Scientific breakthroughs and inventions have ensured the survival of the human race. How often do we thank our Lord for equipping others, dating back millions of years, and getting us where we are today. There was a time when humans lived in caves, hunted and foraged for food and battled to stay alive. Thanks to scientific breakthroughs and innovations, we have cars, clothes, homes, running water, sanitation, and more.
Our highly developed brains allow us to experiment, dream, collaborate and invent even more solutions to existing threats. However, we would not have been as well off had it not been for our ancestors’ scientific breakthroughs.
The wheel is most important of all inventions
Imagine life without cars, big rigs, bicycles, buses and other transportation. Wheels also work factory machines, wristwatches, toys and more. According to archaeologists, it all started with pottery making. The wheel as a method to transport goods and people took another 300 years to develop. From rolling logs to wheels rotating on axles, and later spokes for support evolved over another several thousand years.
Lifesaving inventions include the blade
Our ancestors started forming butchering tools as far ago as 3.4 million years from stone flakes and some form of hand axes to butcher meat. Around 1.7 million years ago, blades made from stone led to better nutrition and the ability to make protective clothing.
When did humans start wearing clothes?
This question had been debated for many years. However, research done at the University of Florida brought an answer. The researchers determined that head lice split genetically to form clothes lice between 83,000 and 170,000 years ago. That led researchers to assume that the formation of clothes lice was also about when humans started making clothes to protect them from the environment.
Inventions led to the creation of living quarters from shelters
As long as 800,000 years ago, evidence showed that the shelters of humans began including fire and hearths. After another 400,000 years, archaeological evidence indicates man-made built shelters and caves. These shelters were more permanent protection against harsh conditions. There, they could store tools and collected foods safe from intruders.
Controlled fires challenge wheels for ingenuity
An archaeological team of Israeli claims they discovered the earliest human-made controlled fire. Flaming torches kept predators away from their children, and fires protected them from the cold. Their cooking skills multiplied, and they could prevent malnutrition. This breakthrough played a significant role in humans multiplying and spreading across the planet.
Inventions of sewage disposal systems
It happened in Victorian England, where the sewage-filled Thames overflowed the streets. A lawyer realized that sewage disposal could avoid deadly diseases like cholera, typhus, influenza, and other illnesses spread by the lack of sanitation. He drafted plans and suggested hydraulic systems and pumps to drain and remove sewage.
Water purification one of the more recent inventions
Millions of people died from illnesses caused by contaminated water over centuries. John Snow, a British scientist, suggested adding chlorine to water during a cholera outbreak in 1854. Since then, advancements in technologies have improved safer drinking water.
Agriculture crops started 10,000 years ago
The origin of farming crops is believed to have been southwest Asia. Crops like barley, wheat, lentils, chickpeas and more were the start. It followed the discovery that gathering wild plant seeds and planting them could provide food for many. From there, breakthroughs like irrigation technologies, crop rotation and fertilizers developed.
Discovery of antibiotics happened in London
A London physician accidentally discovered that mold prevented a pathogen from growing in 1920. One of his students later used penicillin as an effective treatment of bacterial diseases in his patients. Development of other antibiotics followed, reducing the mortality rate from a range of infections like septicemia, syphilis, bubonic plague and more.
Preservation of food
Military necessity led to the invention of canning food in the 18th century. A Parisian figured out how to preserve partially cooked foods in jars by expelling air and sealing it with cork stoppers. Half a century later, Louis Pasteur discovered that heat killed microorganisms, preventing spoilage. In 1810, An English inventor patented a packaging improvement by soldering the lids. A factory that packed food in metal cans opened two years later.
To sum up — one question…
Whom do we have to thank?
