Over the years that the humans have walk upon the earth there have been countless technological innovations, some dating back to the Stone Age. Although the ancient world didn’t have all the resources that we have today, the people of those times did magnificent things that paved the road for us today; from the stone tools made in Paleolithic and Mesolithic times to the wheel in 3000 BC, all the way to the pyramids in 2560 BC. These inventions helped make it possible for us to build smartphones, remote controls, and skyscrapers.
Throughout the Paleolithic and Mesolithic periods, humans used stone tools. These stone tools are the oldest technology that has evidence of surviving. The humans would use flakes of rock, usually flint, to make different tools. For example, the oldwan choppers, seen to the right, were designed to help break things down. These stone tools can be compared to smartphones, the most useful tool of today.
While the humans of the past had a different shape designed for different tasks, today we have “an app for that.” Smartphones have different apps designed for each task; likewise, there are different designs of stone for each objective. A smartphone is a tool that most people today could not live without. Like stone tools, a smartphone is designed to make the lives of people easier.
Lastly, stone tools were refined by Neolithic farmers. These farmers sharpened the stone tools, making them better suited for hunting spears and knives. The same goes for the smartphone. It seems like every other month there is a new update to make the device better suited for the task at hand.
With the invention of the wheel, transportation was put on another level. Although it is believed that the first wheels were meant for pottery in Mesopotamia, they ended up being an invention that changed the way humans traveled. The remote is a great innovation to society.
The remote, like the wheel, changed the lives of humans. Before the wheel, people would have to walk everywhere. In the same way, the remote made it so we did not have to get up to change a channel on the television. The remote made life easier for people, as did the wheel. These two inventions were made to help people in their everyday lives but actually helped to make people lazier.
The wheel made it so people didn’t have to walk and the remote made it so people didn’t have to get up, leaving people able to sit most of the time. Obviously, these technological breakthroughs had both positive and negative effects.
Around 2560 BC, the Egyptians created one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world, the pyramids. The Great Pyramid of Giza was the tallest man-made structure for almost 4,000 years. Today, if we go to a city we can see buildings that are a quarter of a mile tall. These buildings help to make more space for business by taking up unused air space, which is why they are an important invention.
Skyscrapers have multiple purposes, one of these purposes is to be a living environment like hotels and apartments. The pyramids were used as a final resting place for Egyptian kings. Like the rich kings of Egypt who had the best, rich people today usually have the best living environment in hotel skyscrapers. These huge structures are all being outdone, like the pyramids were, losing the title of the tallest building.
The Great Pyramid of Giza may have lasted 4,000 years without being outdone, now, however, it is hard for one to last 10 years. The Burj Khalifa is currently the tallest building in the world, reigning 2,717 feet, but there is another skyscraper said to be built in 2017 which would be 3,280 feet tall, that is nearly one kilometer. Clearly, the ancient world built up the way for us to soar to new heights.
To conclude, the inventions from the past can be seen in the innovations of today; from the stone tools and the wheel help making it possible to make the pyramids, all the way to discoveries today, like the smartphone, remote, and skyscrapers. Nolan Bushnell once said, “The best ideas lose their owners and take on lives of their own.”
This quote is seen in all of these technological discoveries that changed the world. Ultimately, without these inventions we would be just cavemen without tools, never advancing in evolution.
