Inventions that Changed the World

Necessity is the mother of invention, is a common saying. Indeed some inventions that changed the world were invented to fulfill some or the other necessity. Some such inventions that changed the world, have been discussed in the following paragraphs.

If we travel back in time, we can see how these inventions have drastically changed the world. Let us start this article with some of the oldest and the simplest of inventions that changed the world, stone tools of the stone age and the control of fire. The next basic invention was Microlith, the smallest of all stone tools, that is as small as a needle. The bow and arrow and the canoe were the Mesolithic inventions that facilitated man's lifestyle. The next invention that brought about considerable changes in man's lifestyle were pottery and wheel, and thus began man's journey towards civilization. These two inventions were aided by the art of metallurgy, which forged the civilizations of the world. There are some inventions of considerable importance, that have played a highly instrumental role in shaping the world in which we live today.

Top 10 Inventions that Changed the World

The first invention that should be mentioned is that of gunpowder. Historians may argue that gunpowder was not invented but discovered. Anyhow, the discovery of gunpowder, drastically changed the way battles were fought. Then Archimedes screw, was a revolutionary invention that was invented on some simple principles of physics, in order to facilitate irrigation. Initially this invention was used in order to simplify agriculture. Today we use it every possible gadget and machine. 2500 BC, Indus valley civilization is credited as the innovator of the plow and hoe. These two invention ideas or developments facilitated early agricultural activities. There are several other places where the plow and hoe had been used. Egyptian paintings, relics from Babylon and primitive farming techniques from South America show that this invention was discovered by several civilizations. Arithmetic is something that I thoroughly hate when it comes to studying it in textbooks, but from a historical point of view, it is quite interesting. Aryabhatta, a Vedic Indian mathematics genius was first initiator of modern mathematical concepts such as zero, decimals, geometry, trigonometry, and algebra. It would have been impossible to live without such concepts. Surgery is something that came into being very late - a wide misconception. Sushruta, a medical practitioner from India, around 800 BC, performed cataract surgeries, plastic surgeries, successfully in his time. An Ayurveda practitioner, Sushruta wrote a book Sushruta Samhita, during the time course of his practice. In his book he described, 120 surgical instruments, 300 procedures and 8 categorizes of surgeries. Believe it or not, we do use all the procedures and also the instruments even today. The Chinese and Egyptian civilization, played a highly instrumental role in the development of paper. This invention led to the development to communication, literature and rapid spread of knowledge. The paper, in

different forms was eventually used by several other civilizations. One great discovery that helped save many lives was penicillin. Penicillin, is the basis of antibiotics. The discovery and invention of the proper cultivation of penicillin has become the basis of many other essential organic processes. This discovery cum invention is credited to a famous scientist by the name of Alexander Fleming from Scotland. The wheel had been invented a long time ago and as the spread of trade and commerce began to attain greater speed, James Watt and Thomas Newcomen, came up with genuine mechanisms to use the power of steam. Their invention set things into such a great motion that, they have never slowed down. Among the inventions that changed the world, Thomas Edison's bulb holds a special place. The invention has two great merits, one it gave light to the world and second it proved that impossible situations can be overcome with patience and sheer logic. The modern world, has become a place of extremely fast communications. The person who can be credited to have started the revolution is Alexander Graham Bell. This invention is probably the one that has influenced the modern world the most.

Apart from these inventions, there are several other inventions that changed the world, the Wright brother's plane, computers, nuclear fission, internal combustion engine are just a few of the many. If we want to have a look at the 21st century inventions that changed the world, then we have the new invention of the Braille Glove by Ryan Patterson or the SonoPrep (a syringe like medical device for administering injections sans the needle!) by Robert Langer.