10 Examples of innovations that changed the world

Innovations are tools created by human ingenuity to improve our quality of life as a species.

Innovation is the introduction of something new that meets a need and is closely connected to science and technology, science being knowledge and technology its practice.

It is difficult to define a list of innovations, since the inventions discovered in Antiquity, far from being outdated, are the basis of many of the scientific and technological advances that we enjoy in the 21st century.

On this occasion, we will show 10 examples of innovations that changed the world.

1. Cutting tools

The vestiges of the first lance date back to 400,000 BC. C. This invention introduces hunting as a habitual activity in search of food and, as a consequence, forces communities to organize.

Additionally, the lance as a sharps tool was the first technological innovation that would allow humans to begin cutting and handling stronger materials for their own benefit.

2. Pictographic art

17,000 years ago, some humans from Altamira, Spain, left their marks on stones using pigments from the region, capturing what we now call cave painting, our first expression of art.

This basic way of expressing what we see has evolved over time to the complex digital artistic compositions that we see today.

The images became an essential form of expression in the human being. Thanks to our fascination with graphic representation, science and technology advanced towards the creation of photography by Joseph Niépce (1765-1833) together with Louis Daguerre (1787-1851) in 1839 and cinema by the Lumière brothers in 1859.

Along with the emergence of other innovations, today we use technologies to create images in digital format, from image editing programs such as Photoshop , to virtual reality technology that recreates a three-dimensional world.

3. Housing

In 6000 a. From C, humans from the Middle East began building houses, transitioning to a more sedentary life. This innovation constitutes one of the bases for the path towards the notions of society, State and country.

4. Agriculture

In Mesopotamia the beginning of the plow is recorded in 3,500 BC. de C.. The plow is a simple technique that allowed them to grow and care for their food efficiently and homogeneously. This innovation helped the human species plant and organize their food on a large scale.

5. Writing

Writing is one of the innovations that has cultivated and raised our knowledge, since it registers and transmits information, cushioning the oral barrier of immediacy. The first records were found in Mesopotamia around 3,500 BC. C.

6. Lenses

The first magnifying lens discovered is over 3,000 years old and was named the Nimrud lens. It was used by the Assyrians to observe the sky. Going through the technological advances created by the Egyptians, the Chinese and the Greeks, the first glasses were marketed around the year 1,280.

From this innovation, the invention of the first microscope by Zacharias Jansen (1580-1638) arises in 1595. This scientific and technological innovation would open the doors to the observation of the world of microorganisms, constituting the basis for advances in medicine.

In turn, in 1609, Galileo Galilei began to experiment with lenses, building the first telescopes that served for advances in the knowledge of our solar system and the universe.

7. Steam machine

In 1768, James Watt (1736-1819), with the financial help of Matthew Boulton (1728-1809), created the first engine that prevented the constant loss of energy in steam engines. In this way, the concept of "horsepower" is created and the power of the electrical unit is baptized as watts (watt in Spanish).

This innovation revolutionized the world of means of transport, introducing the creation of the locomotive by Richard Trevithick (1771-1833) in 1808, the automobile by Karl Benz (1844-1929) in 1886, the airplane by Clément Ader (1841-1925) in 1890, and the first space voyage as a result of what is known as the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

8. Calculator

The calculator allows complex calculations to be done mechanically and without human error. The first calculator was created by Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) in 1642. This would start technological advances in the field of computing and the subsequent creation of the World Wide Web or the web.

9. Cells or batteries

Alessandro Volta (1745-1827) invented the first battery in 1800 when he discovered that the contact of two metals with a liquid conductor produced electrical energy. In this way, it was possible to produce energy.

Subsequently, Gaston Planté (1834-1889) created in 1860 the first automotive battery that allowed the cell to be recharged once it was exhausted.

10. Telegraph

The telegraph was perfected for everyday use by Samuel Morse (1791-1872) in 1830. This technological and scientific innovation is considered the start of the media revolution.

In this sense, the telephone was born in 1875 with Graham Bell (1847-1922), and the radio, whose invention was attributed to Guglielmo Marconi (1874-1937), being the first successful test around 1897.

As a consequence of the technological innovations of the moment, television was born, whose first mechanical model was created by John Logie Baird (1888-1946) in 1924, but which was only known as television in 1926. And we cannot fail to mention the medium of Today's most common communication, the computer created by Konrad Zuse (1910-1995) in 1941.

See also:

• The 9 most surprising technological innovations7 essential characteristics of innovation.