The Top Ten Greatest Inventions Of All Time
Music. I think of it as perhaps one of the most beautiful inventions of mankind. It is the universal language of planet earth. As I write this, I am listening to Sinead O’Connor, wailing Mna Na Heireann, in her painfully beautiful Irish voice. The harp is so pleasing to my damaged soul. For this pleasure, which I’ve done nothing to deserve, I am thankful.
Thousands of years ago, men and women played some instrument beneath a blanket of night sky and the group found their common ground.
The motor vehicle. Where, I wonder would we be without this mode of transportation? Still riding horses. And while I am an adept horsewoman, I cannot imagine riding from here to all of the places I’ve been to in the United States. In emergencies, the motor vehicle greatly enhances survival chances.
Too, the airplane. What a wonderful invention. A way for man to travel across the great expanse of oceans to worlds unknown. I cannot help but think of Ms. Earhart and her contributions to flight. The Wright brothers of course deserve great recognition. How daring and brave and innovative they were. I wonder if they realized what they were onto as they applied for that patent?
The newspaper. So taken for granted. The great bastion of the first amendment and testament to our great belief in free speech in America, alas, did not begin in America. The Roman Empire published Actas in 59 BC. Rome fell in a day. If only there had been an editorial page in Actas. And where would we be without letters to the editor?
The Ultra Sound. I have a photo of my son, Isaac. Before he was ever born. Amazing. How wonderful that life can be watched before it begins and problems, detected, can many times be attended to. Improving life.
Touch thermometers for babies. Wonderful. I remember the old intrusives ones. At two years of age, I fought a doctor, a nurse and my grandmother, determined not to be intruded upon. They eventually body slammed me. I cannot say enough about how impressed I am with the new thermometers.
The Constitution of the United States. A perfect document of the testament to the Celt mind and it’s need for freedom. A thinkers delight. Unfortunately, interpretors are not always so enlightened. Unfortunately, a fourteenth amendment was necessary. The obvious was not enough.
Art. The expression as an elevated philosophy.
Literature. The telling of stories in print. The painting in words.
Romantic love. I’m quite sure that the male of the species made it up, seeing that the female pined for it. His poetry, pouring forth and his gallant attention focused upon her. Until he grows tired of her. At which time, we are so thankful for the invention of ships and man’s imagination. For a stifled man is a horrid thing to have hanging around the house.
