10 Inventions That Changed the World: From the Plow to the Internet
The wheel, the refrigerator, and means of communication: What are the inventions that changed the world and the way of life for humanity?
Humanity has invented many things since the dawn of history – from the wheel to the internet. However, not all inventions are equal in their importance. Here are ten inventions that were not only ingenious but also had a profound impact on society and the way of life.
1. The Plow.<\/strong> Compared to the shiny gadgets of our generation, the plow may not seem very exciting. After all, it's a simple cutting tool that breaks ground to expose nutrients and prepare it for sowing. But without the plow, human civilization would not have reached where it is today. Before the days of the plow, people had to do all agricultural work by hand, which greatly limited their output. But the plow made the work faster and easier, allowing people to harvest more food than they needed to survive. These surpluses allowed for trade in food for other services or products. Without the plow, no one could devote themselves to trade: people were too busy finding food to live.
Researchers do not know exactly who invented the plow, by the way, but our sages tell us that it was Noah.
![(Photo: Shutterstock)]()
(Photo: Shutterstock)
2. The Wheel.<\/strong> Wheels are a very ancient invention: the oldest wheel found in archaeological excavations was dated to 5200 years ago. The wheel enabled, of course, easier transportation and the delivery of food and products from place to place, but that wasn't its greatest contribution. Wheels are an important element of tens of thousands of inventions: from water wheels that power power stations to the mechanisms that allowed even ancient cultures to assemble complex machines. A huge number of modern technological developments still depend on the wheel: centrifuges for chemical and medical research, electric motors, internal combustion engines, jet engines, power plants, and many others.
![(Photo: Shutterstock)]()
(Photo: Shutterstock)
3. The Printing Press.<\/strong> In 1430, Johann Gutenberg combined some primitive printing technologies that came from the East with some of his developments and built the first efficient printing press. Until then, books
were copied by hand, and access to them was limited to the rich. The printing press allowed vast amounts of information to spread around the world, and the new production method drastically reduced the price of books. Indirectly, the printing press is responsible for most of the inventions that have since been invented: the dissemination of knowledge around the world provided billions with the education they needed to invent inventions themselves.
4. The Refrigerator.<\/strong> The modern refrigerator does not have a single inventor: the concept that eventually hit the market as an electric refrigerator was developed based on contributions from dozens of inventors over more than a hundred years. Until the early twentieth century, the only way to keep food fresh for long periods was through natural ice – an option that could not be available to the entire world population. The invention of the electric refrigerator, however, brought the refrigerator to every home and drastically changed the food industry and people's eating habits around the world. The fact that we have easy access to fresh meat and dairy products even during the hottest summer months is thanks to the invention of the refrigerator.
![(Photo: Shutterstock)]()
(Photo: Shutterstock)
5. Means of Communication.<\/strong> There is one line that connects from the invention of the electric telegraph in 1836 to the development of radio and television. The telegraph sent messages coded over copper wires, and the telephone refined the idea by allowing the transmission of human voice and not just code. The next development, the wireless transmission of messages, formed the basis for the invention of radio and television.
The significance of these inventions lies in how they turned the world into a global village. Within 120 years, the world transformed from a place where it took several weeks to hear news from the other side of the country, to a world where you can hear news from the other side of the planet as they happen. These changes have given us much more information and changed the way we communicate with each other.
6. The Steam Engine.<\/strong> Before the invention of the steam engine, most products were manufactured by hand. Hydraulic power and draft animals provided the only assistance to industry, and they had clear limits. The industrial revolution, however, was sparked by the steam engine. In 1769, James Watt invented a steam engine that changed the world. Not only could factories suddenly produce many products much faster, but the engine also powered trains and ships that sent these products across the globe.
In our times, the steam engine has fallen in favor of electric motors and internal combustion engines. Still, the steam engine remains very important to our lives. Most of the world's power plants generate electricity using steam turbines – whether the turbine is powered by coal, natural gas, or a nuclear reactor.
7. The Automobile.<\/strong> If the steam engine pushed industry forward, the invention of the automobile pushed humans forward. It is hard to exaggerate the importance of this invention: most people in the Western world can get into a car and drive wherever they want within a relatively short time, thus expanding the size of the "communities" to the extent of the distance they are willing to travel. Cities are built and planned around access to vehicles, and many of us would find it difficult to imagine life without a personal vehicle.
![(Photo: Shutterstock)]()
(Photo: Shutterstock)
8. The Electric Lightbulb.<\/strong> When Thomas Edison invented the electric lightbulb in the 1870s, he initiated a significant change in the world. Beyond making it possible for people to work in the dark (or in dark places), the importance of the electric lightbulb is in the infrastructure that was built for it. Today, our world is filled with electrical appliances that we can plug in almost anywhere – and for that, we have to thank the electric lightbulb.
9. The Computer.<\/strong> Although mechanical calculating machines existed in the nineteenth century, the electric computer was invented only in the twentieth century. Without the invention of the computer, many modern inventions and discoveries would not have come to be. Computers are capable of quickly performing complex mathematical calculations, which has enabled many developments in science and technology. Complex military vehicles could not fly without computerized changes to their control centers, the human genome could not have been deciphered without computers, and space exploration would have remained a fantasy. Many of the things we take for granted in today's world just could not function without computers.
![(Photo: Shutterstock)]()
(Photo: Shutterstock)
10. The Internet.<\/strong> The first network that connected computers was built by the United States Army in the late 1960s. By the late 1970s, scientists developed a unified protocol that allowed computers on any network to communicate with computers on other networks. This was the birth of the internet, but it took 10 years until all the world's networks adopted this unified protocol, and the global internet was born.
The internet is such a powerful invention that we still do not know all of its consequences. The ways we work, conduct business, communicate, and interact socially have completely changed because of it, and it is still too early to determine the boundaries of this latest revolution.
1. The Plow.<\/strong> Compared to the shiny gadgets of our generation, the plow may not seem very exciting. After all, it's a simple cutting tool that breaks ground to expose nutrients and prepare it for sowing. But without the plow, human civilization would not have reached where it is today. Before the days of the plow, people had to do all agricultural work by hand, which greatly limited their output. But the plow made the work faster and easier, allowing people to harvest more food than they needed to survive. These surpluses allowed for trade in food for other services or products. Without the plow, no one could devote themselves to trade: people were too busy finding food to live.
Researchers do not know exactly who invented the plow, by the way, but our sages tell us that it was Noah.
(Photo: Shutterstock)2. The Wheel.<\/strong> Wheels are a very ancient invention: the oldest wheel found in archaeological excavations was dated to 5200 years ago. The wheel enabled, of course, easier transportation and the delivery of food and products from place to place, but that wasn't its greatest contribution. Wheels are an important element of tens of thousands of inventions: from water wheels that power power stations to the mechanisms that allowed even ancient cultures to assemble complex machines. A huge number of modern technological developments still depend on the wheel: centrifuges for chemical and medical research, electric motors, internal combustion engines, jet engines, power plants, and many others.
(Photo: Shutterstock)3. The Printing Press.<\/strong> In 1430, Johann Gutenberg combined some primitive printing technologies that came from the East with some of his developments and built the first efficient printing press. Until then, books
were copied by hand, and access to them was limited to the rich. The printing press allowed vast amounts of information to spread around the world, and the new production method drastically reduced the price of books. Indirectly, the printing press is responsible for most of the inventions that have since been invented: the dissemination of knowledge around the world provided billions with the education they needed to invent inventions themselves.
4. The Refrigerator.<\/strong> The modern refrigerator does not have a single inventor: the concept that eventually hit the market as an electric refrigerator was developed based on contributions from dozens of inventors over more than a hundred years. Until the early twentieth century, the only way to keep food fresh for long periods was through natural ice – an option that could not be available to the entire world population. The invention of the electric refrigerator, however, brought the refrigerator to every home and drastically changed the food industry and people's eating habits around the world. The fact that we have easy access to fresh meat and dairy products even during the hottest summer months is thanks to the invention of the refrigerator.
(Photo: Shutterstock)5. Means of Communication.<\/strong> There is one line that connects from the invention of the electric telegraph in 1836 to the development of radio and television. The telegraph sent messages coded over copper wires, and the telephone refined the idea by allowing the transmission of human voice and not just code. The next development, the wireless transmission of messages, formed the basis for the invention of radio and television.
The significance of these inventions lies in how they turned the world into a global village. Within 120 years, the world transformed from a place where it took several weeks to hear news from the other side of the country, to a world where you can hear news from the other side of the planet as they happen. These changes have given us much more information and changed the way we communicate with each other.
6. The Steam Engine.<\/strong> Before the invention of the steam engine, most products were manufactured by hand. Hydraulic power and draft animals provided the only assistance to industry, and they had clear limits. The industrial revolution, however, was sparked by the steam engine. In 1769, James Watt invented a steam engine that changed the world. Not only could factories suddenly produce many products much faster, but the engine also powered trains and ships that sent these products across the globe.
In our times, the steam engine has fallen in favor of electric motors and internal combustion engines. Still, the steam engine remains very important to our lives. Most of the world's power plants generate electricity using steam turbines – whether the turbine is powered by coal, natural gas, or a nuclear reactor.
7. The Automobile.<\/strong> If the steam engine pushed industry forward, the invention of the automobile pushed humans forward. It is hard to exaggerate the importance of this invention: most people in the Western world can get into a car and drive wherever they want within a relatively short time, thus expanding the size of the "communities" to the extent of the distance they are willing to travel. Cities are built and planned around access to vehicles, and many of us would find it difficult to imagine life without a personal vehicle.
(Photo: Shutterstock)8. The Electric Lightbulb.<\/strong> When Thomas Edison invented the electric lightbulb in the 1870s, he initiated a significant change in the world. Beyond making it possible for people to work in the dark (or in dark places), the importance of the electric lightbulb is in the infrastructure that was built for it. Today, our world is filled with electrical appliances that we can plug in almost anywhere – and for that, we have to thank the electric lightbulb.
9. The Computer.<\/strong> Although mechanical calculating machines existed in the nineteenth century, the electric computer was invented only in the twentieth century. Without the invention of the computer, many modern inventions and discoveries would not have come to be. Computers are capable of quickly performing complex mathematical calculations, which has enabled many developments in science and technology. Complex military vehicles could not fly without computerized changes to their control centers, the human genome could not have been deciphered without computers, and space exploration would have remained a fantasy. Many of the things we take for granted in today's world just could not function without computers.
(Photo: Shutterstock)10. The Internet.<\/strong> The first network that connected computers was built by the United States Army in the late 1960s. By the late 1970s, scientists developed a unified protocol that allowed computers on any network to communicate with computers on other networks. This was the birth of the internet, but it took 10 years until all the world's networks adopted this unified protocol, and the global internet was born.
The internet is such a powerful invention that we still do not know all of its consequences. The ways we work, conduct business, communicate, and interact socially have completely changed because of it, and it is still too early to determine the boundaries of this latest revolution.
