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How technology remade the world

80 events 2 sources c. 10000 BCE to 30 November 2022 created 19 Jul 2026, 05:58

From fire and the wheel to electricity, the engine, the computer, and AI: the inventions that changed what humans could do.

From fire and the wheel to electricity, the engine, the computer, and AI: the inventions that changed what humans could do.

Figures Alexander FlemingAlexander Graham BellAlfred NobelArchimedesChristiaan HuygensDouglas EngelbartEli WhitneyFrancis CrickGeorge StephensonGordon MooreGuglielmo MarconiHenry Ford

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part of this The pillars of modern power parallel this Babylonian astronomy and the birth of the zodiac parallel this Ptolemy: the map of the heavens and the earth parallel this The Renaissance: the rebirth of antiquity parallel this The history of mathematics parallel this The history of science part of this DARPA, Silicon Valley, and the security state part of this Science and technology

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    The ard plough

    also in Science and technology

    Farmers used a simple scratch plough pulled by animals to break soil for planting. The plough raised crop yields and let fewer people feed more.

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    The wheel

    also in Science and technology

    The wheel and axle appeared first for pottery and then for wheeled carts. It transformed transport, trade and machinery.

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    Bronze metallurgy

    also in Science and technology

    Smiths learned to alloy copper with tin to make bronze, a harder metal than either alone. Bronze tools and weapons defined an age and drove long distance trade in metals.

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    Writing and cuneiform

    also in Science and technology

    Sumerians pressed wedge shaped marks into clay tablets to record trade, laws and stories. Writing let knowledge outlast memory and is the foundation of recorded history.

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    The sail

    also in Science and technology

    Boats fitted with sails used wind power to travel rivers and seas. Sailing opened long distance trade and exploration by water.

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    The alphabet

    also in Science and technology

    Proto Sinaitic script reduced writing to a small set of signs for sounds rather than hundreds of symbols. This simple alphabet made literacy far easier to learn.

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    Iron metallurgy

    also in Science and technology

    Smiths mastered smelting and working iron, a common and strong metal. Iron tools and weapons spread widely because iron ore was far more plentiful than tin and copper.

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    First coinage

    also in Science and technology

    The kingdom of Lydia struck the first standardized coins from electrum, a natural gold and silver alloy. Coined money made trade, taxes and wages easier to measure.

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    The Roman aqueduct

    also in Science and technology

    Rome built long gravity fed channels to carry fresh water into cities, starting with the Aqua Appia. Aqueducts supplied baths, fountains and homes and supported large urban populations.

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    Archimedes screw

    also in Science and technology

    A rotating screw inside a cylinder lifted water uphill with a simple turn of a handle. It was used to drain mines and irrigate fields and is still used today.

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    Roman concrete

    also in Science and technology

    Romans mixed volcanic ash, lime and water to make a durable concrete that could set underwater. It made possible domes, harbors and structures like the Pantheon that still stand.

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    The vertical waterwheel

    also in Science and technology

    Waterwheels captured the energy of flowing water to grind grain and drive machinery. They were among the first machines to replace human and animal muscle with natural power.

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    Glassblowing

    also in Science and technology

    Craftsmen learned to inflate molten glass with a blowpipe to shape vessels quickly. Glassblowing made glass affordable and common for the first time.

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    Paper

    also in Science and technology

    The official Cai Lun is credited with refining papermaking from pulped fibers into cheap writing sheets. Paper spread slowly westward and became the main surface for writing and printing.

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    The stirrup

    also in Science and technology

    Paired foot supports let a rider stay firmly seated and use weapons from horseback. The stirrup reshaped cavalry warfare across Asia and Europe.

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    The windmill

    also in Science and technology

    Vertical sail mills used wind to grind grain and pump water. Windmills gave regions without fast rivers a reliable source of mechanical power.

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    Gunpowder

    also in Science and technology

    Chinese alchemists mixed saltpeter, charcoal and sulfur into an explosive powder. Gunpowder led to firearms and cannon and changed warfare worldwide.

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    Eyeglasses

    also in Science and technology

    Unknown craftsmen near Pisa mounted two convex lenses in a frame to correct failing eyesight. Eyeglasses extended the working lives of scholars and artisans.

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    The mechanical clock

    also in Science and technology

    European tower clocks using a verge escapement measured time with gears and a swinging bar instead of water. Mechanical clocks brought regular hours to towns and reshaped how people organized work and life.

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    The telescope

    also in Science and technology

    Hans Lippershey filed for a patent on a device that made distant objects look nearer. Turned to the sky by Galileo, the telescope transformed astronomy and our view of the cosmos.

    • This new system began with the first Puritan church at Salem, organized in 1629 by the so-called “Salem Procedure.”
      Dumbing Us Down , p. 106-113
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    The pendulum clock

    also in Science and technology

    Christiaan Huygens used a swinging pendulum to regulate a clock, making timekeeping far more accurate. Precise clocks aided science, navigation and daily coordination.

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    The seed drill

    also in Science and technology

    Jethro Tull built a machine that planted seeds in neat rows at set depth. It cut waste and raised yields and was an early step toward mechanized farming.

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    The telephone

    also in Infrastructure and logistics, Science and technology

    Alexander Graham Bell patented a device that carried the human voice over an electric wire. The telephone let people talk across distances and grew into a worldwide network.

    • It took thirty years to beat down a fierce oppo- sition, but by the 1880s it had come to pass — “they” had the children.
      Dumbing Us Down , p. 106-113
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    Radio

    also in Infrastructure and logistics, Science and technology

    Guglielmo Marconi built the first practical system for sending messages by radio waves without wires, followed by a transatlantic signal in 1901. Radio enabled wireless communication and later broadcasting to millions.

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    Penicillin and antibiotics

    also in Infrastructure and logistics, Science and technology

    Alexander Fleming noticed that a mold killed bacteria, leading to penicillin, the first true antibiotic. Antibiotics made once fatal infections curable and transformed medicine.

    • The most impressive statistic in French's study was a correlation coefficient of .82, which expressed the relationship between the composite rating of teaching ability and the measures of group attention during recitation periods.
      Life in Classrooms
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    The transistor

    also in 1947: the postwar order is built, Infrastructure and logistics, Science and technology

    Researchers at Bell Labs built the first working transistor, a tiny solid state switch and amplifier. Transistors replaced bulky vacuum tubes and are the basic building block of all modern electronics.

    • This technique, to which Bloom gave the term stimulated recall, consisted of making sound recordings of a class session and playing them back to the students within a period of two days from the actual event.
      Life in Classrooms
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    The laser

    also in Infrastructure and logistics, Science and technology

    Theodore Maiman built the first working laser, producing a narrow, intense beam of coherent light. Lasers now drive fiber optics, surgery, manufacturing, scanners and data storage.

    • The point of view expounded here had its beginning in 1962 while I was a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences.
      Life in Classrooms
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    The microprocessor

    also in 1971: the dollar unchained, Infrastructure and logistics, Science and technology

    Intel released the 4004, the first commercial microprocessor, putting a computer's processing on a single chip. Cheap microprocessors made personal computers, phones and countless devices possible.

    • doing school work for the rewards it will bring in the form of good grades and teacher approval
      Life in Classrooms
    • Therefore, as perceived by their administrative superiors, these teachers comprise the top 5 or 10 percent of the instructional staff. The sample was drawn chiefly from suburban communities surrounding Chicago.
      Life in Classrooms
    • In a sense he is working for the school and against it at the same time.
      Life in Classrooms
    • The result, it is claimed, will be the transformation of teaching from an art to a science.
      Life in Classrooms
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    The World Wide Web

    also in Infrastructure and logistics

    Tim Berners-Lee proposed the World Wide Web, a system of linked pages accessed over the internet, and opened it to the public in 1991. The web turned the internet into an everyday tool for billions.

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    The internet becomes the infrastructure of the global order

    also in World order: the transnational forums

    The spread of the internet and later the smartphone and social media wires the world into a single real-time network. It becomes the core infrastructure of globalization, commerce, and communication, and, through surveillance and platform power, an instrument of both state and corporate control. Documented as the backbone of the integrated world order; the specific claim that it is a designed tool of a secret one-world government is a separate conspiracy framing.

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    Web search

    also in Infrastructure and logistics

    Google launched a search engine that ranked pages by their links, making the growing web usefully searchable. Fast, relevant search became the main way people find information online.

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    The smartphone

    also in Infrastructure and logistics

    Apple released the iPhone, combining a phone, a computer and an internet device with a touch screen. Smartphones put the internet in billions of pockets and reshaped daily life, work and media.

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    CRISPR gene editing

    also in Infrastructure and logistics

    Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier showed that the CRISPR Cas9 system could be programmed to cut DNA at chosen sites. It made precise gene editing cheap and widely available and transformed biology and medicine.

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    mRNA COVID-19 vaccines

    also in Infrastructure and logistics

    The first mRNA vaccines were authorized to fight COVID-19, delivering genetic instructions that teach cells to trigger immunity. They were developed at record speed and proved a flexible new platform for vaccines.

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Further reading

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