There are few things that encapsulate the human experienceas much as our constant need for invention — it’s one of the core aspects of
our nature. Since the dawn of humanity, we’ve been hard at work creating
wondrous tools that give us the ability to tame nature, bend the physical world
to our will, and put incredible invention ideas into practice.
Naturally, trying to decide which of these inventions hasinfluenced us the most is difficult. That being said, we’ve decided to
celebrate the immense invention talent of our species by taking a look at some
of the biggest advancements of humankind — roughly in chronological order.
#InventHelp #InventHelpPatent #InventHelpPatent Services #InventHelpInventions #InventHelpPatent Attorney #InventHelpPatent Invention #InventHelpPatent An Idea #InventHelpPatent Protection #InventHelpInvention Ideas #InventHelpInnovation #InventHelpTechnology #InventHelpInventors #InventHelpStartups #InventHelpPrototype #InventHelpIdea
Discovery of Fire
There’s a reason why we say that fire was more of adiscovery than an invention — it’s not really anything mechanical. Instead,
it’s a force of nature early humans had observed and slowly tamed.
Interestingly enough, the first humanoid species that usedfire weren’t even homo sapiens — current evidence shows that other humanoids
had used it around two million years before. However, the widespread use of
fire by our direct ancestors has first been dated to 125,000 years BC.
It was one of the crucial tools for early human development,providing us with protection, warmth, and the safety we needed to focus on a
host of various crucial inventions; not to mention vital skills such as
cooking. The mere fact that we started to cook food gave us access to nutrients
that vastly expanded the size and capacity of our brains over time. Many
experts believe that this is what gave us the biggest competitive advantage
over fellow primates.
The Wheel
The invention of the wheel was what made trade andgeographically dispersed civilizations possible. According to current
estimates, it was first invented in ancient Mesopotamia, around 5500 years ago.
Its initial use was for pottery, where stone wheels still have heavy use to
this day.
However, the wheel didn’t reach its true potential until aMesopotamian genius tried to put it on the first rudimentary chariot —
everything else went smoothly from there. And even in our technologically
advanced age, wheels still remain one of the most fundamental aspects of modern
technology; they still facilitate trade and transportation via modern cars.
Screws and Nails
When discussing ancient inventions, fire and the wheel oftenget most of the spotlight. However, none of our modern architecture or
machinery would be possible without the invention of the mighty nail and its
younger cousin — the screw.
The first metal fasteners were created by Ancient Egyptiansaround the same time as the Mesopotamians discovered the wheel. Screws would
come much later, probably made by the Ancient Greeks around two centuries
before Christ.
Lenses and Optics
Few human inventions have helped modern science as much asthe creation of optical lenses — they’ve made our observation powers infinitely
bigger, from telescopes and microscopes to simple reading glasses.
Their history is surprisingly long — the first lenses wereused by Mesopotamians and Egyptians millennia before Christ. However, the
Ancient Greeks would make the most significant strides in vision and light
theory.
Centuries later, our nearer ancestors would use those sametheories and principles to create the first photographs, soon followed by
movies and television.
The Compass
Navigation has always played a massive part in the advent ofhuman civilization — especially in the context of maritime exploration. And
we’ve used the magnetic poles to govern our movement for longer than you might
think; the earliest compass-like navigational devices were created in China
around 200 BC.
Paper And The Press
Speaking of the many technological strides made in AncientChina — paper is probably one of the most important ones. It has allowed
mankind to easily record and share many ideas without an expensive or arduous
production process.
And years later, Gutenberg created the first paper printingpress and ushered in the modern age of media and knowledge. The device was
easily able to mass-produce books by transferring ink from movable type to
reams of paper. This invention spread through 15th-century Europe like
wildfire, revolutionizing knowledge and making it more widely available to the
common people than at any other point in human history.
Before Gutenberg’s printing press, most of the books we’vehad were copied and hand-written by members of various religious orders — who
also used their unique role in society to maintain an informal monopoly on
knowledge and the written word. Luckily, the printing press brought a
much-needed democratization of knowledge to the late medieval world.
Electricity
Since Thales of Miletus first began ancient research intoelectricity, humans have been utterly fascinated by its possibilities. Benjamin
Franklin, the most industrious among the Founding Fathers, would further our
knowledge of electricity millennia later — and that powerful concept has
brought us everything from the (now) simple lightbulb to the Internet.
