Saturday, January 15, 2022

10 most important inventions in the history of mankind

 Man has been experimenting since ancient times. In some cases, this resulted in spectacular discoveries that revolutionized the world. So what are the most important inventions of mankind?

Great technical achievements of the ancient world-historical conditions

Fire

For today's man, life would be unthinkable without fire. Fire has already been used in the past centuries for a variety of purposes, including ceramics, glass, and metallurgical work. Originally, the fire was caused by the rubbing of various objects against each other or by knocking sparks generated by the collision of two flints. It is impossible to judge when the fire was first used. It is likely that this issue will never be sufficiently resolved. Today it is believed that fire was most likely already used by homo Erectus. It was almost 2 million years ago. Perhaps the fire was invented by accident. Over time, he was learned to control himself. This happened - according to archaeologists - about 100,000 years ago.

Money

In the most ancient cultures, various types of goods and products were purchased through the commodity-for-commodity exchange (the so-called barter). Later, purchase and sale transactions were carried out with the use of base and noble metals (bronze, copper, iron, silver, and gold). Their use was much more practical than the earlier methods. With time, however, it turned out that individual bars of silver or gold were too large, which in turn made it difficult to weigh them and possibly divide them into smaller pieces. So coins were invented. Some historians believe that it was caused by the Phoenicians, a people who lived from trade. However, there is no certainty about it. The first coins were an alloy of silver and gold (so-called electrum). Later they were beaten with one of these metals. This was the case for many centuries until man invented paper money, cashless, and then electronic money.

Wheel

The circle also occupies an important place in the history of mankind. Its inventors were in the fourth thousand. B.C.E. - as is commonly accepted - the Sumerians, an ancient people of unknown origin, inhabiting the areas of southern Mesopotamia. The wheel made by the Sumerians was made of wooden planks joined together. Originally they were used in carts to transport goods. The breakthrough was the invention of the spoke wheel. In the second thousand B.C.E., it was widely used in chariots - light combat vehicles. The Hittites are considered to be one of the founders of this type of circle. The functioning of today's man without a wheel seems almost impossible. It is widely used. In the Middle Ages, wheels were used, among others for torture.

The most important inventions of the Middle Ages

Gunpowder and firearms

The invention of gunpowder and firearms was of great importance to the history of the military. For many centuries, artillery became one of the dominant means on the battlefield. Already from the Middle Ages, it was used to crush enemy fortifications - cities and castles. In the light of the available source materials, firearms were first used in Europe in 1331 during the fighting for the city of Cividale in Friuli. A little later, artillery appeared in England (1338) and France (1339). During the Great Battle of Crécy (1346) during the Hundred Years' War, the French army reportedly had as many as 200 cannons with it. The development of firearms would not have been possible without the discovery of gunpowder. To this day, scholars are debating who authored this invention. Already in the Middle Ages, it was believed that it was a monk Berthold Schwarz, who died in 1388. This version, however, is uncertain; some consider it an invention of the scribes of the time. It is much more probable that the gunpowder reached Europe from China, although there is no hard source evidence to confirm this.

Printing

The inventor of the movable type was the Chinese merchant Bi Scheng (11th century). Around 1450, the German craftsman, goldsmith, and printer Jan Guttenberg used this invention to construct the first industrial printing method in the world. Guttenberg's idea changed Europe and the world for many years and centuries. Printing rapidly developed. New printing houses began to appear on the bunches, initially managed by Guttenberg's students and associates. As a result, the book has become much cheaper and more accessible. Guttenberg's most famous printing work was the 42-line Bible (the so-called Guttenberg's Bible). It was published in the years 1452-1455 in Mainz. It is recognized as a masterpiece of typography. The said Bible was printed in two volumes; the first consisted of 224 cards, the second one over 300.

The greatest technical amenities of the 19th century

Bulb

A light bulb is an electric light source. Its inventor is considered to be the American Thomas Alva Edison. In fact, the problem of lighting was dealt with many years before him, with varying degrees of success. Edison's success was the invention of better materials for making the individual components of light bulbs. As a result, the bulb he constructed in 1879 could shine much longer than before. Needless to say, the discovery of the light bulb made life easier for mankind in many ways. Edison himself was a great designer. In addition to the light bulb, his team patented, among others a gramophone record, electric chair, and a combine harvester.

Telephone

The phone is an extremely important device without which many people in today's world would not be able to function. The Scottish scientist Alexander Graham Bell is believed to be the creator of the telephone. In 1876 he submitted his design to the patent office. On the same day, only a few hours later, a similar project was registered by the American engineer Elisha Gray. However, it was Bell who was the first and he took advantage of this fact. A year after the invention of the telephone, Alexander Bell founded the great Bell Telephone Company. Over time, it was transformed into AT&T, until recently the largest telecommunications company in the world.

Car

At the end of the 19th century, many other devices were invented that can be considered quite historical discoveries. Among them was a car. The first vehicles of this type were steam-driven. Later, combustion-powered cars began to be built. In 1876, the German Nikolaus Otto patented a four-stroke engine. In 1885, another German inventor, Gottlieb Daimler, developed the internal combustion engine. The fuel used was gasoline, which replaced rapeseed oil and olive oil! In the same year, Carl Benz born in Mühlburg built a three-wheel combustion car. Benz is considered to be the actual builder of the car. His vehicle at the very beginning reached a speed of 16 km / h. As early as 1886, Benz improved his vehicle by adding one more wheel. Then - as before Alexander Graham - he set up a business and set up his own company based in Cannstadt near Stuttgart. During the first decades, the company generated large profits. But then the trouble started. Ultimately, Benz's heirs joined forces with Benz & Cie. A new company was created in this way, which dealt with the production of cars called Mercedes-Benz.

What were the groundbreaking inventions of the twentieth-century world

Penicillin

Alexander Fleming, a Scottish bacteriologist, and physician is believed to have discovered penicillin by accident. Whether this statement is true or not is difficult to judge unequivocally. Fleming's breakthrough discovery took place in late September 1928. The Scotsman then performed an experiment that was forced by external factors. The conducted experiment resulted in the destruction of some of the bacteria. At this point, Fleming was not completely aware of the fact that he was the author of a great discovery, considered by some experts as the most important achievement of modern medicine. For his achievements, Fleming was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1945. He deserved it like no one else because he made a quantum leap towards saving millions of lives. It cannot be forgotten.

Computer

Computers, i.e. machines used to process information, appeared relatively recently. The American ENIAC digital computer, created in the 1940s, is considered to be the first computer. It was a huge machine that was supposed to help mathematicians in their work. ENIAC produced 18,000 electron tubes and 1,500 relays. In total, this equipment weighed several dozen tons and occupied the entire floor of the building. A turning point in the history of the computer was the discovery of the transistor (1948). The rapid development of electronics dates from that moment. The production of electronic analog computers also began. In Poland, the first computer was constructed in 1958. Its creators were employees of the Department of Mathematical Apparatus of the Polish Academy of Sciences. In 1981, the presentation of the first PC took place in New York. It was a major revolution in the field of electronic equipment production, although the first PC only had 16 KB of RAM.

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