The wheel, invented sometime before the 4th millennium BC, is one of the most ubiquitous and important technologies. This detail of the "Standard of Ur", c. 2500 BCE., displays a Sumerianchariot.
Thehistory of technology is the history of the invention of tools, and techniques by humans. Technology includes methods ranging from simplestone tools to the complexgenetic engineering and information technology that has emerged since the 1980s. The termtechnology comes from the Greek wordtechne, meaning art and craft, and the wordlogos, meaning word and speech. It was first used to describeapplied arts, but it is now used to describe advancements and changes that affect the environment around us.[1]
New knowledge has enabled people to create new tools, and conversely, many scientific endeavors are made possible by newtechnologies, for examplescientific instruments which allow us to study nature in more detail than our natural senses.
Since much of technology isapplied science, technical history is connected to thehistory of science. Since technology uses resources, technical history is tightly connected toeconomic history. From those resources, technology produces other resources, includingtechnological artifacts used in everyday life.Technological change affects, and is affected by, a society's cultural traditions. It is a force for economic growth and a means to develop and project economic, political, military power and wealth.
For White, "the primary function of culture" is to "harness and control energy." White differentiates between five stages ofhuman development: In the first, people use the energy of their own muscles. In the second, they use the energy ofdomesticated animals. In the third, they use the energy of plants (agricultural revolution). In the fourth, they learn to use the energy ofnatural resources: coal, oil, gas. In the fifth, they harnessnuclear energy. White introduced the formula P=E/T, where P is the development index, E is a measure of energy consumed, and T is the measure of the efficiency of technical factors using the energy. In his own words, "culture evolves as the amount of energy harnessed per capita per year is increased, or as the efficiency of the instrumental means of putting the energy to work is increased".Nikolai Kardashev extrapolated his theory, creating theKardashev scale, which categorizes the energy use of advanced civilizations.
Lenski's approach focuses on information. The more information and knowledge (especially allowing the shaping ofnatural environment) a given society has, the more advanced it is. He identifies four stages of human development, based on advances in thehistory of communication. In the first stage, information is passed bygenes. In the second, when humans gainsentience, they can learn and pass information through experience. In the third, the humans start using signs and developlogic. In the fourth, they can create symbols, develop language and writing. Advancements incommunications technology translate into advancements in theeconomic system andpolitical system,distribution of wealth,social inequality and other spheres of social life. He also differentiates societies based on their level of technology, communication, and economy:
Agriculture preceded writing in the history of technology.
In economics, productivity is a measure of technological progress. Productivity increases when fewer inputs (classically labor and capital but some measures include energy and materials) are used in the production of a unit of output. Another indicator of technological progress is the development of new products and services, which is necessary to offset unemployment that would otherwise result as labor inputs are reduced. In developed countries productivity growth has been slowing since the late 1970s; however, productivity growth was higher in some economic sectors, such as manufacturing.[3] For example, employment in manufacturing in the United States declined from over 30% in the 1940s to just over 10% 70 years later. Similar changes occurred in other developed countries. This stage is referred to aspost-industrial.
In the late 1970s sociologists and anthropologists likeAlvin Toffler (author ofFuture Shock),Daniel Bell andJohn Naisbitt have approached the theories ofpost-industrial societies, arguing that the current era ofindustrial society is coming to an end, andservices and information are becoming more important than industry and goods. Some extreme visions of the post-industrial society, especially infiction, are strikingly similar to the visions of near and post-singularity societies.[4]
During most of thePaleolithic – the bulk of the Stone Age – all humans had a lifestyle which involved limited tools and few permanent settlements. The first major technologies were tied to survival, hunting, and food preparation. Stone tools and weapons,fire, andclothing were technological developments of major importance during this period.
Human ancestors have been using stone and other tools since long before the emergence ofHomo sapiens approximately 300,000 years ago.[17] The earliest direct evidence of tool usage was found inEthiopia within theGreat Rift Valley, dating back to 2.5 million years ago.[18] The earliest methods ofstone tool making, known as theOldowan "industry", date back to at least 2.3 million years ago.[19] This era of stone tool use is called thePaleolithic, or "Old stone age", and spans all of human history up to the development of agriculture approximately 12,000 years ago.
To make a stone tool, a "core" of hard stone with specific flaking properties (such asflint) was struck with ahammerstone. This flaking produced sharp edges which could be used as tools, primarily in the form ofchoppers orscrapers.[20] These tools greatly aided the early humans in theirhunter-gatherer lifestyle to perform a variety of tasks including butchering carcasses (and breaking bones to get at themarrow); chopping wood; cracking open nuts; skinning an animal for its hide, and even forming other tools out of softer materials such as bone and wood.[21]
The earliest stone tools were irrelevant, being little more than a fractured rock. In theAcheulian era, beginning approximately 1.65 million years ago, methods of working these stones into specific shapes, such ashand axes emerged. This early Stone Age is described as theLower Paleolithic.
TheMiddle Paleolithic, approximately 300,000 years ago, saw the introduction of theprepared-core technique, where multiple blades could be rapidly formed from a single core stone.[20] TheUpper Paleolithic, beginning approximately 40,000 years ago, saw the introduction ofpressure flaking, where a wood, bone, or antlerpunch could be used to shape a stone very finely.[22]
The end of the last Ice Age about 10,000 years ago is taken as the end point of theUpper Paleolithic and the beginning of theEpipaleolithic /Mesolithic. The Mesolithic technology included the use ofmicroliths as composite stone tools, along with wood, bone, and antler tools.
The later Stone Age, during which the rudiments of agricultural technology were developed, is called theNeolithic period. During this period, polished stone tools were made from a variety of hard rocks such asflint,jade,jadeite, andgreenstone, largely by working exposures as quarries, but later the valuable rocks were pursued by tunneling underground, the first steps in mining technology. The polished axes were used for forest clearance and the establishment of crop farming and were so effective as to remain in use when bronze and iron appeared. These stone axes were used alongside a continued use of stone tools such as a range ofprojectiles, knives, andscrapers, as well as tools, made from organic materials such as wood, bone, and antler.[23]
Stone Age cultures developedmusic and engaged in organizedwarfare. Stone Age humans developed ocean-worthyoutrigger canoe technology, leading tomigration across theMalay Archipelago, across the Indian Ocean toMadagascar and also across the Pacific Ocean, which required knowledge of the ocean currents, weather patterns, sailing, andcelestial navigation.
Although Paleolithic cultures left no written records, the shift from nomadic life to settlement and agriculture can be inferred from a range of archaeological evidence. Such evidence includes ancient tools,[24]cave paintings, and otherprehistoric art, such as theVenus of Willendorf. Human remains also provide direct evidence, both through the examination of bones, and the study ofmummies. Scientists and historians have been able to form significant inferences about the lifestyle and culture of various prehistoric peoples, and especially their technology.
Metallic copper occurs on the surface of weathered copper ore deposits and copper was used before coppersmelting was known. Copper smelting is believed to have originated when the technology of potterykilns allowed sufficiently high temperatures.[25] The concentration of various elements such as arsenic increase with depth in copper ore deposits and smelting of these ores yieldsarsenical bronze, which can be sufficientlywork hardened to be suitable for making tools.[25]
Bronze is an alloy of copper with tin; the latter being found in relatively few deposits globally caused a long time to elapse before true tin bronze became widespread. (See:Tin sources and trade in ancient times) Bronze was a major advancement over stone as a material for making tools, both because of its mechanical properties like strength and ductility and because it could be cast in molds to make intricately shaped objects. Bronze significantly advanced shipbuilding technology with better tools and bronze nails. Bronze nails replaced the old method of attaching boards of the hull with cord woven through drilled holes.[26] Better ships enabled long-distance trade and the advance of civilization.
This technological trend apparently began in theFertile Crescent and spread outward over time.[citation needed] These developments were not, and still are not, universal. Thethree-age system does not accurately describe the technology history of groups outside ofEurasia, and does not apply at all in the case of some isolated populations, such as theSpinifex People, theSentinelese, and various Amazonian tribes, which still make use of Stone Age technology, and have not developed agricultural or metal technology. These villages preserve traditional customs in the face of global modernity, exhibiting a remarkable resistance to the rapid advancement of technology.
Before iron smelting was developed the only iron was obtained from meteorites and is usually identified by having nickel content.Meteoric iron was rare and valuable, but was sometimes used to make tools and other implements, such as fish hooks.
The Iron Age involved the adoption ofiron smelting technology. It generally replaced bronze and made it possible to produce tools which were stronger, lighter and cheaper to make than bronze equivalents. The raw materials to make iron, such as ore and limestone, are far more abundant than copper and especially tin ores. Consequently, iron was produced in many areas.
It was not possible to mass manufacture steel or pure iron because of the high temperatures required. Furnaces could reach melting temperature but the crucibles and molds needed for melting and casting had not been developed. Steel could be produced byforging bloomery iron to reduce the carbon content in a somewhat controllable way, but steel produced by this method was not homogeneous. In many Eurasian cultures, the Iron Age was the last major step before the development of written language, though again this was not universally the case.
In Europe, largehill forts were built either as a refuge in time of war or sometimes as permanent settlements. In some cases, existing forts from the Bronze Age were expanded and enlarged. The pace of land clearance using the more effective iron axes increased, providing more farmland to support the growing population.
Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) and its peoples (Sumerians,Akkadians,Assyrians andBabylonians) lived in cities from c. 4000 BC,[27] and developed a sophisticated architecture in mud-brick and stone,[28] including the use of thetrue arch. The walls of Babylon were so massive they were quoted as aWonder of the World. They developed extensive water systems; canals for transport and irrigation in the alluvial south, and catchment systems stretching for tens of kilometers in the hilly north. Their palaces had sophisticated drainage systems.[29]
Writing was invented in Mesopotamia, using thecuneiform script. Many records on clay tablets and stone inscriptions have survived.[13] These civilizations were early adopters of bronze technologies which they used for tools, weapons and monumental statuary. By 1200 BC they could cast objects 5 m long in a single piece.
Several of the six classicsimple machines were invented in Mesopotamia.[30] Mesopotamians have been credited with the invention of the wheel. Thewheel and axle mechanism first appeared with thepotter's wheel, invented inMesopotamia (modern Iraq) during the 5th millennium BC.[31] This led to the invention of thewheeled vehicle in Mesopotamia during the early 4th millennium BC. Depictions of wheeledwagons found onclay tabletpictographs at theEanna district ofUruk are dated between 3700 and 3500 BC.[32] Thelever was used in theshadoof water-lifting device, the firstcrane machine, which appeared in Mesopotamia circa 3000 BC,[33] and then inancient Egyptian technology circa 2000 BC.[34] The earliest evidence ofpulleys date back to Mesopotamia in the early 2nd millennium BC.[35]
Thescrew, the last of the simple machines to be invented,[36] first appeared in Mesopotamia during theNeo-Assyrian period (911–609) BC.[35] The Assyrian KingSennacherib (704–681 BC) claims to have invented automatic sluices and to have been the first to use waterscrew pumps, of up to 30 tons weight, which were cast using two-part clay molds rather than by the 'lost wax' process.[29] The Jerwan Aqueduct (c. 688 BC) is made with stone arches and lined with waterproof concrete.[37]
TheBabylonian astronomical diaries spanned 800 years. They enabled meticulous astronomers to plot the motions of the planets and to predict eclipses.[38]
The compartmentedwater wheel, here its overshot version
The earliest evidence ofwater wheels andwatermills date back to theancient Near East in the 4th century BC,[39] specifically in thePersian Empire before 350 BC, in the regions of Mesopotamia (Iraq) andPersia (Iran).[40] This pioneering use ofwater power constituted the first human-devised motive force not to rely on muscle power (besides thesail).
TheEgyptians, known for building pyramids centuries before the creation of modern tools, invented and used many simple machines, such as theramp to aid construction processes. Historians and archaeologists have found evidence that thepyramids were built using three of what is called theSix Simple Machines, from which all machines are based. These machines are theinclined plane, thewedge, and thelever, which allowed the ancient Egyptians to move millions of limestone blocks which weighed approximately 3.5 tons (7,000 lbs.) each into place to create structures like theGreat Pyramid of Giza, which is 481 feet (147 meters) high.[41]
They also made writing medium similar to paper frompapyrus, which Joshua Mark states is the foundation for modern paper. Papyrus is a plant (cyperus papyrus) which grew in plentiful amounts in the Egyptian Delta and throughout the Nile River Valley during ancient times. The papyrus was harvested by field workers and brought to processing centers where it was cut into thin strips. The strips were then laid-out side by side and covered in plant resin. The second layer of strips was laid on perpendicularly, then both pressed together until the sheet was dry. The sheets were then joined to form a roll and later used for writing.[42]
Egyptian society made several significant advances during dynastic periods in many areas of technology. According to Hossam Elanzeery, they were the first civilization to use timekeeping devices such as sundials, shadow clocks, and obelisks and successfully leveraged their knowledge of astronomy to create a calendar model that society still uses today. They developed shipbuilding technology that saw them progress from papyrus reed vessels to cedar wood ships while also pioneering the use of rope trusses and stem-mounted rudders. The Egyptians also used their knowledge of anatomy to lay the foundation for many modern medical techniques and practiced the earliest known version of neuroscience. Elanzeery also states that they used and furthered mathematical science, as evidenced in the building of the pyramids.[43]
Ancient Egyptians also invented and pioneered many food technologies that have become the basis of modern food technology processes. Based on paintings and reliefs found in tombs, as well as archaeological artifacts, scholars like Paul T Nicholson believe that the Ancient Egyptians established systematic farming practices, engaged in cereal processing, brewed beer and baked bread, processed meat, practiced viticulture and created the basis for modern wine production, and created condiments to complement, preserve and mask the flavors of their food.[44]
TheIndus Valley Civilization, situated in a resource-rich area (in modernPakistan and northwestern India), is notable for its early application of city planning,sanitation technologies, and plumbing.[45] Indus Valley construction and architecture, called 'Vaastu Shastra', suggests a thorough understanding of materials engineering, hydrology, and sanitation.
Other Chinese discoveries and inventions from the medieval period includeblock printing,movable type printing, phosphorescent paint, endless powerchain drive and the clock escapement mechanism. The solid-fuelrocket was invented in China about 1150, nearly 200 years after the invention ofgunpowder (which acted as the rocket's fuel). Decades before the West's age of exploration, the Chinese emperors of theMing Dynasty also sentlarge fleets on maritime voyages, some reaching Africa.
Hellenistic engineers of the Eastern Mediterranean were responsible for a number ofinventions and improvements to existing technology. TheHellenistic period saw a sharp increase in technological advancement, fostered by a climate of openness to new ideas, the blossoming of a mechanistic philosophy, and the establishment of theLibrary of Alexandria inPtolemaic Egypt and its close association with the adjacentmuseion. In contrast to the typically anonymous inventors of earlier ages, ingenious minds such asArchimedes,Philo of Byzantium,Heron,Ctesibius, andArchytas remain known by name to posterity.
Ancient agriculture, as in any period prior to the modern age the primary mode of production and subsistence, and its irrigation methods, were considerably advanced by the invention and widespread application of a number of previously unknown water-lifting devices, such as the verticalwater-wheel, the compartmented wheel, the waterturbine,Archimedes' screw, the bucket-chain and pot-garland, theforce pump, thesuction pump, the double-actionpiston pump and quite possibly thechain pump.[51]
In music, thewater organ, invented by Ctesibius and subsequently improved, constituted the earliest instance of a keyboard instrument. In time-keeping, the introduction of the inflowclepsydra and its mechanization by the dial and pointer, the application of afeedback system and theescapement mechanism far superseded the earlier outflow clepsydra.
Innovations in mechanical technology included the newly devised right-angledgear, which would become particularly important to the operation of mechanical devices. Hellenistic engineers also devisedautomata such as suspended ink pots, automaticwashstands, and doors, primarily as toys, which however featured new useful mechanisms such as thecam andgimbals.
The Roman Empire developed an intensive and sophisticated agriculture, expanded upon existing iron working technology, createdlaws providing for individual ownership, advanced stone masonry technology, advancedroad-building (exceeded only in the 19th century), military engineering, civil engineering, spinning and weaving and several different machines like theGallic reaper that helped to increase productivity in many sectors of the Roman economy.Roman engineers were the first to build monumental arches,amphitheatres,aqueducts,public baths,true arch bridges,harbours, reservoirs and dams, vaults and domes on a very large scale across their Empire. Notable Roman inventions include thebook (Codex),glass blowing and concrete. Because Rome was located on a volcanic peninsula, with sand which contained suitable crystalline grains, the concrete which the Romans formulated was especially durable. Some of their buildings have lasted 2000 years, to the present day.
In Roman Egypt, the inventorHero of Alexandria was the first to experiment with awind-powered mechanical device (seeHeron's windwheel) and even created the earlieststeam-powered device (theaeolipile), opening up new possibilities in harnessing natural forces. He also devised avending machine. However, his inventions were primarily toys, rather than practical machines.
The engineering skills of theInca andMaya were great, even by today's standards. An example of this exceptional engineering is the use of pieces weighing upwards of one ton in their stonework placed together so that not even a blade can fit into the cracks. Inca villages used irrigation canals anddrainage systems, making agriculture very efficient. While some claim that the Incas were the first inventors ofhydroponics, their agricultural technology was still soil based, if advanced.
Though theMaya civilization did not incorporate metallurgy or wheel technology in their architectural constructions, they developed complex writing and astronomical systems, and created beautiful sculptural works in stone and flint. Like the Inca, the Maya also had command of fairly advanced agricultural and construction technology. The Maya are also responsible for creating the first pressurized water system in Mesoamerica, located in the Maya site ofPalenque.[54]
The main contribution of theAztec rule was a system of communications between the conquered cities and the ubiquity of the ingenious agricultural technology ofchinampas. InMesoamerica, without draft animals for transport (nor, as a result, wheeled vehicles), the roads were designed for travel on foot, just as in the Inca and Mayan civilizations. The Aztec, subsequently to the Maya, inherited many of the technologies and intellectual advancements of their predecessors: theOlmec (seeNative American inventions and innovations).
One of the most significant developments of the medieval were economies in which water and wind power were more significant than animal and human muscle power.[55]: 38 Most water and wind power was used for milling grain. Water power was also used for blowing air inblast furnace, pulping rags for paper making and for felting wool. TheDomesday Book recorded 5,624 water mills in Great Britain in 1086, being about one per thirty families.[55]
The Muslimcaliphates united in trade large areas that had previously traded little, including the Middle East, North Africa, Central Asia, theIberian Peninsula, and parts of theIndian subcontinent. The science and technology of previous empires in the region, including the Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Persian, Hellenistic and Roman empires, were inherited by theMuslim world, where Arabic replaced Syriac, Persian and Greek as the lingua franca of the region. Significant advances were made in the region during theIslamic Golden Age (8th–16th centuries).
TheArab Agricultural Revolution occurred during this period. It was a transformation in agriculture from the8th to the 13th century in the Islamic region of theOld World. The economy established byArab and otherMuslim traders across the Old World enabled the diffusion of many crops and farming techniques throughout the Islamic world, as well as the adaptation of crops and techniques from and to regions outside it.[56] Advances were made inanimal husbandry,irrigation, and farming, with the help of new technology such as thewindmill. These changes made agriculture much more productive, supporting population growth, urbanisation, and increased stratification of society.
Muslim engineers in the Islamic world made wide use ofhydropower, along with early uses oftidal power,wind power,[57]fossil fuels such as petroleum, and large factory complexes (tiraz in Arabic).[58] A variety of industrial mills were employed in the Islamic world, includingfulling mills,gristmills,hullers,sawmills,ship mills,stamp mills,steel mills, andtide mills. By the 11th century, every province throughout the Islamic world had these industrial mills in operation.[59] Muslim engineers also employedwater turbines andgears in mills and water-raising machines, and pioneered the use ofdams as a source of water power, used to provide additional power towatermills and water-raising machines.[60] Many of these technologies were transferred to medieval Europe.[61]
Wind-powered machines used to grind grain and pump water, the windmill andwind pump, first appeared in what are nowIran,Afghanistan and Pakistan by the 9th century.[62][63][64][65] They were used to grind grains and draw up water, and used in the gristmilling and sugarcane industries.[66]Sugar mills first appeared in themedieval Islamic world.[67] They were first driven by watermills, and then windmills from the 9th and 10th centuries in what are todayAfghanistan, Pakistan andIran.[68] Crops such asalmonds andcitrus fruit were brought to Europe throughAl-Andalus, and sugar cultivation was gradually adopted across Europe. Arab merchants dominated trade in the Indian Ocean until the arrival of the Portuguese in the 16th century.
While medieval technology has been long depicted as a step backward in the evolution of Western technology, a generation of medievalists (like the American historian of scienceLynn White) stressed from the 1940s onwards the innovative character of many medieval techniques. Genuine medieval contributions include for examplemechanical clocks,spectacles and verticalwindmills. Medieval ingenuity was also displayed in the invention of seemingly inconspicuous items like thewatermark or thefunctional button. In navigation, the foundation to the subsequentAge of Discovery was laid by the introduction of pintle-and-gudgeonrudders,lateen sails, thedry compass, the horseshoe and theastrolabe.
Significant advances were also made in military technology with the development ofplate armour, steelcrossbows andcannon. The Middle Ages are perhaps best known for their architectural heritage: While the invention of therib vault andpointed arch gave rise to the high risingGothic style, the ubiquitous medieval fortifications gave the era the almost proverbial title of the 'age of castles'.
Papermaking, a 2nd-century Chinese technology, was carried to the Middle East when a group of Chinese papermakers were captured in the 8th century.[88] Papermaking technology was spread to Europe by theUmayyad conquest of Hispania.[89] A paper mill was established in Sicily in the 12th century. In Europe the fiber to make pulp for making paper was obtained from linen and cotton rags.Lynn Townsend White Jr. credited the spinning wheel with increasing the supply of rags, which led to cheap paper, which was a factor in the development of printing.[90]
A water-poweredmine hoist used for raising ore, ca. 1556
Before the development of modern engineering, mathematics was used by artisans and craftsmen, such asmillwrights, clock makers, instrument makers and surveyors. Aside from these professions, universities were not believed to have had much practical significance to technology.[91]: 32
A standard reference for the state of mechanical arts during the Renaissance is given in the mining engineering treatiseDe re metallica (1556), which also contains sections on geology, mining and chemistry.De re metallica was the standard chemistry reference for the next 180 years.[91] Among the water powered mechanical devices in use wereore stamping mills, forge hammers, blast bellows, and suction pumps.
Due to the casting of cannon, theblast furnace came into widespread use in France in the mid 15th century. The blast furnace had been used in China since the 4th century BC.[25][92]
The invention of the movable cast metal typeprinting press, whose pressing mechanism was adapted from an olive screw press, (c. 1441) lead to a tremendous increase in the number of books and the number of titles published.[14] Movable ceramic type had been used in China for a few centuries and woodblock printing dated back even further.[93]
The era is marked by such profound technical advancements likelinear perceptivity,double shell domes orBastion fortresses. Note books of the Renaissance artist-engineers such asTaccola andLeonardo da Vinci give a deep insight into the mechanical technology then known and applied. Architects and engineers were inspired by the structures ofAncient Rome, and men likeBrunelleschi created the large dome ofFlorence Cathedral as a result. He was awarded one of the first patents ever issued to protect an ingeniouscrane he designed to raise the large masonry stones to the top of the structure. Military technology developed rapidly with the widespread use of thecross-bow and ever more powerfulartillery, as the city-states of Italy were usually in conflict with one another. Powerful families like theMedici were strong patrons of the arts and sciences.Renaissance science spawned theScientific Revolution; science and technology began a cycle of mutual advancement.
An improved sailing ship, the nau orcarrack, enabled theAge of Exploration with theEuropean colonization of the Americas, epitomized byFrancis Bacon'sNew Atlantis. Pioneers likeVasco da Gama,Cabral,Magellan andChristopher Columbus explored the world in search of new trade routes for their goods and contacts with Africa, India and China to shorten the journey compared with traditional routes overland. They produced new maps and charts which enabled following mariners to explore further with greater confidence. Navigation was generally difficult, however, owing to theproblem of longitude and the absence of accuratechronometers. European powers rediscovered the idea of thecivil code, lost since the time of the Ancient Greeks.
Thestocking frame, which was invented in 1598, increased a knitter's number of knots per minute from 100 to 1000.[94]
Mines were becoming increasingly deep and were expensive to drain with horse powered bucket and chain pumps and wooden piston pumps. Some mines used as many as 500 horses. Horse-powered pumps were replaced by theSavery steam pump (1698) and theNewcomen steam engine (1712).[95]
The revolution was driven by cheap energy in the form of coal, produced in ever-increasing amounts from the abundant resources ofBritain. The BritishIndustrial Revolution is characterized by developments in the areas of textile machinery, mining,metallurgy, transport and the invention ofmachine tools.
Before invention of machinery to spin yarn and weave cloth, spinning was done using the spinning wheel and weaving was done on a hand-and-foot-operated loom. It took from three to five spinners to supply one weaver.[96][97] The invention of theflying shuttle in 1733 doubled the output of a weaver, creating a shortage of spinners. Thespinning frame for wool was invented in 1738. Thespinning jenny, invented in 1764, was a machine that used multiple spinning wheels; however, it produced low quality thread. Thewater frame patented by Richard Arkwright in 1767, produced a better quality thread than the spinning jenny. Thespinning mule, patented in 1779 bySamuel Crompton, produced a high quality thread.[96][97] Thepower loom was invented by Edmund Cartwright in 1787.[96]
The Iron Bridge
In the mid-1750s, thesteam engine was applied to the water power-constrained iron, copper and lead industries for powering blast bellows. These industries were located near the mines, some of which were using steam engines for mine pumping. Steam engines were too powerful for leather bellows, so cast iron blowing cylinders were developed in 1768. Steam powered blast furnaces achieved higher temperatures, allowing the use of more lime in iron blast furnace feed. (Lime rich slag was not free-flowing at the previously used temperatures.) With a sufficient lime ratio, sulfur from coal or coke fuel reacts with the slag so that the sulfur does not contaminate the iron. Coal and coke were cheaper and more abundant fuel. As a result, iron production rose significantly during the last decades of the 18th century.[25] Coal converted tocoke fueled higher temperatureblast furnaces and produced cast iron in much larger amounts than before, allowing the creation of a range of structures such asThe Iron Bridge. Cheap coal meant that industry was no longer constrained by water resources driving the mills, although it continued as a valuable source of power.
The preservedRocket
The steam engine helped drain the mines, so more coal reserves could be accessed, and the output of coal increased. The development of the high-pressure steam engine made locomotives possible, and a transport revolution followed.[98] The steam engine which had existed since the early 18th century, was practically applied to bothsteamboat and railway transportation. TheLiverpool and Manchester Railway, the first purpose-built railway line, opened in 1830, theRocket locomotive ofRobert Stephenson being one of its first workinglocomotives used.
Until theEnlightenment era, little progress was made inwater supply and sanitation and the engineering skills of the Romans were largely neglected throughout Europe. The first documented use ofsand filters to purify the water supply dates to 1804, when the owner of a bleachery inPaisley, Scotland, John Gibb, installed an experimental filter, selling his unwanted surplus to the public. The first treated public water supply in the world was installed by engineerJames Simpson for theChelsea Waterworks Company in London in 1829.[99] The first screw-downwater tap was patented in 1845 by Guest and Chrimes, a brass foundry inRotherham.[100] The practice of water treatment soon became mainstream, and the virtues of the system were made starkly apparent after the investigations of the physicianJohn Snow during the1854 Broad Street cholera outbreak demonstrated the role of the water supply in spreading the cholera epidemic.[101]
The 19th century saw astonishing developments in transportation, construction, manufacturing and communication technologies originating in Europe. After a recession at the end of the 1830s and a general slowdown in major inventions, theSecond Industrial Revolution was a period of rapid innovation and industrialization that began in the 1860s or around 1870 and lasted untilWorld War I. It included rapid development of chemical, electrical, petroleum, and steel technologies connected with highly structured technology research.
Telegraphy developed into a practical technology in the 19th century to help run the railways safely.[102] Along with the development of telegraphy was the patenting of the first telephone. March 1876 marks the date that Alexander Graham Bell officially patented his version of an "electric telegraph". Although Bell is noted with the creation of the telephone, it is still debated about who actually developed the first working model.[103]
Building on improvements in vacuum pumps and materials research,incandescent light bulbs became practical for general use in the late 1870s. Edison Electric Illuminating Company, a company founded by Thomas Edison with financial backing fromSpencer Trask, built and managed the first electricity network. Electrification was rated the most important technical development of the 20th century as the foundational infrastructure for modern civilization.[104] This invention had a profound effect on the workplace because factories could now have second and third shift workers.[105]
Shoe production was mechanized during the mid 19th century.[106] Mass production ofsewing machines andagricultural machinery such as reapers occurred in the mid to late 19th century.[107] Bicycles were mass-produced beginning in the 1880s.[107]
Steam-powered factories became widespread, although the conversion from water power to steam occurred in England earlier than in the U.S.[108]Ironclad warships were found in battle starting in the 1860s, and played a role in the opening of Japan and China to trade with the West.
Between 1825 and 1840, the technology ofphotography was introduced. For much of the rest of the century, many engineers and inventors tried to combine it and the much older technique ofprojection to create a complete illusion or a complete documentation of reality. Colour photography was usually included in these ambitions and the introduction of thephonograph in 1877 seemed to promise the addition ofsynchronized sound recordings. Between 1887 and 1894, the first successful shortcinematographic presentations were established.
Mass production broughtautomobiles and other high-tech goods to masses of consumers.Military research and development sped advances including electroniccomputing andjet engines. Radio andtelephony greatly improved and spread to larger populations of users, though near-universal access would not be possible untilmobile phones became affordable todeveloping world residents in the late 2000s and early 2010s.
Energy and engine technology improvements includednuclear power, developed after theManhattan Project which heralded the newAtomic Age.Rocket development led to long range missiles and the firstspace age that lasted from the 1950s with the launch of Sputnik to the mid-1980s.
Electrification spread rapidly in the 20th century. At the beginning of the century electric power was for the most part only available to wealthy people in a few major cities. By 2019, an estimated 87 percent of the world's population had access to electricity.[110]
Birth control also became widespread during the 20th century.Electron microscopes were very powerful by the late 1970s and genetic theory and knowledge were expanding, leading to developments ingenetic engineering.
The first "test tube baby"Louise Brown was born in 1978, which led to the first successfulgestational surrogacy pregnancy in 1985 and the first pregnancy byICSI in 1991, which is the implanting of a single sperm into an egg.Preimplantation genetic diagnosis was first performed in late 1989 and led to successful births in July 1990. These procedures have become relatively common.
Computers were connected by means of local area,telecom andfiber optic networks, powered by theoptical amplifier that ushered in theInformation Age.[111][112] Thisoptical networking technology exploded the capacity of the Internet beginning in 1996 with the launch of the first high-capacitywave division multiplexing (WDM) system byCiena Corp.[113] WDM, as the common basis for telecom backbone networks,[114] increased transmission capacity by orders of magnitude, thus enabling the mass commercialization and popularization of the Internet and its widespread impact on culture, economics, business, and society.
The commercial availability of the first portable cell phone in 1981 and the first pocket-sized phone in 1985,[115] both developed by Comvik in Sweden, coupled with the first transmission of data over a cellular network byVodafone (formerlyRacal-Millicom) in 1992 were the breakthroughs that led directly to the form and function of smartphones today. By 2014, there were more cell phones in use than people on Earth[116] and The Supreme Court of the United States of America has ruled that a mobile phone was a private part of a person.[117] Providing consumers wireless access to each other and to the Internet, the mobile phone stimulated one of the most important technology revolutions in human history.[118]
The Human Genome Project sequenced and identified all three billion chemical units in human DNA with a goal of finding the genetic roots of disease and developing treatments. The project became feasible due to two technical advances made during the late 1970s: gene mapping by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) markers and DNA sequencing. Sequencing was invented by Frederick Sanger and, separately, by Dr. Walter Gilbert. Gilbert also conceived of the Human Genome Project on May 27, 1985, and first publicly advocated it in August 1985 at the first International Conference on Genes and Computers in August 1985.[119] The U.S. Federal Government sponsored Human Genome Project began October 1, 1990, and was declared complete in 2003.[119]
The massive data analysis resources necessary for running transatlantic research programs such as theHuman Genome Project and theLarge Electron–Positron Collider led to a necessity for distributed communications, causing Internet protocols to be more widely adopted by researchers and also creating a justification forTim Berners-Lee to create theWorld Wide Web.
Vaccination spread rapidly to the developing world from the 1980s onward due to many successful humanitarian initiatives, greatly reducing childhood mortality in many poor countries with limited medical resources.
The USNational Academy of Engineering, by expert vote, established the following ranking of the most important technological developments of the 20th century:[120]
Genetic engineering technology continues to improve, and the importance ofepigenetics on development and inheritance has also become increasingly recognized.[122]
^Knight, Elliot; Smith, Karen."American Materialism".The University of Alabama – Department of Anthropology. Archived fromthe original on 2 October 2017. Retrieved9 April 2015.
^Fader, Leah (December 21, 2018). Petkova, Tatyana Vasileva; Chukov, Vladimir Stefanov (eds.).Development of the Flute From Pre-history to Modern Days(PDF). Conference Proceedings, 2nd International e-Conference on Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences.Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences.ISBN978-86-81294-01-7. Retrieved2025-09-12.
^abHellinga, Lotte (August 16, 2019). "The Gutenberg Revolutions". In Eliot, Simon; Rose, Jonathan (eds.).A Companion to the History of the Book. pp. 377–392.doi:10.1002/9781119018193.ch25.ISBN9781119018193.
^Andrew, Jim (2015). "Thomas Newcomen (1664–1729) and the first recorded steam engine".Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Transport.168 (6):570–578.doi:10.1680/jtran.13.00061.
^Tóth, Zsuzsanna (2012). "The First Neolithic Sites in Central/South-East European Transect, Volume III: The Körös Culture in Eastern Hungary". In Anders, Alexandra; Siklósi, Zsuzsanna (eds.).Bone, Antler, and Tusk tools of the Early Neolithic Körös Culture. Oxford: BAR International Series 2334.
^abS Dalley,The Mystery of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, Oxford University Press(2013)
^Moorey, Peter Roger Stuart (1999).Ancient Mesopotamian Materials and Industries: The Archaeological Evidence.Eisenbrauns.ISBN9781575060422.
^D.T. Potts (2012).A Companion to the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East. p. 285.
^Attema, P. A. J.; Los-Weijns, Ma; Pers, N. D. Maring-Van der (December 2006). "Bronocice, Flintbek, Uruk, JEbel Aruda and Arslantepe: The Earliest Evidence Of Wheeled Vehicles In Europe And The Near East".Palaeohistoria. 47/48.University of Groningen: 10–28 (11).
^Paipetis, S. A.; Ceccarelli, Marco (2010).The Genius of Archimedes – 23 Centuries of Influence on Mathematics, Science and Engineering: Proceedings of an International Conference held at Syracuse, Italy, June 8–10, 2010.Springer Science & Business Media. p. 416.ISBN9789048190911.
^Schönberger, Martin (1992).I Ching and the Genetic Code: The Hidden Key to Life. Aurora Press.ISBN094335837X.
^Compton, John (2022).The Secret Computer of the Ancient Gods. Compton/Kowanz Publications.ISBN9780955448256.
^Temple, Robert; Needham, Joseph (1986).The Genius of China: 3000 years of science, discovery and invention. New York: Simon and Schuster. Based on the works of Joseph Needham
^Green, Peter.Alexander to Actium: The Historical Evolution of the Hellenistic Age. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990.
^Hero (1899)."Pneumatika, Book ΙΙ, Chapter XI".Herons von Alexandria Druckwerke und Automatentheater (in Greek and German). Wilhelm Schmidt (translator). Leipzig: B.G. Teubner. pp. 228–232.
^abAdam Robert Lucas (2005), "Industrial Milling in the Ancient and Medieval Worlds: A Survey of the Evidence for an Industrial Revolution in Medieval Europe",Technology and Culture46 (1), pp. 1–30 [10].
^Adam Robert Lucas (2005), "Industrial Milling in the Ancient and Medieval Worlds: A Survey of the Evidence for an Industrial Revolution in Medieval Europe",Technology and Culture46 (1), pp. 1–30.
^Shepherd, William (2011).Electricity Generation Using Wind Power (1 ed.). Singapore: World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd. p. 4.ISBN978-981-4304-13-9.
^Donald Routledge Hill, "Mechanical Engineering in the Medieval Near East",Scientific American, May 1991, pp. 64–9 (cf. Donald Routledge Hill,Mechanical EngineeringArchived 25 December 2007 at theWayback Machine)
^Adam Robert Lucas (2005), "Industrial Milling in the Ancient and Medieval Worlds: A Survey of the Evidence for an Industrial Revolution in Medieval Europe",Technology and Culture46 (1): 1–30 [10–1 & 27]
^Burns, Robert I. (1996), "Paper comes to the West, 800–1400", inLindgren, Uta (ed.),Europäische Technik im Mittelalter. 800 bis 1400. Tradition und Innovation (4th ed.), Berlin: Gebr. Mann Verlag, pp. 413–422 (414),ISBN3-7861-1748-9
^Georges Ifrah (2001).The Universal History of Computing: From the Abacus to the Quantum Computer, p. 171, Trans. E.F. Harding, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (See[1])
^Koetsier, Teun (2001), "On the prehistory of programmable machines: musical automata, looms, calculators",Mechanism and Machine Theory,36 (5), Elsevier:589–603,doi:10.1016/S0094-114X(01)00005-2.
^Temple, Robert (1986).The Genius of China: 3000 years of science, discovery and invention. New York: Simon and Schuster.Based on the works of Joseph Needham
^Rosen, William (2012).The Most Powerful Idea in the World: A Story of Steam, Industry and Invention. University Of Chicago Press. p. 237.ISBN978-0-226-72634-2.
^Hunter, Louis C. (1985).A History of Industrial Power in the United States, 1730–1930, Vol. 2: Steam Power. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia.
^abcLandes, David. S. (1969).The Unbound Prometheus: Technological Change and Industrial Development in Western Europe from 1750 to the Present. Cambridge, NY: Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge.ISBN978-0-521-09418-4.
^Hunter, Louis C. (1985).A History of Industrial Power in the United States, 1730–1930, Vol. 2: Steam Power. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia.
Archibugi, Daniele, and Mario Planta. "Measuring technological change through patents and innovation surveys."Technovation 16.9 (1996): 451–519.online[dead link]
Brush, S.G. (1988).The History of Modern Science: A Guide to the Second Scientific Revolution 1800–1950. Ames: Iowa State University Press.
Bunch, Bryan and Hellemans, Alexander, (1993)The Timetables of Technology, New York, Simon & Schuster.
Castro, J. Justin. "History of technology in nineteenth and twentieth century Latin America,"History Compass 18#3 (2020)https://doi.org/10.1111/hic3.12609
Derry, Thomas Kingston and Williams, Trevor I., (1993)A Short History of Technology: From the Earliest Times to A.D. 1900 New York: Dover Publications.
Kranzberg, Melvin and Pursell, Carroll W. Jr., eds. (1967)Technology in Western Civilization: Technology in the Twentieth Century New York: Oxford University Press.
Singer, C., Holmyard, E.J., Hall, A.R. and Williams, T.I. (eds.), (1954–59 and 1978)A History of Technology, 7 vols., Oxford, Clarendon Press. (Vols 6 and 7, 1978, ed. T. I. Williams)
.jpg)
.JPG)
.jpg)
