Over the entire existence of our planet, hundreds of thousands of amazing things have been created. It is enough just to look around - everything that we see has appeared as a result of painstaking human labor. And among this variety it is impossible to objectively determine the best invention of mankind. However, there are the results of large-scale social surveys and the opinions of scientists on this topic. It is quite possible to focus on them when studying it.
Discovery from the past
The best inventions of mankind, which are more correctly called discoveries, were discovered thousands of years ago. Now they are an integral part of our lives.
In the first place, of course, fire. It was his development that became a turning point in social evolution. When people understood what fire was and how to use it, they began to develop their activity at night, defend themselves from predators and cook various (at that time) food. For many years they supported him in caves, avoiding attenuation. After all, the path to self-production of fire was very long.
There is even an opinion that thanks to the fire, the process of evolution began to go faster. After all, the erectus Homo erectus prepared starch-containing food on it, consuming which, they ensured the rapid assimilation of polysaccharides, contributing to the intensive development of the brain.
Writing
This is definitely the best invention of mankind. Persuasive speech to prove this statement is not even necessary. After all, it was the emergence of writing that laid the foundation for the development of civilization and contributed to the exchange of knowledge between different peoples and cultures. Although it all began in the distant 9000-7000 years. BC, from the early pictograms of the Near East (Syrian region).
Paper is also considered one of the most important inventions of mankind. Writing made it possible for people to save any information received. And paper gave millions of people access to it. After all, before her invention, all materials intended for writing were very expensive. A paper appeared, by the way, in 105 BC. It was created by Tsai Lun. In the future, his invention was improved, as well as the method of paper production.
Book
Many say that it is she - the best invention of mankind. The book, however, deserves such a status. Let now many perceive it as a binding product. But this is only because people are used to books.
In fact, each of them is a separate small world. This book is the conductor of information through the ages, the pride of mankind and its heritage. It is a source of knowledge, verbal and historical experience, secrets and pleasure. Reading books, people become more educated and intellectually savvy, enrich their vocabulary, and learn to think and analyze. They are perfected as personalities with a capital letter. It is only a pity that in our age of modern technology people forget about books and do not read as much as they did before.
Electricity
Speaking of a period closer to our time, it would be logical to start with it. In scale, this is indeed the most important and best invention of mankind. Electricity, however, is not what was created by human hands. After all, this is not a thing, but a set of phenomena that are caused by the movement and interaction of electric charges. But in this case, electricity has a modern understanding.
Its first functional source was created in the XVIII century. Then it was possible to invent a volt pole - a device for receiving a discharge.
And, I must say, many people interviewed said that they consider the greatest creation of man ... a light bulb. You can understand why. Day is replaced by night, but life does not stop, due to the fact that in our life there are lighting means - light bulbs. Their first prototype was invented by the German watchmaker Heinrich Goebel in 1854. After 26 years, the light bulb was improved by the American inventor Thomas Edison. It was he who gave our world a switch, a base and a cartridge. The tungsten filament was invented in 1890 by electrical engineer Alexander Lodygin, who also proposed filling in bulbs with inert gas.
Ball pen
In fact, it is not at all surprising that amid such ambitious discoveries, this thing has lurked. According to a survey in the UK, it turned out that most people believe that a ballpoint pen is the best invention of mankind. This simple and everyday thing was created by a Hungarian journalist named Laszlo Biro in 1938. It is important to note that he was assisted by brother George, who was a chemist by profession.
At first, the inventors patented a ballpoint pen in Hungary. But then the Second World War began. In this regard, the brothers moved to Argentina and patented the invention there. After some time, they sold the right to produce ballpoint pens to a company called Eversharp. They paid $ 1,000,000, which was a huge amount at that time.
Since 1943, the mass production of ballpoint pens, which are today indispensable stationery devices that everyone uses.
the Internet
It is unlikely that people will object that the World Wide Web is the best invention of mankind. It radically changed the life of modern man. The planet’s population has learned about such things as video calling, remote work, games, instant communication with an interlocutor in another part of the Earth, online broadcasting and much more.
Without a doubt, the Internet is the best invention of mankind. ~ 4 billion people use it now, and this amount is increasing daily. It all began in 1962. It was then that the American scientist Joseph Karl Robnett Liklider introduced the world's first detailed concept of a computer network. After 5 years, work began on the creation of the ARPA Net Internet network. And the first server was installed on 09/02/1969. And already on October 29, two months later, a communication session was held between two computers located at a distance of 640 kilometers.
From that moment, the Internet began to grow rapidly. Within a few months, newsgroups, mailing lists and message boards appeared. And today, the Internet has almost everything.
Creations from the Zero
After a brief excursion into history, you can tell about the best inventions of mankind of the 21st century. A new era began with the creation in 2001 of an organic LED. Now it is the basis of all LED displays.
In 2002, a breakthrough in medicine was made, marked by the creation of an artificial retina. Then, the following year, technical engineers developed an interface for mentally managing objects.
The year 2004 was marked by two striking inventions. The world saw a neutron microscope and a bionic eye.
A year later, a robot was created that was able to create its own copies. And in 2006, humanity introduced self-healing coatings and paints.
There were no discoveries in 2007, but in 2008, the world learned about a passive element from microelectronics, which can change its resistance depending on the charge passing through it. He was called a memristor.
In the next two years, four more discoveries were made. For the first time they carried out the transfer of thought to the Internet, created a biological 3D printer, LG experts developed an ultra-mobile PC, and biologists brought out the first living cell, the DNA of which was replaced with an artificial one. All of this was truly amazing. Much surprises even now. That is why it is so difficult to determine the best invention of mankind.
Until the middle of the "tenths"
Large-scale development was marked by 2012. Then an air display, a virtual reality helmet was created and a method for the production of special soluble electronics was developed.
In 2013, it was possible to establish a laser space communication. And in 2014, they invented the MEMS nanoinjector and a less significant but fun thing - smart chopsticks. Then, in 2015, the “sleeping” bacterium (a robotic nano-device) was introduced to the world. It performs the functions of an ultra-sensitive humidity sensor due to the presence of special nano-structures on the surface.
Last years
I would like to complete the story by designating the TOP-10 best inventions of mankind for the past, 2016.
The first place is occupied by the flying Flyte light bulb, which manages to soar and rotate due to electromagnetism. It shines thanks to the induction resonant connection.
The second place is rightly occupied by the Tesla solar roof, which converts the radiation of the luminary into electricity.
The next amazing invention is Nike HyperAdapt 1.0 sneakers with automatic lacing. The dream of all fans of the movie "Back to the Future" has become a reality.
In fourth place is the Hello Sense intelligent multi-functional alarm clock, which monitors sleep cycles and gives the command to wake up at the most suitable moment for its owner.
Also in 2016, Eagle 360 tires appeared, rotating in all directions, a “smart” toothbrush, and also dishes for people with cognitive problems. In addition, the world saw a powerful and silent hair dryer, sweet potatoes enriched with vitamin A, and the tiny Dji Mavic Pro drone equipped with a 4K camera.
So, this is a small part of what can be said about the most amazing and important inventions of mankind. Of course, in the entire history of its existence, tens of thousands of times more discoveries have been made. And you can be sure that over time this amount will increase many times over.