What is an invention? Is it creativity, science or chance? In fact, it is different. About the essence of the concept, as well as where and how the inventions were made, read further in the article.
Invention is…
Often an invention is associated with a complex mechanism, which, as a rule, has many parts, wires, microcircuits and buttons. At present, the new device is usually associated with electronics and nanotechnology.
Of course it could be. However, inventions existed before the digital age. According to one of the definitions, an invention is an intellectual or technical structure, a mechanism that has novelty. This also includes the use of existing items for a new purpose.
Invention is a material tool that is aimed at solving a problem. Usually, the possibility of its creation is attributed only to a person, and all rights are governed by the laws of the country in which the invention was created.
The birth of inventions
In fact, inventions have existed for as long as the human race. From stone, wood and metal, ancient people created many useful tools for hunting,farming and housekeeping.
They used an axe, a stone tool, a bow and arrow, a hoe. Approximately 20 thousand years ago, a needle and primitive clothing were already invented. On the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, about 10 thousand years ago, a boat and a fishing net were created. And the harpoon appeared in France about 13 thousand years ago.
An important invention today is writing. Its appearance is attributed to the fourth millennium BC, although even before this period there were separate forms of information transfer. For this, bones, sticks, pebbles were used, laying them out in a certain way in a certain amount. The Incas, for example, had a knot letter.
Ancient civilizations
With the development of human society, the first states arose: Mesopotamia, the Kingdom of Egypt, China, India, Greece, Rome. They own many interesting discoveries. The first soap was created in Babylon, skates were invented in Scandinavia, and the chariot was invented in Mesopotamia.
Papyrus, cosmetics, inks based on oils and beeswax appeared in ancient Egypt. The Egyptians invented a solar calendar and clock, candles, a potter's wheel and a door lock.
The Romans showed themselves no less inventive. Back in 168 BC, they created the first media. The essence of the invention was a wooden tablet, which posted the latest news, events and orders of the emperor. Roads and illuminated tunnels first appeared in ancient Rome.
Many discoveries andinventions of ancient Greece formed the basis of modern technology. It was the Greeks who invented sewage and plumbing. Although there is evidence that for the first time these structures appeared in the civilization of the Indus Valley. The Greeks introduced the idea of lighthouses by lighting torches on coastal hills to keep ships from getting lost in the dark. Their cities had public showers and central heating systems.
Medieval scientists and their inventions
The Middle Ages are usually counted from the decline of the Roman Empire in the 4th-5th century AD. In Europe, the Catholic Church gained power, holding back the development of science. Therefore, in the early Middle Ages, the center of culture and education shifted to Asian and Islamic countries.
China invented porcelain, in the 9th century they created black powder, wood engraving and typesetting on a machine tool. Here they created a flamethrower and a cannon. The first parachute and hang glider apparently appeared thanks to Abbas ibn Firnas, a resident of Cordoba.
In the XIII-XV century, Europe is approaching the Renaissance. The influence of the church on art and science is weakening. The first glass mirror is invented, the buttonhole is invented in Germany, Gutenberg creates the printing press. In England, John Mary proposes the idea of a toilet; in Italy, Salvino Pisa and Alessandro Spino create glasses for the far-sighted.
New and Recent Times
The period from the 16th to the 20th century was the loudest and brightest in the scientific history of mankind. Many discoveries made at the beginning of the 16th century belong to Leonardo da Vinci. He creates scissors, a catapult, a crossbow, a scheme for an airplane and a flying machine, etc.
Temtime in Spain, the musket is invented, the German Peter Heinlein invents a pocket watch, Konrad Gesner creates the first pencil, Oda Nabunaga - an armadillo. Galileo Galilei invents the telescope, thermometer, microscope, proportional compass.
Scientists and their inventions are less and less criticized by the church. In the 17th century, the steam turbine, barometer, vacuum pump, calculator, pendulum clock were invented. In the 18th century, a balloon, a lightning rod, a torsion balance, a steamboat, an electric light, a photograph on paper appeared.
In the 19th-20th centuries, electricity, nuclear physics, and chemistry were studied. Lutdge invents the microphone, Edison invents the incandescent light bulb, Karl Benz invents the automobile. Popov owns the creation of a radio receiver, the Wright Brothers invent an airplane, Cheremukhin - a helicopter. Glushko creates a jet engine, Cousteau creates scuba gear.
Random inventions
Inventions and discoveries are not always the result of a well-planned plan. Sometimes they happen by pure chance or as a result of mistakes. A remedy for many diseases, penicillin, Alexander Fleming discovered unexpectedly, in one of the unwashed cups in the laboratory.
Harry Wesley Coover invented cyanoacrylate to create a clear plastic lens for optical sights. But when he poured the material into the mold, he couldn't get it out. It turned out that the substance does not hold its shape, but it perfectly glues various structures. This is how the first superglue was born.
Perfect chance we owe andthe presence of shatterproof glass. Its inventor, Eduard Benedictus, somehow dropped a glass flask, which was covered with cracks, but for some reason did not break. The scientist found that the strength of the glass was given by the collodion solution remaining on the walls of the vessel.
But potato chips were created out of spite. In response to an annoying customer's nagging about his potatoes being too thick and soft, Chef George Crum served him almost transparent slices. The client liked the dish, and the rest wished to try it. Since then, Saratoga Chips have been on the menu.
