Top 10 Inventions | Week 1 & 2

Hi everyone! Welcome back to my blog! I am really excited to be talking about which inventions I believe to be the Top 10 inventions of all time. When choosing which inventions to focus on, I picked inventions that essentially improved the overall well being of society (from my point of view). I have listed them in a random order- hope you enjoy, and I am looking forward to reading your comments.

1. The Plow
• The plow is a simple cutting tool that is used to prepare soil for planting. Although this invention is not glamorous in anyway, it was an invention that led to a lot of other great products and machinery. Before the plow, human’s lives were solely focused on the purpose of finding, nurturing and growing food in order to ensure their survival.  Being able to grow food gave them some stability, however, it was incredibly time and labor intensive. However, the plow was able to change all of that. Plows made this process a lot easier and allowed people to produce more food than they needed to survive. They could then trade their excess food for other goods and services with this invention. The plow also allowed society to focus on other activities instead of just focusing on how to survive. In regards to the plow being the catalyst to other inventions- since people were able to devote more time trading and interacting with others, this forced a number system, written language, etc.
2. Refrigeration
• There is not a single inventor of the refrigerator because the concept has been improved for over 200 years. Although refrigeration is taken advantage of by today’s society, it actually has had a profound impact on society. The ability to keep food cold for longer periods drastically changed the food industry and how food was produced. Eating habits of people all over the world changed due to refrigeration. Today, everyone has easy access to a variety of different products like meats, and cheeses- and is able to purchase them at low costs (since we do not have to pay for natural ice). Without refrigeration making food more accessible, the supply would have not been able to keep up with the rapidly growing population.
3. Penicillin
• Many years ago, the average lifespan of humans was only around 20-30 years old. 30% of babies died less than a year after they were born and more than half of them passed away before they were ten years old. Needless to say, disease and sickness easily controlled the population. It was not until Pasteur and Koch finally discovered that all of these illnesses were coming from microbes. Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin, which is the first antibiotic that was very effective against a variety of different diseases. He knew that penicillin could kill bacteria and therefore destroy the very common diseases people passed away from. A team in Oxford created a method of purification that allowed them to mass produce this antibiotic, saving many lives during World War 2 and creating the foundation for antibiotics.
4. Compass
• The compass is dated back to AD 1040-44. The compass is so vital because it is the foundation of all navigation based inventions since its inception. It was originally a magnetic needle floating in a bowl of water which was widely used throughout China. The dry compass, also created in China, was later adopted by Europe and Japan, and allowed them to discover great lands that altered history.  
5. Wheel
• The wheel was invented in 3500 BC and sparked many different industries by making transportation much more efficient and effective.  Both agriculture and commerce were made readily available to others due to easier transportation. However, if the wheel was only used for transportation, it wouldn't have altered the world as drastically as it has. Because there were very few roads and the quality of them were very poor, the potential of the wheel was actually limited for a great period of time. A wheel has many different uses- so many other inventions require wheels in order to function. A lot of modern technology also depends on the basic wheel, making it one of the most influential innovations of all time. 
6. Telephone
• Development of the telephone has drastically increased flexibility and productivity. The telephone expanded on the concept of sending beeps through wires in Morse code to actually sending someone's voice over the copper wires. The invention of the basic telephone led to the invention of wirelessly transmitting voices, written messages, etc. The development with the telephone essentially shrank the world. Hundreds of years ago, it would take days, weeks or months to hear from one another. Now, we can experience monumental moments simultaneously all through a quick phone call. The telephone effectively provides more information within reach and altered how society interacts with each other. 
7. Steam Engine
• The Industrial Revolution was catalyzed by the steam engine. Thomas Newcomen's was the first to use the concept of steam to power machines in 1712. In 1769, James Watt refined the engine created by Newcomen by adding a separate condenser which essentially increased the steam engine's power and made it the most practical way to do work. Therefore, Watt is truly considered the inventor of the steam engine. The steam engine was such an important invention because it made the production of goods incredibly rapid, and could power trains and steamships that carried those goods across the world- again, making the world smaller and more interactive. 
8. Light Bulb
• When I heard the word "light bulb", I automatically think of Thomas Edison- however, there are many inventors that were working on similar ideas in the 1800's. Many believe that the lightbulb was so revolutionary because it allowed people to work longer hours or be in dark places. At the time the lightbulb was invented, they already had cheap gas lamps and other sources of light. However, the way the light bulb changed the world was through the infrastructure that was built in order to provide electricity to every person, home, business and institution in the world. Because of this, the world is filled with so many different power devices, and we are able to charge and plug them in literally anywhere- and we have the lightbulb that allowed us to do this! 
9. Internet
• The internet is such a revolutionary invention because it gives any human the power of information. Any person, any time, any where can access whatever information they need to know. The internet is such a powerful invention because it allows humans to be so much more efficient by sharing knowledge with each other. This new level of efficiency is also said to speed up the number of world changing inventions we are bound to see. However, there is some fear in the internet as it causes people to become isolated and lost in a superficial world. 
10. Airplane
• The Wright brothers invented the airplane and created their first successful prototype in 1903. Through many of the inventions listed, I have said that they have made the world smaller (figuratively speaking). The airplane allows us to continue to do the same thing. The airplane allows us to freely connect safely across giant distances between family and friends. Even as the internet helped grow virtual connectivity, the need for people to connect in person has also increased- with the airplane making everything possible. Airplanes revolutionized transportation. 

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog post! Check out my "Top Ten Inventions PDF PowerPoint" for my slides!