The following is a summary of the history of technology by time period and geography: •
Lomekwi stone technology, 3.3 million years ago •
Olduvai stone technology (
Oldowan), 2.5 million years ago (scrapers; to butcher dead animals) • Huts, 2 million years ago. •
Acheulean stone technology 1.6 million years ago (hand axe) • Fire creation and manipulation, used since the
Paleolithic, possibly by
Homo erectus as early as
1.5 Million years ago • Cooking, 500,000 years ago. •
Javelins, 400,000 years ago. •
Glue, 200,000 years ago. • Clothing, at least 170,000 years ago. • (
Homo sapiens sapiens – modern human anatomy arose around 100,000 years ago.) •
Stone tools used by
Homo floresiensis, possibly
100,000 years ago. •
Harpoons, possibly 90,000 years ago. •
Bow and arrows, 70,000 years ago. •
Sewing needles, 73,000 – 70,000 years ago. • Flutes, 42,000 years ago. •
Fishing nets, 43,000 years ago. • Ropes, 40,000 years ago. •
Microliths c. 35,000 – 23,000 years ago •
Fishing hooks, C. 23,000 years ago. •
Ceramics c. 18,300 – 15,430 years ago •
Domestication of animals, c. 15,000 BC •
Sling (weapon) c. 9th millennium BC • Boats, 8,000 years ago. •
Copper working, 8,000 years ago • Brick used for construction in the Middle East c. 6000 BC • Agriculture and
plough c. 4000 BC • Wheel c. 4000 BC •
Gnomon c. 4000 BC •
Writing systems c. 3500 BC •
Bronze c. 2500 BC • Salt c. 2500 BC •
Chariot c. 2000 BC • Iron c. 1500 BC •
Sundial c. 800 BC • Glass ca. 500 BC •
Catapult c. 400 BC •
Cast iron c. 400 BC •
Horseshoe c. 300 BC •
Stirrup first few centuries AD •
Printing press 1450 – 1455 AD •
Steam engine 1712 AD •
Atomic bomb 1945 AD
Prehistory Stone Age During most of the
Paleolithic – the bulk of the Stone Age – all humans lived with limited tools and few permanent settlements. The first major technologies were tied to survival, hunting, and food preparation. Stone tools and weapons,
fire, and
clothing were major technological developments during this period. Human ancestors have been using stone and other tools since long before the emergence of
Homo sapiens approximately 300,000 years ago. The earliest direct evidence of tool usage was found in
Ethiopia within the
Great Rift Valley, dating back to 2.5 million years ago. The earliest methods of
stone tool making, known as the
Oldowan "industry", date back to at least 2.3 million years ago. This era of stone tool use is called the
Paleolithic, 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 as
flint) was struck with a
hammerstone. This flaking produced sharp edges which could be used as tools, primarily in the form of
choppers or
scrapers. These tools greatly aided the early humans in their
hunter-gatherer lifestyle to perform a variety of tasks including butchering carcasses (and breaking bones to get at the
marrow); 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. The earliest stone tools were irrelevant, being little more than a fractured rock. In the
Acheulian era, beginning approximately 1.65 million years ago, methods of working these stones into specific shapes, such as
hand axes emerged. This early Stone Age is described as the
Lower Paleolithic. The
Middle Paleolithic, approximately 300,000 years ago, saw the introduction of the
prepared-core technique, in which multiple blades could be rapidly produced from a single core stone. The end of the last Ice Age, about 10,000 years ago, is taken as the end point of the
Upper Paleolithic and the beginning of the
Epipaleolithic /
Mesolithic. The Mesolithic technology included the use of
microliths 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 the
Neolithic period. During this period, polished stone tools were made from a variety of hard rocks such as
flint,
jade,
jadeite, and
greenstone, 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 that they remained in use when bronze and iron appeared. These stone axes were used alongside a continued use of stone tools such as a range of
projectiles, knives, and
scrapers, as well as tools made from organic materials such as wood, bone, and antler. Stone Age cultures developed
music and engaged in organized
warfare. Stone Age humans developed ocean-worthy
outrigger canoe technology, leading to
migration across the
Malay Archipelago, across the Indian Ocean to
Madagascar and also across the Pacific Ocean, which required knowledge of the ocean currents, weather patterns, sailing, and
celestial 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,
cave paintings, and other
prehistoric art, such as the
Venus of Willendorf. Human remains also provide direct evidence, both through the examination of bones and the study of
mummies. Scientists and historians have drawn significant inferences about the lifestyles and cultures of various prehistoric peoples, especially their technology.
Ancient Copper and Bronze Ages or dagger blade Metallic copper occurs on the surface of weathered copper ore deposits, and copper was used before copper
smelting was known. Copper smelting is believed to have originated when the technology of pottery
kilns allowed sufficiently high temperatures. Better ships enabled long-distance trade and the advance of civilization. This technological trend apparently began in the
Fertile Crescent and spread outward over time. These developments were not, and still are not, universal. The
three-age system does not accurately describe the technology history of groups outside of
Eurasia, and does not apply at all in the case of some isolated populations, such as the
Spinifex People, the
Sentinelese, 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 remarkable resistance to rapid technological advancement.
Iron Age head made of iron, dating from the Swedish
Iron Age Before iron smelting was developed, the only iron obtained was from meteorites, which are 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 of
iron smelting technology. It generally replaced bronze and enabled the production of tools that were stronger, lighter, and cheaper to make than their 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 by
forging 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 writing, though this was not universally the case. In Europe, large
hill forts were built either as refuges in times of war or as permanent settlements. In some cases, existing Bronze Age forts were expanded. The pace of land clearance using the more effective iron axes increased, providing more farmland to support the growing population.
Mesopotamia Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) and its peoples (
Sumerians,
Akkadians,
Assyrians and
Babylonians) lived in cities from c. 4000 BC, and developed a sophisticated architecture in mud-brick and stone, including the use of the
true arch. The walls of Babylon were so massive that they were quoted as a
Wonder 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. Writing was invented in Mesopotamia, using the
cuneiform script. Many records on clay tablets and stone inscriptions have survived. Mesopotamians have been credited with the invention of the wheel. The
wheel and axle mechanism first appeared with the
potter's wheel, invented in
Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) during the 5th millennium BC. This led to the invention of the
wheeled vehicle in Mesopotamia during the early 4th millennium BC. Depictions of wheeled
wagons found on
clay tablet pictographs at the
Eanna district of
Uruk are dated between 3700 and 3500 BC. The
lever was used in the
shadoof water-lifting device, the first
crane machine, which appeared in Mesopotamia circa 3000 BC, and then in
ancient Egyptian technology circa 2000 BC. The earliest evidence of
pulleys date back to Mesopotamia in the early 2nd millennium BC. The
screw, the last of the simple machines to be invented, first appeared in Mesopotamia during the
Neo-Assyrian period (911–609) BC. The
Babylonian astronomical diaries spanned 800 years. They enabled meticulous astronomers to plot the motions of the planets and to predict eclipses. , here its overshot version The earliest evidence of
water wheels and
watermills date back to the
ancient Near East in the 4th century BC, specifically in the
Persian Empire before 350 BC, in the regions of Mesopotamia (Iraq) and
Persia (Iran). This pioneering use of
water power constituted the first human-devised motive force not to rely on muscle power (besides the
sail).
Egypt The
Egyptians, known for building pyramids centuries before the advent of modern tools, invented and used many simple machines, such as the
ramp, to aid construction. Historians and archaeologists have found evidence that the
pyramids were built using three of the
Six Simple Machines, from which all machines are based. These machines are the
inclined plane, the
wedge, and the
lever, 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 the
Great Pyramid of Giza, which is high. They also made writing medium similar to paper from
papyrus, which Joshua Mark states is the foundation for modern paper. Papyrus is a plant (Cyperus papyrus) that 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 perpendicular to the first, then both were pressed together until the sheet was dry. The sheets were then joined to form a roll, which was later used for writing. Egyptian society made several significant advances during the 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. They successfully leveraged their knowledge of astronomy to create a calendar model that society still uses today. They developed shipbuilding technology that enabled them to 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 to practice the earliest known form of neuroscience. Elanzeery also states that they used advanced mathematical science, as evidenced by the construction of the pyramids. Ancient Egyptians also pioneered many food technologies that form the basis of modern food processing. 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.
Indus Valley The
Indus Valley Civilization, situated in a resource-rich region (in modern
Pakistan and northwestern India), is notable for its early use of city planning,
sanitation technologies, and plumbing. Indus Valley construction and architecture, called '
Vaastu Shastra', suggests a thorough understanding of materials engineering, hydrology, and sanitation.
China The Chinese made many first-known discoveries and developments. Major
technological contributions from China include the earliest known form of the
binary code and epigenetic sequencing, early
seismological detectors,
matches, paper,
Helicopter rotor,
Raised-relief map, the double-action piston pump,
cast iron, water powered blast furnace
bellows, the iron
plough, the multi-tube
seed drill, the wheelbarrow, the parachute, the
compass, the
rudder, the
crossbow, the
South Pointing Chariot and gunpowder. China also developed deep-well drilling, which it used to extract brine for making salt. Some of these wells, which were as deep as 900 meters, produced natural gas used to evaporate brine. Other Chinese discoveries and inventions from the medieval period include
block printing,
movable-type printing, phosphorescent paint, the endless power
chain drive, and the clock escapement mechanism. The solid-fuel
rocket was invented in China about 1150, nearly 200 years after the invention of
gunpowder (which acted as the rocket's fuel). Decades before the West's age of exploration, the Chinese emperors of the
Ming Dynasty also sent
large fleets on maritime voyages, some of which reached Africa.
Hellenistic Mediterranean The
Hellenistic period of
Mediterranean history began in the 4th century BC with
Alexander's conquests, which led to the emergence of a
Hellenistic civilization representing a synthesis of
Greek and
Near-Eastern cultures in the
Eastern Mediterranean region, including the
Balkans,
Levant and
Egypt. With
Ptolemaic Egypt as its intellectual center and Greek as the lingua franca, the Hellenistic civilization included
Greek,
Egyptian, Jewish,
Persian, and
Phoenician scholars and engineers who wrote in Greek. Hellenistic engineers of the Eastern Mediterranean were responsible for several
inventions and improvements to existing technology. The
Hellenistic 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 the
Library of Alexandria in
Ptolemaic Egypt and its close association with the adjacent
museion. In contrast to the typically anonymous inventors of earlier ages, ingenious minds such as
Archimedes,
Philo of Byzantium,
Heron,
Ctesibius, and
Archytas remain known by name to posterity. Ancient agriculture, as in any period before the modern age the primary mode of production and subsistence, and its irrigation methods, were considerably advanced by the invention and widespread application of several previously unknown water-lifting devices, such as the vertical
water-wheel, the compartmented wheel, the water
turbine,
Archimedes' screw, the bucket-chain and pot-garland, the
force pump, the
suction pump, the double-action
piston pump and quite possibly the
chain pump. In music, the
water organ, invented by Ctesibius and subsequently improved, constituted the earliest instance of a keyboard instrument. In time-keeping, the introduction of the inflow
clepsydra and its mechanization by the dial and pointer, the application of a
feedback system, and the
escapement mechanism far superseded the earlier outflow clepsydra. Innovations in mechanical technology included the newly devised right-angled
gear, which would become particularly important to the operation of mechanical devices. Hellenistic engineers also devised
automata such as suspended ink pots, automatic
washstands, and doors, primarily as toys, which, however, featured new useful mechanisms such as the
cam and
gimbals. The
Antikythera mechanism, a kind of
analogous computer working with a
differential gear, and the
astrolabe both show great refinement in astronomical science. In other fields, ancient Greek innovations include the
catapult and the
gastraphetes crossbow in warfare, hollow bronze-casting in metallurgy, the
dioptra for surveying, in infrastructure the
lighthouse,
central heating, a
tunnel excavated from both ends by scientific calculations, and the
ship trackway. In transport, great progress was made with the invention of the
winch and the
odometer. Further newly created techniques and items were
spiral staircases, the
chain drive,
sliding calipers, and showers.
Roman Empire in France, a Roman aqueduct The
Roman Empire expanded from
Italia across the entire
Mediterranean region between the 1st century BC and 1st century AD. Its most advanced and economically productive provinces outside of Italia were the
Eastern Roman provinces in the
Balkans,
Asia Minor,
Egypt, and the
Levant, with
Roman Egypt in particular being the wealthiest Roman province outside of Italia. The Roman Empire developed an intensive and sophisticated agriculture, expanded upon existing iron working technology, created
laws providing for individual ownership, advanced stone masonry technology, advanced
road-building (exceeded only in the 19th century), military engineering, civil engineering, spinning and weaving and several different machines like the
Gallic 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 the
book (Codex),
glass blowing, and concrete. Because Rome was located on a volcanic peninsula with sand containing suitable crystalline grains, the concrete the Romans formulated was especially durable. Some of their buildings have lasted 2000 years, to the present day. In Roman Egypt, the inventor
Hero of Alexandria was the first to experiment with a
wind-powered mechanical device (see
Heron's windwheel) and even created the earliest
steam-powered device (the
aeolipile), opening up new possibilities in harnessing natural forces. He also devised a
vending machine. However, his inventions were primarily toys, rather than practical machines.
Inca, Maya, and Aztec The engineering skills of the
Inca and
Maya 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 and
drainage systems, making agriculture very efficient. While some claim that the Incas were the first inventors of
hydroponics, their agricultural technology was still soil-based, if advanced. Though the
Maya civilization did not incorporate metallurgy or wheel technology into their architecture, 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 of
Palenque. The main contribution of the
Aztec rule was a system of communication between the conquered cities and the widespread use of the ingenious agricultural technology of
chinampas. In
Mesoamerica, 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: the
Olmec (see
Native American inventions and innovations).
Medieval to early modern One of the most significant developments of the medieval period was the rise of economies in which water and wind power were more important than animal and human muscle power. Most water and wind power was used for milling grain. Water power was also used to blow air into
blast furnace, to pulp rags for papermaking, and to felt wool. The
Domesday Book recorded 5,624 water mills in Great Britain in 1086, being about one per thirty families. Advances were made in
animal husbandry,
irrigation, and farming, with the help of new technology such as the
windmill. These changes made agriculture much more productive, supporting population growth, urbanisation, and greater social stratification. Muslim engineers in the Islamic world made extensive use of
hydropower, as well as early uses of
tidal power and
wind power.
fossil fuels such as petroleum, and large factory complexes (
tiraz in Arabic). A variety of industrial mills were employed in the Islamic world, including
fulling mills,
gristmills,
hullers,
sawmills,
ship mills,
stamp mills,
steel mills, and
tide mills. By the 11th century, every province throughout the Islamic world had these industrial mills in operation. Muslim engineers also employed
water turbines and
gears in mills and water-raising machines, and pioneered the use of
dams as a source of water power, used to provide additional power to
watermills and water-raising machines. Many of these technologies were transferred to medieval Europe.
Wind-powered machines used to grind grain and pump water, the windmill and
wind pump, first appeared in what are now
Iran,
Afghanistan, and Pakistan by the 9th century. They were used to grind grains and draw up water, and used in the gristmilling and sugarcane industries.
Sugar mills first appeared in the
medieval Islamic world. They were first driven by watermills, and then windmills from the 9th and 10th centuries in what are today
Afghanistan, Pakistan and
Iran. Crops such as
almonds and
citrus fruit were brought to Europe through
Al-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. The Muslim world adopted
papermaking from China. The knowledge of
gunpowder was also transmitted from China via predominantly Islamic countries, where formulas for pure
potassium nitrate were developed. The
spinning wheel was invented in the
Islamic world by the early 11th century. It was later widely adopted in Europe, where it was adapted into the
spinning jenny, a key device during the
Industrial Revolution. The
crankshaft was invented by
Al-Jazari in 1206, and is central to modern machinery such as the
steam engine,
internal combustion engine and
automatic controls. The
camshaft was also first described by Al-Jazari in 1206. Early
programmable machines were also invented in the Muslim world. The first
music sequencer, a programmable
musical instrument, was an automated flute player invented by the
Banu Musa brothers and described in their
Book of Ingenious Devices in the 9th century. In 1206, Al-Jazari invented programmable
automata/
robots. He described four
automaton musicians, including two drummers operated by a programmable
drum machine, each capable of playing different rhythms and drum patterns. The
castle clock, a
hydropowered mechanical
astronomical clock invented by Al-Jazari, was an early
programmable analog computer. In the
Ottoman Empire, a practical impulse
steam turbine was invented in 1551 by
Taqi ad-Din Muhammad ibn Ma'ruf in
Ottoman Egypt. He described a method for rotating a
spit using a jet of steam acting on rotary vanes around the periphery of a wheel. Known as a
steam jack, a similar device for rotating a spit was also later described by
John Wilkins in 1648.
Medieval Europe , ca. 1386 While medieval technology has long been depicted as a step backward in the evolution of Western technology, a generation of medievalists (such as the American historian of science
Lynn White) stressed, from the 1940s onwards, the innovative character of many medieval techniques. Genuine medieval contributions include, for example,
mechanical clocks,
spectacles, and vertical
windmills. Medieval ingenuity was also displayed in the invention of seemingly inconspicuous items such as the
watermark and the
functional button. In navigation, the foundation to the subsequent
Age of Discovery was laid by the introduction of pintle-and-gudgeon
rudders,
lateen sails, the
dry compass, the horseshoe, and the
astrolabe. Significant advances were also made in military technology with the development of
plate armour, steel
crossbows and
cannons. The Middle Ages are perhaps best known for their architectural heritage: While the invention of the
rib vault and
pointed arch gave rise to the high rising
Gothic 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 was captured in the 8th century. Papermaking technology was spread to Europe by the
Umayyad conquest of Hispania. 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.
Renaissance technology used for raising ore, ca. 1556 Before the development of modern engineering, mathematics was used by artisans and craftsmen, such as
millwrights, clock makers, instrument makers, and surveyors. Aside from these professions, universities were not believed to have had much practical significance to technology. Among the water-powered mechanical devices in use were
ore stamping mills, forge hammers, blast bellows, and suction pumps. Due to the casting of cannon, the
blast 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. The invention of the movable cast metal type
printing 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. The era is marked by such profound technical advancements as
linear perspective,
double-shell domes, and
Bastion fortress. Notebooks of the Renaissance artist-engineers such as
Taccola and
Leonardo da Vinci give a deep insight into the mechanical technology then known and applied. Architects and engineers were inspired by the structures of
Ancient Rome, and men like
Brunelleschi created the large dome of
Florence Cathedral as a result. He was awarded one of the first patents ever issued to protect an ingenious
crane he designed to raise the large masonry stones to the top of the structure. Military technology developed rapidly with the widespread use of the
cross-bow and ever more powerful
artillery, as the city-states of Italy were usually in conflict with one another. Powerful families like the
Medici were strong patrons of the arts and sciences.
Renaissance science spawned the
Scientific Revolution; science and technology began a cycle of mutual advancement.
Age of Exploration An improved sailing ship, the nau or
carrack, enabled the
Age of Exploration with the
European colonization of the Americas, epitomized by
Francis Bacon's
New Atlantis. Pioneers like
Vasco da Gama,
Cabral,
Magellan, and
Christopher 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 mariners to explore further with greater confidence. Navigation was generally difficult, however, owing to the
problem of longitude and the absence of accurate
chronometers. European powers rediscovered the idea of the
civil code, which had been lost since the time of the Ancient Greeks.
Pre–Industrial Revolution The
stocking frame, which was invented in 1598, increased a knitter's number of knots per minute from 100 to 1000. Mines were becoming increasingly deep and 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 the
Savery steam pump (1698) and the
Newcomen steam engine (1712).
Industrial Revolution (1760–1830s) The revolution was driven by cheap energy in the form of coal, produced in ever-increasing amounts from the abundant resources of
Britain. The British
Industrial Revolution is characterized by developments in textile machinery, mining,
metallurgy, transport, and the invention of
machine tools. Before the 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. The invention of the
flying shuttle in 1733 doubled the output of a weaver, creating a shortage of spinners. The
spinning frame for wool was invented in 1738. The
spinning jenny, invented in 1764, was a machine that used multiple spinning wheels; however, it produced low-quality thread. The
water frame patented by Richard Arkwright in 1767 produced a better quality thread than the spinning jenny. The
spinning mule, patented in 1779 by
Samuel Crompton, produced a high-quality thread. Coal converted to
coke fueled higher temperature
blast furnaces and produced cast iron in much larger amounts than before, allowing the creation of a range of structures such as
The Iron Bridge. Cheap coal meant that industry was no longer constrained by water resources that drove the mills, although water remained a valuable source of power. The steam engine helped drain the mines, allowing access to more coal reserves and increasing coal output. The development of the high-pressure steam engine made locomotives possible; a transport revolution followed. The steam engine which had existed since the early 18th century, was practically applied to both
steamboat and railway transportation. The
Liverpool and Manchester Railway, the first purpose-built railway line, opened in 1830, with the
Rocket locomotive of
Robert Stephenson among its first working
locomotives. Manufacture of ships' pulley
blocks by all-metal machines at the
Portsmouth Block Mills in 1803 instigated the age of sustained
mass production.
Machine tools used by engineers to manufacture parts began in the first decade of the century, notably by
Richard Roberts and
Joseph Whitworth. The development of
interchangeable parts through what is now called the
American system of manufacturing began in the firearms industry at the U.S. Federal arsenals in the early 19th century; it became widely used by the end of the century. Until the
Enlightenment era, little progress was made in
water supply and sanitation, and the engineering skills of the Romans were largely neglected throughout Europe. The first documented use of
sand filters to purify the water supply dates to 1804, when the owner of a bleachery in
Paisley, Scotland, John Gibb, installed an experimental filter and sold his unwanted surplus to the public. The first treated public water supply in the world was installed by engineer
James Simpson for the
Chelsea Waterworks Company in London in 1829. The first screw-down
water tap was patented in 1845 by Guest and Chrimes, a brass foundry in
Rotherham. The practice of water treatment soon became mainstream, and the virtues of the system were made starkly apparent after the investigations of the physician
John Snow during the
1854 Broad Street cholera outbreak demonstrated the role of the water supply in spreading the cholera epidemic.
Second Industrial Revolution (1860s–1914) 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, the
Second Industrial Revolution was a period of rapid innovation and industrialization that began in the 1860s, around 1870, and lasted until
World War I. It included the rapid development of chemical, electrical, petroleum, and steel technologies, connected to highly structured technological research.
Telegraphy developed into a practical technology in the 19th century to help run the railways safely. 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. 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, founded by Thomas Edison with financial backing from
Spencer Trask, built and managed the first electric power network. Electrification was rated the most important technical development of the 20th century as the foundational infrastructure for modern civilization. This invention had a profound effect on the workplace because factories could now have second and third shift workers. Shoe production was mechanized during the mid 19th century. Mass production of
sewing machines and
agricultural machinery such as reapers occurred in the mid to late 19th century. Bicycles were mass-produced beginning in the 1880s.
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,
photography was introduced. For much of the rest of the century, many engineers and inventors tried to combine it and the much older technique of
projection to create a complete illusion or a complete documentation of reality. Color photography was usually included in these ambitions, and the introduction of the
phonograph in 1877 seemed to promise the addition of
synchronized sound recordings. Between 1887 and 1894, the first successful short
cinematographic presentations were established.
20th century assembly line was the first.
Mass production brought
automobiles and other high-tech goods to the masses of consumers.
Military research and development sped advances including electronic
computing and
jet engines. Radio and
telephony greatly improved and expanded their reach to larger user populations. However, near-universal access would not be possible until
mobile phones became affordable to residents of the
developing world in the late 2000s and early 2010s. Energy and engine technology improvements included
nuclear power, developed after the
Manhattan Project, which heralded the new
Atomic Age.
Rocket development led to long range missiles and the first
space 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.
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 in
genetic engineering. The first "
test tube baby"
Louise Brown was born in 1978, which led to the first successful
gestational surrogacy pregnancy in 1985 and the first pregnancy by
ICSI 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 and
fiber optic networks, powered by the
optical amplifier that ushered in the
Information Age. This
optical networking technology exploded the capacity of the Internet beginning in 1996 with the launch of the first high-capacity
wave division multiplexing (WDM) system by
Ciena Corp. WDM, as the common basis for telecom backbone networks, 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, both developed by Comvik in Sweden, coupled with the first transmission of data over a cellular network by
Vodafone (formerly
Racal-Millicom) in 1992, were the breakthroughs that led directly to the form and function of smartphones today. By 2014, the global total of mobile-cellular subscriptions had nearly reached parity with the world's human population and the Supreme Court of the United States of America has ruled that a mobile phone was a private part of a person. Providing consumers with wireless access to each other and to the Internet, the mobile phone stimulated one of the most important technology revolutions in human history. The Human Genome Project sequenced and identified all three billion chemical units in human DNA to find the genetic roots of disease and develop treatments. The project became feasible due to two technical advances in the late 1970s: gene mapping using 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 at the first International Conference on Genes and Computers in August 1985. The U.S. Federal Government sponsored the Human Genome Project, which began on October 1, 1990, and was declared complete in 2003. •
Electrification •
Automobile • Airplane •
Water supply and Distribution •
Electronics • Radio and television •
Mechanized agriculture • Computers • Telephone •
Air Conditioning and
Refrigeration •
Highways •
Spacecraft • Internet •
Imaging technology •
Household appliances •
Health technology • Petroleum and
Petrochemical technologies •
Laser and
Fiber Optics •
Nuclear technology •
Materials science 21st century s provided huge amounts of information by functioning well beyond NASA's original lifespan estimates. In the early 21st century, research is ongoing into
quantum computers,
gene therapy (introduced 1990),
3D printing (introduced 1981),
nanotechnology (introduced 1985),
bioengineering/
biotechnology,
nuclear technology,
advanced materials (e.g., graphene), the
scramjet and
drones (along with
railguns and high-energy laser beams for military uses),
superconductivity, the
memristor, and green technologies such as
alternative fuels (e.g.,
fuel cells, self-driving electric and
plug-in hybrid cars),
augmented reality devices and
wearable electronics,
artificial intelligence, and more efficient and powerful
LEDs,
solar cells,
integrated circuits,
wireless power devices, engines, and
batteries.
Large Hadron Collider, the largest single machine ever built, was constructed between 1998 and 2008. The understanding of
particle physics is expected to expand with better instruments including larger
particle accelerators such as the LHC and better
neutrino detectors.
Dark matter is sought via underground detectors and observatories like
LIGO have started to detect
gravitational waves. Genetic engineering technology continues to improve, and the importance of
epigenetics on development and inheritance has also become increasingly recognized. New
spaceflight technology and
spacecraft are also being developed, like the Boeing's
Orion and SpaceX's
Dragon 2. New, more capable
space telescopes, such as the
James Webb Space Telescope, which was launched to orbit in December, 2021, and the
Extremely Large Telescope, have been designed. The
International Space Station was completed in the 2000s, and
NASA and
ESA plan a
human mission to Mars in the 2030s. The
Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR) is an electro-magnetic thruster for spacecraft propulsion and is expected to be tested in 2015. The
Breakthrough Initiatives project plans to send
the first ever spacecraft to visit another star, which will consist of numerous super-light chips driven by
Electric propulsion in the 2030s, and receive images of the
Proxima Centauri system, along with, possibly, the
potentially habitable planet Proxima Centauri b, by midcentury. 2004 saw the
first crewed commercial spaceflight when
Mike Melvill crossed the
boundary of space on June 21, 2004. == By type ==