Top Ten Inventions Revisited

In this post, I will revise my selection of Top Ten Inventions that have changed the world. In a previous post, I selected Magnifying Glass, Electric Light, X-Rays, Wheel, Compass, Steam Engine, Automobile, Airplane, Mobile Phone, and Internet as my top ten inventions. After reading the blogs and comments of my classmates, I realized that my selection focused too much on enhancing living qualities while neglecting inventions that are living necessities.  Initially, I emphasized inventions that have salient presence in our daily life and I defined living quality in terms of increased level of awareness, communication, and interaction between different people.

Upon reflection, I realized I should also play attention to inventions that may seem more subtle, but are nonetheless crucial for the protection and health of our population. Inventions, which I have taken for granted, and which fulfill physiological needs and safety needs are more important than the inventions that facilitates “smaller and modern world” through increased awareness, communication and interaction between people. With this in mind, I list below my revised top ten inventions with no particular order of importance.

1.     Control of fire is important because it was a turning point in the cultural aspect of human evolution that allowed humans to cook food and obtain warmth and protection. Making fire also allowed the expansion of human activity into the dark and colder hours of the night, and provided protection from predators and insects.

2.     Sewage collection and disposal is important because it enabled people to live close to each other. Sewage collection and disposal systems transport sewage through cities and other inhabited areas to sewage treatment plants to protect public health and prevent disease. Sewage is treated to control water pollution before discharge to surface water. Sewage collection and disposal efficiency will get more important as population grows and cities get more congested. 

3.     Wheel is important because nearly every machine built since the beginning of the industrial revolution involves wheel. It’s hard to imagine any mechanized system that would be possible without wheel. Wheels brought mobility to our daily life, allowed heavy objects to be moved easily, and were also used for recreational activities.

4.     Contraceptive is important because it helps keep families under control, promotes safe sex, and also reduced the number of unwanted pregnancies. Effective contraception provides both health and social benefits to mother and their children by allowing families to plan and space births.

5.     Vaccination is important because it protects children from serious illness and complications of vaccine-preventable diseases, which can include amputation of an arm or leg, paralysis of limbs, hearing loss, convulsions, brain damage, and death. If children aren’t vaccinated, they can spread disease to other children who are too young to be vaccinated or to people with weakened immune systems, such as people with cancer. This could result in long-term complications and even death for these vulnerable people.

6.     Light bulb is important because it eliminated peoples’ dependence on candles and oil lamps, and created an easier way to light house at night. Electric light extended human activities beyond sunset, making it possible for people to read and work at night. Additionally, street- light added to the safety of the night drivers and commuters.

7.     Printing press is important because it facilitated the passage of knowledge. In the west, it moved “printing” out of the monasteries and in to secular hands. It enabled the spread of knowledge in words and langue that were not filtered through the church. Additionally, it contributes to scholarship discussions. The printing press process ensured that the same information fell on the same pages, page numbering, tables of contents, and indices become common. The wider availability of printed materials led to a drastic rise in the adult literary rate throughout the Europe.

8.     Automobiles are important because they enable people to move from one particular place to another with ease. They also help us to transport cargos at must faster speed than animal drawn carriages and carts. Additionally, they brought economic benefits, which include jobs and wealth creation of car production and maintenance.

9.     Airplanes are important because they allow people and goods to be transported quickly over great distance and over all types of terrain.  They are much faster than automobiles. Additionally, they brought economic benefits, which include jobs and wealth creation of airplane production and maintenance.

10.  Internet is important because it transforms how people interact with each other and the pace at which information travels. It helps to bring the world’s information to your fingertips and yours to the world if you so choose.