What do you think are the three most important inventions of the last two millennia. Try to pick the three that you think had, or will have, the most impact on history.

My picks are:

1. Gunpowder

2. The printing press

3. The computer

ok here are mine.

1. Gunpowder

2. Internal Combustion Engine

3. Transistor

Here's mine

1. Electric generator

2. Atomics

3. Gunpower

The atom bomb was only used once, but the fear it has spread by just existing has definitely caused a major impact.

Dynamite

Concrete

Electricity

Originally posted by es347fan
Dynamite

Concrete

Electricity

Not bad choices, but I think the Romans actually used concrete back in the B.C. era, and there is evidence that even earlier, crude batteries were used to electro-plate metals.

My question was aimed at the last two millennia because otherwise I thought the list would be dominated by the wheel, fire, and very simple tools.

I'll go along with your concrete argument, and replace that choice with powered flight. I'm not certain that the crude batteries you speak of fall into the same category as electric generators.

Originally posted by Beirut_Veteran
ok here are mine.

1. Gunpowder

2. Internal Combustion Engine

3. Transistor

I'd have to vote for those three as well.

I would put antibiotics at the top but it was a discovery not an invention.

1-electricity
2-long distance communications(I lump these inventions together)
3-explosives

Originally posted by Dan Fussell
I would put antibiotics at the top but it was a discovery not an invention.

1-electricity
2-long distance communications(I lump these inventions together)
3-explosives

Odd, I didn't choose electricity because I saw that more as a discovery, not an invention.

How comes nobody mentions the contraceptive pill ? It was major invention, with overwhelming consequencies upon societies and mankind future.

I would also add cars. Just imagine the changes linked to automobile in less than one century :
- the modern factory system, fordism and taylorism.
- urban growth, motorways - the world looks different.
- the oil industry. Most of the financial and geopolitical balance of today's world is linked to oil.
- pollution and eventually climate change.

1) the bicycle <---the most efficient means of travel in the world
When the oil is gone, the bicycle shall remain.

I agree with VilePagan's three. Knowledge must first be able to spread fast, effectively, cheaply, accurately, in order for most all modern inventors to have any chance of inventing stuff (they need to learn from books/papers first!), hence printing press.

Originally posted by Dio Seijuro
I agree with VilePagan's three. Knowledge must first be able to spread fast, effectively, cheaply, accurately, in order for most all modern inventors to have any chance of inventing stuff (they need to learn from books/papers first!), hence printing press.

I must confess that the idea was not mine originally. A few years ago, there was a poll done of I think 100 scientists from various fields, who were asked to name the most important invention in the last 500 years. They chose the printing press.

I do agree however, without books, there would have been no widespread learning, and we'd be in the same position we were in during the Middle Ages. Only the wealthy would own books, and the clergy would control who learned to read and write.

That's also why I chose the computer as one of the three. I think future historians will look back and rank it as one of the great inventions for spreading knowledge and learning, and it's applications in research will lead to yet further inventions and discoveries.

Originally posted by Pepper
1) the bicycle <---the most efficient means of travel in the world
When the oil is gone, the bicycle shall remain.

Yeah, but the bicycle hasn't had the impact that the others have. Just because you don't like cars doesn't mean that they haven't had an impact (good or bad).

Gunpowder was used over 2000 years ago by the Chinese

In the past 2000 years I would say the most important inventions are

- The steam engine
- Electrical generators
- The atomic bomb

Hmm...I wasn't sure about the timeframe for Gunpowder, and I didn't look it up...:(

If I can't have Gunpowder I'll have to choose another one...*ponders*

I can't agree with the choice of Atomic Power because it's too new, and it's effect on the future is unclear. If we destroy ourselves with nuclear weapons...I'll agree.

Antibiotics is a good one, but as most pathogens are developing resistance, they may prove to be just a historical footnote.

*grumbles* If I can't have Gunpowder, I'm going to go with firearms.

i will pick three different ones. 1-the machine gun, invented by a doctor to save lives but changed the face warfare.2-Assembly Lines, helped cut the cost of labor and time. 3-Light Bulb. that is my three cause every one mentioned all the other great inventions. so i picked three different ones that made some sort of impact to our society.

Have to agree with Vile on atomic power, mostly because we haven't done a whole heck of a lot with it, all things considered.

If I can't have gunpowder, I'll go with "mass production" which admittedly isn't really an invention, but it's what lets us replace broken parts with a completely identical part. I forget who started that - one of the gun manufacturers.

Originally posted by LionelHutz
Have to agree with Vile on atomic power, mostly because we haven't done a whole heck of a lot with it, all things considered.

If I can't have gunpowder, I'll go with "mass production" which admittedly isn't really an invention, but it's what lets us replace broken parts with a completely identical part. I forget who started that - one of the gun manufacturers.
Singer first used mass production....

Originally posted by LionelHutz
Have to agree with Vile on atomic power, mostly because we haven't done a whole heck of a lot with it, all things considered.


The atomic bomb maintained a status quo in Europe for 40 years and then ultimately was the driver behind the ultimately peaceful fall of communism. Without which there would have undoubtedly been a major war in Europe with the Russians - probably as early as the late 1950's. I think it's fair to say that splitting the atom is probably one of the most significant impacts on shaping the world we know today.

Originally posted by DrewM
The atomic bomb maintained a status quo in Europe for 40 years and then ultimately was the driver behind the ultimately peaceful fall of communism. Without which there would have undoubtedly been a major war in Europe with the Russians - probably as early as the late 1950's. I think it's fair to say that splitting the atom is probably one of the most significant impacts on shaping the world we know today.

I'm not sure why you feel that war with the Soviets would have occured if not for nuclear weapons.

I agree that nuclear power has had a tremendous impact on the last 60 years, but what effect is unclear. Some say it kept the peace, and others say it was a disaster waiting to happen.

One reason I wouldn't include nuclear power is that the peaceful applications are few, other than generating electricity.

Vile not as limited as you might think. Look to what it has done by way of medical advancements. The spinoffs of fission/fusion are numerous.
By the way I still feel that this is a discovery not really an invention, but thats ok. I am not that picky.. (snicker)

:D

children's tylenol
pacifiers
earplugs


*yes I am sleep deprived* add valium to the list........*sigh*

Originally posted by creetwins
children's tylenol
pacifiers
earplugs


*yes I am sleep deprived* add valium to the list........*sigh*
You know even though you are joking those arent bad.....

:D

Originally posted by creetwins
children's tylenol
pacifiers
earplugs


*yes I am sleep deprived* add valium to the list........*sigh*

LOl...good one Creetwins :)

Always a new perspective...

I am not sure that refrigeration(invented by a Dr. here in Fla)
can not be listed also. It changed the world.
Hard to limit to 3 choices.

I don't know if any said phone, I'll have to look back......

sunscreen comes to mind and bug spray too.



Botox......and I don't mean cosmetically but for use to ease severly spastic muscles in children with CP

There are a lot of inventions that make life convienent - but i guess it has to be judged in terms of how it changed the world.

The phone is mentioned above - this is a good choice, it revolutionized 2 way communication. The radio would be another.

Probably the internet has had the biggest impact overall - not just the web but the ability for companies to send excel files across the ocean for review and have them back in 20 mins. Now that's productivity.

Vile - you are right that a war with the Soviets was not absolutely going to happen - but they had a far great conventional force in Europe than NATO. In the 50's and early 60's there was a strong ideology of spreading communism. Some factors may have prevented Russian invasion west - the ability to feed western europe being one of them.

This thread looks more and more like a Civilization game.
"I have gunpowder so now I am going for Mass Production…Or maybe I should research refrigeration first ?"

*The Airplane

*Plasma

*Telephone

Those would be my three

Originally posted by LionelHutz
Yeah, but the bicycle hasn't had the impact that the others have. Just because you don't like cars doesn't mean that they haven't had an impact (good or bad).

I think it depends on your perspective. Only 12% of the world's population own's cars. Bicycle ownership is more then double.
Travel to some major cities in Europe, and Asia and see how different life is when bikes are a main form of transit, then when cars are.

Like I said, it's efficiency.

To travel one mile:
...Driving burns 1,860 calories
...Walking burns 100 calories
...Bicycling burns 35 calories

Riding a bicycle is even more efficient then riding a horse (only one mouth to feed).

I would also like to condend that Women's sufferage is a very important invention. Before 1845 many democratic countries never thought of giving equal rights to women. It all started in Senica Falls.

Good One Pepper! Women's Sufferage is a great invention/discovery/idea/whatever.

Along with Pepper and Creetwins' lines: please add these 3 for me:
1) dishwasher
2) propane/natural gas/electric stove (anything but wood or coal for cooking)
3) Microwave

Get the women in and out of the kitchen in a hurry!! We have things to do!

Pepper, its impact is not related ownership. A bicycle wasnt a factor in connecting the country further than trains did. Also the internal combustion engine is responsible for a lot of other engine types, such as the jet engine and so on.
If it were not for the internal combustion engine we might still be living in large urban areas not spreading out, and not able to feed those not on a rail line.

This world would not be pretty if we all owned cars. Look how polluted it is with just a small %. Now I look at the movement of humans in the past 2000 years, and civilization did pretty well and went pretty far without automobiles.

This invention comes with a price. It is estimated, in the U.S. alone, that over 40,000 people die every year in auto related accidents. And this is after 70 years of safety regulations.

Again I was refering to efficiency of movement. The bicycle is the most efficient means of transportation in the world. When you drive a car, you aren't just moving your own weight, you're moving around 2+ tons of plastic and metal.

{edit}Also what good is an invention if a majority of people don't have access to it. {/end edit}

Cars are hardly the pollutant that people make them out to be and the movement of humans has increased tremendously since the invention of cars. People can work 40 miles away from home, though if there were no cars people would jobs that were far from home.
The bicycle is very efficient in moving a person around, it is very good for that, but it cannot carry loads, babies, it makes men sterile and it is slower and more strenuous than a car. I enjoy biking, but for travel i would rather own a car.

Nationally there are approximately 18.1 auto-related deaths per 100,000 people, so your chance of dying to a car per year is .0000181%

Pepper some of the most important inventions mentioned a very small majority have access to.
Medicines are not accessible by the majority of those who would benefit by them.
I am not saying your point isnt valid but I dont think that most important is always good for everyone.
Even Time Magazines' Man of the Year recognizes those who are influential not always good people.
That List includes Hitler, Khomeni and others who were not good people.

pepper, the internal combustion engine is more efficient now then it was 10, 20 or thirty years ago. they make more power, use less fuel and burn more cleaner than the engines of yesteryear. Take another invention, the machine gun. Invented by a doctor that saw the horrors of the civil war. He invented the machine gun to save lives, guess what, it didn't. All inventions, either good or bad, has some sort of reflection on their intended purpose.

Even if the world's poor don't have cars, they still benefit them. Internal combustion (jets, rockets, piston & rotary engines) transport the goods they make and the goods they buy, bring medicine to rural areas, etc. Bicycles, for all of their many benefits, haven't allowed their owners to really venture outside of their city/village. But again, the argument isn't whether internal combustion engines are good, it's whether they're an important invention.

Originally posted by LionelHutz
Even if the world's poor don't have cars, they still benefit them. Internal combustion (jets, rockets, piston & rotary engines) transport the goods they make and the goods they buy, bring medicine to rural areas, etc. Bicycles, for all of their many benefits, haven't allowed their owners to really venture outside of their city/village. But again, the argument isn't whether internal combustion engines are good, it's whether they're an important invention.
I know, my car went boom... now its just a metal sculpture in the garage

Originally posted by Beirut_Veteran
I know, my car went boom... now its just a metal sculpture in the garage
Boom? What kind of boom?

Originally posted by BorgHunter
Boom? What kind of boom?
Not blow up boom just stopped combusting boom, so more of a lack of boom then, But it went boom sounded better...
:D

I'm a used car salesman here, give me some info! What kind of not combusting? Cranks, doesn't catch? Cranks, catches for a couple revolutions, dies? Cranks, catches for two seconds, dies? Give me some info here!

Lets say it is a Mazda...... and it doesnt work. But seriously it has a plastic topped radiator that split right at the first freeze. I got it mostly flushed but it may have freeze damage. I am tearing it down and replacing gaskets and gonna look at it tomorrow.
But biggest problem is the mazda thing

i would like to add that the invention of solar power could have quite an impact. I know the sun was not invented but the means of harvesting the energy had to be......

Also the invention of the Hybrid might be impactful.

The windmill.

And i have to agree with the Pill.

Anaesthesia.

After tonight I may curse the invention of the transistor. ;)

After tonight I may curse the invention of the transistor.

Elaborate?

I haven't seen the Xray or MRI technology.......

Originally posted by creetwins
Elaborate?
Just read the Reagan thread, it will be obvious.
:D

Originally posted by creetwins
I haven't seen the Xray or MRI technology.......
Thats why I said the transistor it covers
all of that, so I may have cheated a little but it covers everything electronic almost.

Hmm... no one's mentioned Cheez Whiz yet, have they?

:woohoo:


Oh, and what about plastics?

Originally posted by Beirut_Veteran
Thats why I said the transistor it covers
all of that, so I may have cheated a little but it covers everything electronic almost.

I almost said "integrated circuits" but those are basically a bunch of tiny transisters, so I figured that was already covered.

Originally posted by LionelHutz
Even if the world's poor don't have cars, they still benefit them. Internal combustion (jets, rockets, piston & rotary engines) transport the goods they make and the goods they buy, bring medicine to rural areas, etc. Bicycles, for all of their many benefits, haven't allowed their owners to really venture outside of their city/village. But again, the argument isn't whether internal combustion engines are good, it's whether they're an important invention.

Ok if the world's poor really benefited they wouldn't be poor.

It's all a matter of perspective. I can very easily venture outside of the city it just takes a little longer, but it can easily be done. Gear ratio on bicycles allow a person to go greater distances with much more weight then you would expect.

Cars still are not as efficient as a bicycle is. It may get you where you need to go quicker, but your going to pay for it.

Bicycles may be more efficient, but cars are much better for running people over...

:bike:

Ok, as I look over our list of inventions I notice one factor in common.
Most everything we have listed relies in some respect on the harnessing of electricity. Even the internal combustion engine.

There-fore I must conclude that the harnessing of electricity was one of the major factors in what we believe to be important inventions.

Who would have thought that exciting a few electrons would have changed the world so much.
Electrifing isin't it. :)

Broadcasting/Mass Media/Telecommunications

Engines

Illicit Synthetic Drugs

soda
cigarettes
computer

k,tks

lol


btw, j/k

:p

Originally posted by Swede
soda
cigarettes
computer

k,tks

lol


btw, j/k

:p


Come on mom, you forgot Tampons!

Originally posted by tabitha kristen
Come on mom, you forgot Tampons!

Egad...don't tell me that BV and Swede are bringing in the rest of the family...:D

Welcome to Allforums tabitha...

Internet Porn(no more black market playboy needed)
Air Conditioning
HTTP(Hey, what's the use of having to telnet to every server?)

Dammit. If this keeps up with BV's family, Lakewood students wont be the majority group!

Originally posted by Blibblob
Dammit. If this keeps up with BV's family, Lakewood students wont be the majority group!
Let's see:

Lakewood group: myself, Blib, Idioteque, NoMoore, DemoLibrocrat (he hasn't posted in a LONG time)

B_V family: B_V, Swede, Tabitha, strangelad.

We've got a slight advantage!

Originally posted by Blibblob
Internet Porn(no more black market playboy needed)
Air Conditioning
HTTP(Hey, what's the use of having to telnet to every server?)

Dammit. If this keeps up with BV's family, Lakewood students wont be the majority group!


Rofl! Uhm, we still have one more family member that hasn't gotten on here yet, she's 16 with a MAJOR attitude! lol

1 sex
2 computer
3 Pamella andersons boobs

3 Pamella andersons boobs

so you see silicone as an important invention you mean to say?

She gets a new pair more often than I get shoes!!! And that's lots!!