Top ten inventions of all time
Humans have been around for at least 120,000 years so there are plenty of inventions that will not make the top ten. My list is based on how truly revolutionary those inventions were at the time and how relevant still are right now. Many of those inventions are very old and only one in my top ten will come from the 20th century, that’s because I believe that with all the background inventions that preceded us and the amount of knowledge we possess right now any breakthrough will be much easier than in Neolithic times where all you really had was your ingenuity. So let us begin in no particular order:
1) Domestication of fire. As relevant now as it was in ancient time, fire allowed humans to cook and keep warm at night while keeping ferocious animals at bay. Cooked meat is more easily digested and that in turn led to humans developing bigger brains. Without fire we would be as smart as the average chimp and would probably be still hanging from a tree. An unwanted effect of this invention was the later development of dietitians, how could we ever live without it?
2) The wheel. Transportation was revolutionised, paving the way to commerce and the spread of new ideas around the world.
3) The alphabet. Although language was so important to early humans that some scientists believe it to be the main reason for the extinction of Neanderthals, those few tribes that still use only oral traditions didn’t really go very far. The invention of the alphabet by the Sumerians allowed us to store and pass on a great deal of information. This sharing of information eventually led us to develop things such as laws, arts and science.
4)The brick. Without it we would still live in caves, we wouldn’t have great buildings and monuments, in short cities would not have been possible. Invented by the Romans, they were used in buildings like the Coliseum and the aqueducts, all of them still standing.
5) The arch. Arab invention that allowed bigger buildings to be built without compromising stability or security. And it looks awesome.
6) Concrete/Cement. Once again a building advancement. Without it skyscrapers and dams would not be possible. Electricity would not be practical and we would still going to bed according to what time the sun set.
7) The number zero. Arabs were spot on with this one. Without the zero most sciences would not make any sense and progress would have stopped almost as soon as it started.
8) Medicine. Does it really need an explanation? How frustrating is to wear out a cold without pills? How bad could it get without anti venom medication, antibiotics, anesthesia and a surgeon to remove tumors? Life would certainly not be the same.
9) Internal combustion engines. Let’s see, no cars, no ships, no planes, no heavy machines in industries like mining and no rockets. The best you can do without it is going back to be a farmer.
10) Least but not last, money. Without a proper exchange mechanism commerce would be a meaningless word. And without commerce the sharing of ideas would have been severely limited. Good thing about it would be that there wouldn’t be a difference between rich and poor people. The bad side of it would be that as rich as you can get you would still be very poor.
