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What technological advancement had the greatest impact on the world?Now you can go into specifics, especially if you answered "Other" I left the Wheel out so not everyone would choose that one, or fire.
I chose iron weapons/tools as the single most significant human invention. Mastering the process of smelting and working with iron ore opened up a vast new range of possibilities that bronze implements simply were not capable of. Steel, like oil, is still at the heart of the modern industrial economy. Just take a moment and think about all the things steel and iron are used for. Without iron and its derivatives the modern world would not be possible.
While you have a valid point regarding Iron, though bronze was also a simpler metalugistic process, I'm going to say gunpowder. This is where we truely started to look at chemistry and determined that we can unlock energy from within substances. I'm sure someone would be able to provide a roadmap through history from the advent of gunpowder to nuclear warheads. Obviously gunpowder is not that effective unless used inconjunction with iron or steel implements to focus gunpowder's energy. But you can only perfect a sword to a certain point (pun intended).
I said bronze, simply because the significance of going from stone to a metallic substance would be very high and would anticipate later developments within metallurgy.While I'm at it, pop question (no cheating): What was the first civilization to begin using iron weaponry?
While I'm at it, pop question (no cheating): What was the first civilization to begin using iron weaponry?
Wasn't it the Hittites? It took me twenty minutes of thought and doing something else to remember the name.
I swear it was the Hittites who invaded and overthrew the Babylonian Empire in the 13th or 14th century BC armed with Iron tipped spears and swords. I now have to research it. I will refrain from citing my source until you make your claim known. I am fully ready to concede if proven wrong though.
First, I think that the 13th or 14th centuries B.C. would have been solidly in the Bronze Age. Second, the answer to the question is…..the Assyrians! But now I have to corroborate my answer….I will be back.
I selected “Heavier than air flight” — while each of the categories offered had significant impact on history, IMHO nothing has had such a rapid and radical impact on events and society. Just look at how rapidly aircraft were woven into society and expanded global reach. Just under sixty-six years after the Wright brothers first flew at Kitty Hawk, Neil Armstrong was standing on the moon. Heavier than air flight has been a force multiplier in military operations, has globalized business, expanded travel, rescue operations, exploration, satellites provide early warning for catastrophic weather and enabled global communications -- all in a very short period (from an historical viewpoint).Of course, if I had selected "other" I would have had to say "the internal combustion engine" or perhaps the microprocessor - but perhaps that's an argument for 100 years from now. 😀
I would throw in another invention that changed history – string. Think about all the things that string was used in early on – creating bags to carry things in more efficiently, making better clothing, fishing nets, building stick structures, linking fences. While this impact was felt most tens of thousands of years ago, it has to rank up there with some of the greatest inventions of all time.
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