German chemist and father of chemical weapons, Fritz Haber, won a Nobel Prize for his 1918 development of an ammonia-synthesis process called Nitrogen fixation. He used this to create a new class of fertilisers, which were essential to the green revolution.
Developed in the mid-19th century, sanitation systems revolutionised our standard of hygiene and waste management. They strongly contributed to us living forty years longer than we did in 1880. Certainly beats going in the street.
Cars, planes, factories, trains, spacecraft would not have been possible without the early 1712 breakthrough of the steam engine. They fuelled one of the most momentous technological leaps in human history during the Industrial Revolution.
A huge advancement in the field of medicine, antibiotics saved millions of lives by killing and preventing the growth of harmful bacteria. Alexander Fleming is credited with accidentally discovering the bacteria-inhibiting mould known as penicillin in 1928. It went on to become a silver bullet for a number of formerly deadly diseases.
The internal combustion engine, invented in the late 19th century, made power out of air and fuel. It eventually replaced the steam engine, and made the invention of cars and other advanced machines possible.
Before the 100 B.C. invention of paper, people wrote on expensive parchment and papyrus. Without paper, millions of ideas and discoveries would have been lost. Paper allowed us to record our thoughts and ideas with ease, and eventually led to the printing press, books, newspapers, toilet paper and, importantly, Penthouse magazine.
Before the wheel was invented in 3500 B.C., humans faced huge limitations when it came to transporting stuff over land. Wheeled carts facilitated agriculture and commerce because they allowed people to transport goods to and from markets and eased the physical burdens of people travelling great distances. Wheels are now a vital part of our lives, and are found in everything from clocks to vehicles to turbines.
While it’s easy to take it for granted, even a short power outage reminds us how ridiculously dependent our modern race is on electricity. Consider that electric lights liberated society from a near-total reliance on daylight. Discovered in the late 19th century, electricity has given us heat, energy and convenience and has countless applications.
e-Reader fans might disagree but, prior to the internet, no innovation did more for the spread and democratisation of knowledge than the printing press. Invented in the 1430s, printing presses allowed streamlined production of thousands of pages per day. The machine was so influential it prompted revolutions, religious upheaval and much scientific discovery.
In 1796, British doctor Edward Jenner changed history when he used a cowpox virus to protect against smallpox. However, it wasn’t until a rabies vaccine was developed in 1885 that the government and community began accepting the idea that making someone sick could prevent further sickness. Vaccination went on to drastically improve mortality rates and quality of life.
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