Most Significant Inventions – Last 500 Years

Science

Last week Dad sent an email question to make us think and to get away from the usual email arguments about politics and religion. The question was, “What invention in the last 500 years has changed the world more than any other?".

My reply was the following inventions have had the biggest impact:

  1. Internal Combustion Engine
  2. Silicon Chip
  3. Mass Generation and Transmission of Electricity Via Alternating Current
  4. Splitting of the atom

The internal combustion engine has changed the way people travel, conduct warfare, transport goods, and farm (mechanized farming). The silicon chip has had the biggest impact in the last 30 years. Most of the conveniences that we take for granted (like air conditioning) would not be possible without Westinghouse’s contribution of electrical generation and transmission. Finally, the nuclear age has brought both benefits and problems, and certainly changed the world.

One thought on “Most Significant Inventions – Last 500 Years”

Commenter
john
November 15, 2004 at 9:05 am

I would add the discovery of penicillin to several vaccines to that list.