A revised list of the top 10 inventions that changed the world:
1. The Wheel: Although the wheel was invented over 5000 years
ago, its influences on today’s more advanced society cannot be ignored. The
very first wheels were used for potter’s wheels, which were used to create
pottery vessels that allowed humans to transport food and water. Later on,
other ancient civilizations used the wheel as part of their methods of
transportation. Over time along with more improvements to the wheel, wheels
started being used as gears, which allowed for the invention of mechanical
devices such as clocks, and helped bring about the Industrial Revolution
through its use as a component in manufacturing processes.
2. Numbers: The number system created by Indian scholars almost
2000 years ago and later adopted by the rest of the world is the fundamental
system why we are able to perform arithmetic and computations. While this
invention is essentially taken for granted in modern society, the concept of
numbers is a very profound idea that has allowed for the creation of
mathematics and the development of the sciences and even computing.
3. Electricity: Electricity is another example of a
life-changing invention that people living today cannot imagine their lives
without. Electricity is a highly efficient form of energy because it is created
without loss and pollution, is weightless, and is very easy to distribute
relative to other forms of energy. It has countless applications in our modern
lives today, such as light in rooms, working fans, and domestic appliances.
Additionally, in manufacturing, electricity helps power factories and other
associated machinery with no pollution (unlike fossil fuels). In the future,
with better technology, electricity will hopefully power a majority of cars on
Earth and the energy-efficient products of the future.
4. Refrigeration: While refrigeration may not exactly be an
obviously world-changing invention, it is arguably one of the most important
inventions that humanity has made in terms of food safety and transportation
and overall public health. Almost every household in the world needs a device
to store their food to prevent it from spoiling. The refrigerator helps keep
food and medicine cold and prevents people from getting sick from expired food.
Without the refrigerator, an enormous amount of food would go to waste every
day. From an overall societal perspective, temperature-controlled rail cars
contributed to the westward expansion of the United States and allowed for
settlements in areas that were not on main transport channels or otherwise
thought to be inhospitable. We are all heavily dependent on refrigeration for
our daily food consumption.
5. Anesthesia: Anesthesia is a very important tool for surgery
and prevents pain for the patient undergoing the operation. Without this,
modern health care would simply not exist like it does today, as doctors would
not be able to operate on a fully-conscious person, especially for very
complicated and intense surgeries.
6. The Telephone: The telephone is an important invention that
expanded and simplified communication greatly. This invention sped and
increased global communication and allowed for people to communicate real-time
from any distance. In addition, the telephone has allowed businesses to
communicate without delays between messages and expand globally with minimal
losses in productivity. The various developments of the telephone, such as the
cellphone and potentially others in the future, could potentially bring about
even faster and more effective methods of communication.
7. The Internet: The Internet facilitates and affects nearly
every aspect of modern life. It serves as the foundation for modern
communication and has made access to information much easier. Rather than
searching through physical books in a library, people can now access vast
amounts of information from the comfort of their own home. Additionally, the
Internet has positively affected business by giving employees the ability to
work remotely from different locations and communicate quicker and more
efficiently.
8. The Computer: It is almost impossible to imagine our world
without computers, as computers have become electronic devices of every-day use
for many people. In every aspect of corporate and personal life, computers and
its various successive developments (such as laptops, tablets, and other
devices) have become very important. From banking, medical science, education,
weather predictions, and many more areas, computers have helped create
significant increases in worker productivity and increased speed and efficiency
in business processes and personal communication.
9. Compass: The compass helped make sea travel possible all
year long and even in adverse weather conditions. While this does not seem to
sound amazing in a modern context, in the 15th and 16th
centuries, the compass was the main tool that allowed for reliable sea
transportation. As a result of the compass and associated navigation
techniques, civilizations that would have never come across each other before
had the opportunity to interact and trade.
10. Internal Combustion Engine: The internal combustion engine
made the personal transportation society uses today possible, such as
automobiles and airplanes, and also brought about the mechanization of many
agricultural processes. This allowed for the faster and more efficient production
of food for a growing population in the 19th and 20th
centuries. Compared to its predecessor, the steam engine, the internal
combustion weighs less, is safer, and is a more efficient way to get power from
fuel. Even today, it has better power-to-weight ratio than electric batteries
and motors and offers comparable overall efficiency.
Link to my YouTube video with slides of these inventions:
https://youtu.be/97J2P5cGFvc
