Top 10 Inventions That Changed the World

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 15^th and 16^th 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 19^th and 20^th 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