The most important invention of the past 2000 years and why?

T

truthseeker

Registered User
Messages
2,577
Am reading a book of the same title, its a series of contributions from leading thinkers in science, engineering, philosophy etc....edited by John Brockman.

Anyway - you can nominate ideas or concepts as well as physical inventions (one contributor to the book nominated the idea of universitys), or applications that sit upon other inventions (like text messaging - which sits on the fact that mobile phones were invented).

There is no definition of what constitutes 'important' - so make your own interpretation.

My nomination is the advent of the internet. It has had a major cultural impact, changing how people communicate, get information, shop, learn, bank, play games, win money, store information about themselves, date, book events etc...

I would also give a nod to mobile phone technology which has revolutionised how people communicate with each other wordlwide.

What nominations would other people have?
 
Jock04 said:
Possibly antibiotics
but almost certainly something by a Scotsman;)
Click to expand...

Ah but did you see that edition of QI where it was claimed that something like 70 - 80% of the inventions credited to Scotsmen were actually invented by some other (non scottish) person/people?

However, even if true, I think it still left a fairly impressive list for Scotland anyway.
 
The steam engine.

Put simply, there would be no electricity without it, no industrial revolution, and no way of advancing technologically, no skyscrapers, no mass transit, no engineering on any serious scale, and we would not be where we are today with out it.
 
Electricity...without electrical energy we could do nothing in the modern world.

Some things have not changed much in the past 100 years In 1908 a letter posted in Dublin was in London the next day. The trains took the same time as now, and sometimes less. Mobiles + computers are the main things I see that have changed in the past few decades. Cars still have 4 wheels, an engine at the front, boot at the back etc...just like in 20th century for example.
 
Caveat said:
Ah but did you see that edition of QI where it was claimed that something like 70 - 80% of the inventions credited to Scotsmen were actually invented by some other (non scottish) person/people?

However, even if true, I think it still left a fairly impressive list for Scotland anyway.
Click to expand...

No, I didn't see that. An English programme, was it? :D

Anyhoo, medicines, engineering, whatever - difficult to quantify how one is more important than the other, I'm sure. I'm just glad we have them all.
 
The printing press - nothing has advanced humanity as quickly or as profoundly as this relatively cheap, efficient means of mass distribution of information and ideas.
 
My vote is for electricity as well, I wouldn't be able to leave lights on all over the house without it! But really, it's something I totally take for granted!

ad
 
I would say anything to do with surgery/medicine i.e pacemakers/artificial organs/life support/Artificial Breathing Devices/ Respirators - all that good stuff!
 
Pique318 said:
The steam engine.

Put simply, there would be no electricity without it, no industrial revolution, and no way of advancing technologically, no skyscrapers, no mass transit, no engineering on any serious scale, and we would not be where we are today with out it.
Click to expand...

Second that.
 
Hard to imagine the internet being in the same league as electricity, the steam engine and the printing press as the most important invention of the past 2000 years. Even television has had a bigger impact.
 
The printing press: it gave the masses access to knowledge.

The Telegram: For the first time the world was connected in real time.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top