Greatest Inventions

Wow. I thought of 20 very fast. Moved several in and out of the list, but it comes down to "what criteria defines greatest invention." So I used the following:

-Originality. Something from nothing. That is, adapting a natural process into a mechanical process is adaption, not invention.

-Impact. Did the invention fundamentally change human affairs? How quickly did it do so?

-Thing Not a System. I discarded "Banking" and "Plumbing" as systems, not things.

These are arguably too restrictive, but, hey, argue with me. Without further ado...

1) Metallurgy (40,000 BC [gold] and 3,000 BC [bronze]). The ability to consistently create bronze (copper and tin) led to the first great age of advancement in human history.

2) Astrolabe (Hipparchus 150 BC). The astrolabe guided seafarers for over a thousand years before the sextant improved on the basic concept. But the ability to navigate accurately without reference to land enabled brave souls to explore beyond the horizon.

3) Gunpowder (China 800 AD). Oh my. The start of technology based arms race. "You can get more with a kind word and a gun than you can get with just a kind word." - Al Capone. Upside - fireworks!

4) The Printing Press (Gutenberg 1450). "What gunpowder did for war, the printing press has done for the mind.” - Wendall Phillips. I don't consider this the single greatest invention, but the impact of cheaply distributing the printed word can not be underestimated.

5) Calculus (Newton/Leibnitz 1680). Greek philosopher Zeno saw an arrow fly and wondered: If at any instant in time, an arrow travelling through space is in a fixed position, so how do you explain "movement"? By infinite series. Derivatives and integrals gave me fits in school, but form the basis of all modern engineering and applied science.

6) Steam Engine (Newcomen 1712). I am giving Newcomen credit, though many others can claim credit, because his steam engine was the first widespread practical industrial engine. And it is really the "industrial" part I am focusing on.

7) Cotton Gin (Whitney 1793). I have been torn on what I would call agricultural inventions. You could argue the Plow was a great invention, though I would argue the Combine, which allowed farmers to produce a surplus of grain, had a bigger impact. But the combine owes its basis to the cotton gin, which mechanized the production of cotton fiber. The downside is that the cotton gin (gin, BTW, is short for "engine") was so successful in advancing cotton production that it prolonged slavery.

8) Radio (Tesla 1893). Next time you access WiFi at Starbucks remember Nicola Tesla. Until wireless communication there needed to be a physical connection (cable or sight) between communicating parties. Radio was the first step in drastically shrinking our world.

9) Penicillin (Fleming 1928). This was a coin toss with Vaccines, Anesthesia and Pasteurization. But the impact of Penicillin to basic health has been miraculous.

10) Transistor (1947 Bardeen/Brittian/Shockley). The movement from pure conductors (say copper wire) to semi-conductive material initiated the Electronic Age, the Information Age and all things beyond.

So some of the items that did not make the list, but could have: Alphabet, the Lightbulb, the Battery, the Zipper (don't laugh) and Atomic Bomb.