Gunpowder and firearms. Internet and World Wide Web

Over the entire existence of our planet, hundreds of thousands of amazing things have been created. It is enough just to look around - everything that we see appeared as a result of painstaking human labor. And among this diversity, it is impossible to objectively determine the best invention of mankind. However, there are the results of large-scale social surveys and the opinions of scientists on this topic. It is quite possible to focus on them when studying it.

Discovery from the past

The best inventions of mankind, which are more correctly called discoveries, were discovered thousands of years ago. Now they are an integral part of our lives.

In the first place, naturally, is fire. It was its development that became a turning point in When people understood what fire was and how it could be used, they began to develop their activity at night, use it to protect themselves from predators and prepare a variety of (at that time) food. Many people maintained it in caves for years, preventing it from fading. After all, the path to making fire on your own was a very long one.

There is even an opinion that thanks to fire, the process of evolution began to go faster. After all, the erect walkers Homo erectus used it to prepare starch-containing food, consuming which they ensured the rapid absorption of polysaccharides, which contributed to the intensive development of the brain.

Writing

This is definitely also the best invention of mankind. Persuasive speech is not even needed to prove this statement. After all, it was the emergence of writing that marked the beginning of the development of civilization and contributed to the exchange of knowledge between different peoples and cultures. Although it all began back in 9000-7000. BC, from early pictographs of Western Asia (Syrian region).

Paper is also considered one of the most important inventions of mankind. Writing made it possible for people to save any information they received. And paper gave millions of people access to it. After all, before its invention, all materials intended for writing were very expensive. Paper appeared, by the way, in 105 BC. He created it. Later his invention was improved, as was the method of paper production.

Book

Many say that it is the best invention of mankind. The book, however, deserves this status. Even though many now perceive it as a work of printing in a binding. But this is only because people are accustomed to books.

In fact, each of them is a separate small world. It is the book that is the conductor of information through the centuries, the pride of humanity and its heritage. This is verbal and historical experience, secrets and pleasure. By reading books, people become more educated and intellectually savvy, enrich their vocabulary, learn to think and analyze. They improve as Personalities with capital letters. It's just a pity that in our age modern technologies people forget about books and don't read as much as they used to.

Electricity

Speaking about a period closer to our time, it would be logical to start with it. In terms of scale, this is truly the most important and best invention of mankind. Electricity, however, is not something that was created by human hands. After all, this is not a thing, but a set of phenomena that are caused by movement and interaction electric charges. But in in this case electricity has a modern understanding.

Its first functional source was created in the 18th century. Then it was possible to invent a voltaic column - a device for receiving a discharge.

And, I must say, many people interviewed said that they think greatest creation person... an electric light bulb. You can understand why. Day gives way to night, but life does not stop, thanks to the fact that in our lives there are means of lighting - light bulbs. Their first prototype was invented by the German watchmaker Heinrich Goebel in 1854. 26 years later, the light bulb was improved by American inventor Thomas Edison. It was he who gave our world a switch, a base and a socket. Tungsten filament was invented in 1890 by electrical engineer Alexander Lodygin, who also proposed filling light bulbs with inert gas.

Ballpen

In fact, it is not at all surprising that this thing was found among such large-scale discoveries. According to the results of a survey conducted in the UK, it turned out that the majority of people believe that the ballpoint pen is the best invention of mankind. This simple and everyday item was created by a Hungarian journalist named in 1938. It is important to note that he was helped by his brother Georg, who was a chemist by profession.

First, the inventors patented a ballpoint pen in Hungary. But then the Second began world war. In this regard, the brothers moved to Argentina and patented the invention there. After some time, they sold the right to produce ballpoint pens to a company called Eversharp. They were paid $1,000,000, which was a huge amount at that time.

Since 1943, there has been a mass production of ballpoint pens, which today are indispensable stationery devices that every person uses.

Internet

It is unlikely that people will object to the fact that the World Wide Web is the best invention of mankind. It radically changed the life of modern man. The population of the planet learned about such things as video communication, remote work, games, instant communication with an interlocutor in another part of the Earth, online broadcasts and much more.

Without a doubt, the Internet is the best invention of mankind. Now ~4 billion people use it, and this number is increasing daily. It all started in 1962. It was then that Joseph Carl Robnett Licklider introduced the world to the first detailed concept of a computer network. 5 years later, work began on the creation of the ARPA Net Internet network. And the first server was installed on September 2, 1969. And already on October 29, two months later, a communication session was held between two computers located at a distance of 640 kilometers.

From that moment on, the Internet began to develop rapidly. Within a few months, news groups, mailing lists, and message boards appeared. And today almost everything is available on the Internet.

Creations from the 2000s

After short excursion in history, you can tell about the best inventions of mankind of the 21st century. Started new era created in 2001 Now it is the basis of all LED displays.

In 2002, a breakthrough was made in medicine, marked by the creation of an artificial retina. Then, in next year, technical engineers have developed an interface for mentally controlling objects.

The year 2004 was marked by two amazing inventions. The world saw a neutron microscope and a bionic eye.

A year later, a robot was created that could create copies of itself. And in 2006, self-healing coatings and paints were introduced to humanity.

There were no discoveries in 2007, but in 2008 the world learned about a passive microelectronic element that can change its resistance depending on the charge flowing through it. It was called a memristor.

In the next two years, four more discoveries were made. For the first time, they transmitted thoughts to the Internet, created a biological 3D printer, LG specialists developed an ultra-mobile PC, and biologists developed the first living cell, whose DNA was replaced with artificial one. It was all truly amazing. Much surprises even now. This is why it is so difficult to determine the best invention of mankind.

Until the mid-tenths

2012 was also marked by large-scale developments. Then an aerial display, a virtual reality helmet was created, and a method for producing special soluble electronics was developed.

In 2013, laser space communications were established. And in 2014, they invented a MEMS nanoinjector and a less significant, but fun thing - smart chopsticks. Then, in 2015, the “sleeping” bacterium (a robotic nano-device) was introduced to the world. It functions as an ultra-sensitive humidity sensor due to the presence of special nano-structures on the surface.

Recent years

I would like to complete the story by identifying the TOP 10 best inventions of humanity for the past year, 2016.

First place goes to the Flyte floating light bulb, which manages to float and rotate due to electromagnetism. It glows due to inductive resonating coupling.

Second place is rightly occupied by Tesla's solar roof, which converts the sun's radiation into electricity.

The next amazing invention is the Nike HyperAdapt 1.0 self-lacing running shoe. The dream of all Back to the Future fans has come true.

In fourth place is the Hello Sense intelligent multifunctional alarm clock, which monitors sleep cycles and gives the command to wake up at the most appropriate moment for its owner.

Also in 2016, Eagle 360 ​​tires appeared, rotating in all directions, “smart” toothbrush, and also dishes for people with problems with cognitive functions. In addition, the world saw powerful and sweet potatoes enriched with vitamin A, and a tiny Dji Mavic Pro drone equipped with a 4K camera.

So, this is a small part of what can be told about the most amazing and important inventions humanity. Of course, throughout the history of its existence it has been done tens of thousands of times. more discoveries. And you can be sure that over time this number will increase many times over.

PREFACE

The dramatic path traveled by humanity from ancient times to the present day can be represented in various ways, it can be described as a string of great events, as a series of biographies of outstanding figures, this path can be reflected through the history of philosophy, literature or art, through the history of wars and many others. ways. And each of them will be fascinating and instructive in its own way. Readers and fans of the “100 Greats” series, published by the Veche publishing house, have already had many occasions to verify this.

In this book, the development of mankind is shown through the history of its great inventions. In one hundred small essays, each of which is dedicated to some bright page of human ingenuity, we tried to tell truthfully and entertainingly about hard way, which inquisitive human thought has passed from the first primitive tool of labor - the hand ax - to the world of modern computer networks. To everyone who now wants to repeat this wonderful journey with us, we will try to briefly tell you in a short introduction about what awaits him.

First of all, we probably need to answer the question: which inventions and why should be considered great. Let's admit right away - we were standing in front of difficult choice, deciding which of the numerous examples of human genius is worthy of taking a place on the list of “the very best”, and which one should remain outside it. In the end, the following criterion was chosen: a discovery should only be considered greatest when the consequences of its implementation were accompanied by visible and significant changes in life human society. With this approach, the biggest specific gravity In our book we received inventions in the field of transport (18 inventions). The following chapters are dedicated to them: “Oar and Boat”, “Wheel and Cart”, “Sail and Ship”, “Caravel”, “Aerostat”, “Steamboat”, “Steam Locomotive”, “Oil Pipeline”, “Bicycle”, “Car”, "Motor ship", "Airplane", " Submarine", "Turbojet", "Helicopter", " Ballistic missile», « Spacecraft" And " Orbital station" Somewhat inferior to the “transport achievements” are the discoveries, which can be conditionally united under the theme of “tools of labor” (14 inventions). Stories about these outstanding, in our opinion, achievements can be found in the chapters: “The Hand Chopper”, “The Handle”, “The Spinning Wheel and the Weaving Machine” , "Potter's Wheel", "Lever, Block and inclined plane", "Mill", " Mechanical watch”, “Spinning machine”, “Support”, “Steam hammer”, “Rolling mill”, “Hydraulic press”, “Bottle machine” and “Robot” In third place (10 inventions) were achievements in the development of new materials (chapters “Drilling, sawing and grinding of stone”, “Bronze”, “Iron”, “Paper”, “Blast furnace”, “Cast steel”, “Reinforced concrete”, “Electrolysis of aluminum”, “ Synthetic rubber" and "Plastics"), and on the fourth there are 8 inventions in the field of energy (chapters "Steam engine", "Electric generator", "Hydraulic turbine", "Steam turbine", "Gas and gasoline engine", "Electric engine", "Diesel" and " Nuclear power plant"). We have not forgotten military affairs (chapters “Gunpowder”, “Rifle”, “ Atomic bomb"etc.); the sphere of information (chapters “Printing”, “Linotype”, “Internet”, etc.); communications (chapters “Telegraph”, “Telephone”, “Television”, etc.); electronics (chapters “Electronic tube”, “Transistor”, “Integrated circuit”, “Personal computer”, etc.); instruments (chapters “Compass”, “Telescope”, “Microscope”); electrical engineering (“Light bulb”, “Transformer”, “Battery”); sound recording (“Gramophone” and “Tape recorder”); photography and filming (chapters “Photography” and “Cinematography”); agriculture(“Hoe farming”, “Plow”, “Tractor”). In addition, the reader will find in this book essays “Radar”, “Laser”, “ computing machine", "Autopilot", "Dynamite", "Matches", "Drilling for Oil" and some others, in our opinion, covering the main areas of human activity. We, however, did not intend to reduce all the achievements of inventive thought only to technocratic discoveries. Two chapters in the book (“Smallpox Vaccination” and “Penicillin”) relate to medicine. In the chapter "Flow production" we're talking about O scientific organization labor. There are some other "non-technical" chapters (eg "Writing").

The second important question: what, exactly, should be considered an “invention”? Agree that you can answer this in different ways. Some will say that an invention is the putting forward of an idea itself, a statement of a principle. Others mean by invention the creation of a working model. The third is the introduction of this model into production. By placing different emphasis, you can tell the story of any invention in different ways. Close to this is another eternal question: who is the author of the invention? For there is probably no such great inventor who would not have his predecessors, because, as we know, nothing is born out of nowhere. Finally, another important detail is to what extent should we delve into the story of the invention, that is, where the “invention” ends and what is called “improvement” begins. Before setting out the principles that guided our presentation, let us refer to the words of one of the most outstanding inventors late 19th and early 20th centuries - Thomas Alva Edison. In one of his interviews, Edison admitted: “It is easy to make amazing discoveries, but the difficulty lies in improving them so that they gain practical value.” Anyone familiar with the history of technology will agree that this is exactly the case. And let no one be misled by stories about sudden insights, miraculous coincidences and amazing successes that allegedly happened to some great inventors. All this is nothing more than idle speculation. Yes, we know that Watt allegedly “invented” his steam engine while walking, having seen, in his in my own words, “like steam pouring out of the laundry window.” But we also know that he then spent more than ten years of daily hard work before he was able to establish serial production of these machines. Because the “principle of action” alone is not enough. And when it came to real steam, real metal and real machines, everything turned out to be not at all as simple as it might seem at first. We also know that Morse invented all the parts of his famous telegraph apparatus in just two weeks while sailing on a ship from Europe to America. But how many failures and disappointments awaited him in subsequent years, until he managed to translate his idea into a real scheme! And how much more effort and money he had to spend before he was able to prove that his telegraph apparatus was not a toy, but a necessary and useful thing. We know how amazingly lucky the inventor of the telephone, Bell, was when, due to an error by his assistant who was repairing the contact, a simple method of conversion was revealed to him. sound waves to electric, and vice versa. But let's not forget that this happened to no one else, namely Bell, after many years of working on the problem telephone communication. These examples can be continued and continued, the conclusion will be the same: the inventor should rightfully be considered not the one who made an “amazing discovery,” but the one who gave it “practical value.” By the way, we involuntarily admit this: by saying that such and such an invention was made by such and such, we thereby transfer to one person the achievements of his predecessors and contemporaries (and these latter, alas, we forget; fair or unfair - that's another question). Everyone has the names Galileo, Watt, Maudsley, Stephenson, Fulton, Morse, Marconi, Zworykin, Sikorsky, Brown or Korolev on their tongues. These people are rightfully considered greatest inventors, although it is well known that spotting scopes were used before Galileo, that steam engines worked before Watt, that calipers were used before Maudsley. It's no secret that steam locomotives (and very good ones) were built before Stephenson, and steamships before Fulton. We know that telegraphs functioned before Morse, that the principle of radio was already known before Marconi, that televisions were shown before Zworykin, helicopters flew before Sikorsky, and rockets took off before Brown and Korolev (and that their own rockets would never have launched without the efforts of subordinates named after powerful scientific teams). And yet it doesn't change anything. The enormous merit of these and many other “recognized great” inventors to humanity lies in the fact that, having taken up some (perhaps even someone else’s) undeveloped idea, they, through hard work, overcoming many difficulties, brought it to a state where its “practical value” became obvious to everyone. It is this act that we subsequently accept as an “invention” in the true sense of the word. As for the question of to what “degree of perfection” a particular invention should be brought to a story, we usually stopped at the stage when it came to serial production and the beginning of mass application. After this, in our opinion, the invention ceases to be an invention, but becomes an object of “improvement”. (So, for example, we bring the history of cinema to the emergence of the first cinemas, the history of radio - to the beginning commercial use radiotelegraph for communication via Atlantic Ocean, the history of television - before the emergence of the first central broadcasting systems, the history of the airplane - before Blériot's flight across the English Channel, the history of rockets - before the flights of the first satellites, although, of course, the history of cinema, radio, television, rocket science or aviation is not exhausted by this period, it continues and is accompanied by many new wonderful inventions, but they can no longer be classified as the greatest.)

Finally, the last thing I wanted to talk about is the principles of presentation and selection of material. It is clear that, having undertaken to describe, in fact, the entire history of technology, we were dealing with a huge volume of material, which would be more than enough for several books. Involuntarily, I had to give up something, talk about something briefly, and only mention something along the way. However, despite all this, all essays clearly and consistently maintain main goal this book: clearly, understandably, intelligibly, but without simplification, tell about the action and structure of each of the described inventions. If anyone has the desire and need to better understand the logic and beauty of the technogenic civilization that surrounds us, then this book (we hope so) will serve as a good guide for him. Why does the match light up? How does a machine gun fire? How sailing ship can you sail against the wind? Why doesn't the plane crash? How is a missile aimed at a target? What is plastic? How does the clock work? How do robots work? What is the Internet? Why does a telescope zoom in and a microscope zoom in? How does the smallpox vaccine work? How it works nuclear reactor? How is sound recorded on a record and how on magnetic tape? How does the computer count? You can learn about all this and much, much more from this book. We foresaw that our readers might be people who are far from technology and who have somewhat forgotten about what was written in school textbooks. Because without understanding some physical or chemical processes It is impossible to understand the principle of operation of many devices and mechanisms, we tried to clearly and concisely explain necessary information where it was required. And since our main task consisted of explaining the main principles of the device without unnecessary detail, we managed to get by minimum quantity formulas, and the simplest ones at that. At the end of the book there is a detailed chronological table, which notes all the inventions and discoveries mentioned in the book.

That's all we wanted to warn you about. All that remains is to wish you a pleasant and informative reading.

So, once again we present to you 100 great inventions of mankind:

Every year or decade, more and more scientists and inventors appear who give us new discoveries and inventions in various fields. But there are inventions that, once invented, change our way of life in a huge way, moving us forward on the path of progress. Here are just ten great inventions who have changed the world in which we live.

List of inventions:

1. Nails

Inventor: unknown

Without nails, our civilization would certainly collapse. It is difficult to determine the exact date of appearance of the nails. Now the approximate date of creation of nails is in the era Bronze Age. That is, it is obvious that nails could not have appeared before people learned to cast and shape metal. Previously, wooden structures had to be erected using more complex technologies, using complex geometric designs. Now the construction process has been greatly simplified.

Until the 1790s and early 1800s, iron nails were made by hand. The blacksmith would heat a square iron rod and then beat it on all four sides to create the sharp end of the nail. Machines for making nails appeared between the 1790s and early 1800s. Nail technology continued to evolve; After Henry Bessemer developed a process for mass-producing steel from iron, the iron nails of yesteryear gradually fell out of favor, and by 1886, 10% of nails in the United States were made from soft steel wire (according to the University of Vermont). By 1913, 90% of nails produced in the United States were made from steel wire.

2. Wheel

Inventor: unknown

The idea of ​​a symmetrical component moving in circular motion along the axis, existed in ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt and Europe separately in different periods time. Thus, it is impossible to establish who and where exactly invented the wheel, but this great invention appeared in 3500 BC and became one of the most important inventions of mankind. The wheel facilitated work in the fields of agriculture and transportation, and also became the basis for other inventions, ranging from carriages to clocks.

3. Printing press

Johannes Gutenberg invented the manual printing press in 1450. By 1500 in Western Europe Twenty million books have already been printed. In the 19th century, a modification was made and iron parts replaced wooden ones, speeding up the printing process. The cultural and industrial revolution in Europe would not have been possible if not for the speed with which printing allowed documents, books and newspapers to be distributed to a wide audience. Printing press allowed the press to develop, and also gave people the opportunity to educate themselves. Political sphere would also be unthinkable without millions of copies of leaflets and posters. What can we say about state apparatus with him infinite number forms? In general, it is a truly great invention.

4. Steam engine

Inventor: James Watt

Although the first version steam engine dates back to the 3rd century AD, only in early XIX century with the advent of the industrial era, the modern form of the engine appeared internal combustion. It took decades of design before James Watt made the first drawings, according to which burning fuel releases high-temperature gas and, as it expands, puts pressure on the piston and moves it. This phenomenal invention played a role decisive role in inventing other machines such as cars and airplanes that have changed the face of the planet we live on.

5. Light bulb

Inventor: Thomas Alva Edison

The invention of the light bulb developed during the 1800s by Thomas Edison; he is credited with being the main inventor of a lamp that could burn for 1500 hours without burning out (invented in 1879). The idea of ​​the light bulb itself did not belong to Edison and was expressed by many people, but it was he who managed to select the right materials so that the light bulb would burn for a long time and become cheaper than candles.

6. Penicillin

Inventor: Alexander Fleming

Penicillin was accidentally discovered in a petri dish by Alexander Fleming in 1928. The drug penicillin is a group of antibiotics that treats several infections in people without harming them. Penicillin was mass produced during World War II to rid military personnel of sexually transmitted diseases and is still used as the standard antibiotic against infections. It was one of the most famous discoveries made in the field of medicine. Alexander Fleming received in 1945 Nobel Prize, and the newspapers of that time wrote:

“To defeat fascism and liberate France, he made more entire divisions”

7. Telephone

Inventor: Antonio Meucci

For a long time it was believed that Alexander Bell was the discoverer of the telephone, but in 2002 the US Congress decided that the right of primacy in the invention of the telephone belongs to Antonio Meucci. In 1860 (16 years earlier than Graham Bell), Antonio Meucci demonstrated an apparatus that was capable of transmitting voice over wires. Antonio named his invention Telectrophone and applied for a patent in 1871. This marked the beginning of work on one of the most revolutionary inventions that almost everyone on our planet has, keeping it in their pockets and on their desks. The telephone, which later also developed as the mobile phone, has had a vital impact on humanity, especially in the fields of business and communication. The expansion of audible speech from within one room to the entire world is an accomplishment unmatched to this day.

8. Television

Zvorykin with an iconoscope

Inventor: Rosing Boris Lvovich and his students Zvorykin Vladimir Konstantinovich and Kataev Semyon Isidorovich (not recognized as a discoverer), as well as Philo Farnsworth

Although the invention of television cannot be attributed to one person, most people agree that the invention of modern television was the work of two people: Vladimir Kosma Zworykin (1923) and Philo Farnsworth (1927). It should be noted here that in the USSR, the development of television using parallel technology was carried out by Semyon Isidorovich Kataev, and the first experiments and operating principles of electric television were described by Rosing at the beginning of the 20th century. Television was also one of the greatest inventions, which have been developed from mechanical to electronic, from black and white to color, from analog to digital, from primitive models without a remote control to an intelligent one, and now to 3D versions and small home theaters. People usually spend about 4-8 hours a day watching TV and this has greatly affected family and social life, and also changed our culture beyond recognition.

9. Computer

Inventor: Charles Babbage, Alan Turing and others.

Principle modern computer was first mentioned by Alan Turing and later the first mechanical computer was invented in the early 19th century. This invention has truly accomplished amazing things in more spheres of life, including philosophy and culture of human society. The computer helped a high-speed military take off aircraft, launch a spacecraft into orbit, control medical equipment, create visual images, keep huge amount information and improved the functioning of cars, telephones and power plants.

10. Internet and World Wide Web

Map of the entire computer network for 2016

Inventor: Vinton Cerf and Tim Berners-Lee

The Internet was first developed in 1973 by Vinton Cerf with support from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA). Its original use was to provide a communications network in research laboratories and universities in the United States and expand overtime. This invention (along with the World Wide Web) was the main revolutionary invention of the 20th century. In 1996, there were more than 25 million computers connected to the Internet in 180 countries, and now we even had to switch to IPv6 to increase the number of IP addresses, since IPv4 addresses were completely exhausted, and there were about 4.22 billion of them.

The World Wide Web as we know it was first predicted by Arthur C. Clarke. However, the invention was made 19 years later in 1989 by CERN employee Tom Berners Lee. The Internet has changed our attitude towards various areas, including education, music, finance, reading, medicine, language, etc. The network is potentially superior all the great inventions of the world.