting in the discovery of unknown lands.
Wow, this is only number 4?!
Light Bulb
We have a bit of a love / hate relationship with the light bulb.Before it was around, productivity was limited to the
daylight hours, so when the sun went down everyone went
to bed, and then got up to start working when the sun
showed up again. The light bulb made it possible to work all day
and night, significantly increasing productivity.
Computer
The computer has been a part of every significant advancementin the past 50 years or more. Getting to space wouldn’t have been possible without it.
Our top invention of all time wouldn’t be possible without it.
Producing Unprofessional Engineering wouldn’t
be possible without it. Need I say more?
Internet
Thanks to Al Gore, we have the greatest invention of all time,the internet! Really, Lawrence Roberts is given the most credit for this
amazing invention that has changed the way we live, design,
are entertained, communicate, learn and more.
Thanks to the internet we can find information on just
about any topic in seconds, while revolutionizing the way
people do business. And the best thing about the internet?
Unlike inventions like the wheel, the best is yet to come!