Perhaps the greatest ability possessed by humans is to innovate and create, in order
to overcome obstacles and change the world around us.
Like the formation of language (1) for example, which is still one of science’s greatest
mysteries with no consensus on its beginnings, but undoubtedly changed the world of early
hominin species that have existed for nearly 2.5 million years. Or the ability to control
fire (2), with evidence of cooked food as far back as 1.5 million years ago. Around
200,000 years ago modern humans evolved, but it wasn’t until roughly 190,000 years later
that we changed from hunter-gatherer societies and created agriculture (3) (10,000 BCE).
Gathering seeds, planting and tending to them has shaped our modern civilization. Shortly
after, the plough (4) was created, transforming agriculture.
By 5000 BCE we got even more curious about our globe and created the sailboat (5), opening
up the world of exploration. In 3500 BCE the first glass (6) is created, and 100 years
later comes the nail (7) (3400 BCE), found in Ancient Egypt, helping us create better
structures, which helps extend human life. A few centuries later, cement (8) is created
(1000 BCE) - the foundation of our civilization, literally!
Looking to further enhance transportation, the wheel (9) is invented in 3000 BCE, followed
by soap (10) (2800 BCE), and then the original computer, or abacus (11) (2700 BCE), which
helps augment human capabilities and shape our economy. And even though paper (12) won’t
be created until 200 BCE, and the printing press (13) until 1430 CE, the first libraries
(14) appear in 2600 BCE, with records recorded onto stone tablets, making knowledge more
accessible to all. By 1500 BCE the alphabet (15) becomes prevalent in some societies,
as opposed to ideographic letters, further shaping the transfer of knowledge and 700
years later, our modern number system (16) from 0-9 comes together, paving the way for
mathematics.
The first democracy (17) began in Greece in 508 BCE, where all members have equal share
to power, and perhaps our favourite innovation, the Scientific Method (18) has origins in
the time of Aristotle 384 BCE - a process to acquire information and investigate new
phenomena. We may be a bit biased ;) - and of course it has been further refined over
time.
The Chinese invent the first compass (19) in 300 BCE, allowing mariners to navigate
great distances, at the same time the Archimedes screw (20) is designed, which helps transfer
water from low to high elevations, shaping irrigation and farming. All of this before
the Common Era (C.E.)
Speaking of time, the first mechanical clock (21) comes in 725 CE, but it won’t be until
1582 that the Gregorian calendar (22) is created, which synced people all over the world. Eyeglasses
(23) come in the 13th century, which may seem minimal, but dramatically raised the collective
human IQ. It was also a precursor to the telescope (24) (1608) and microscope (25) (1 620). Just
prior to the telescope, in 1542, the idea that Earth is not the centre of the universe
was groundbreaking, but the Copernican system (26) put the Sun at the centre of the solar
system - however this wouldn’t be accepted for hundreds of years.
The late 1600s brought the steam engine (27), powering not only trains and boats, but factories,
shaping the industrial revolution, which would later be replaced by the internal combustion
engine (28) (1850). Around this same time binary numbers (29) (1697) and boolean logic
(30) (1854), which are at the heart of digital computing, are created, and Newton’s Laws
of Motion and Universal Gravitation (1687) (31) help shape ideas of physics; though Einstein’s
theory of special (1905) (32) and general (1915) relativity (33), as well as quantum
theory (34) (1927) would further build upon these ideas.
Vaccines (35) come in 1796, which in the last 20 years alone have prevented 21 million hospitalizations
and 732,000 deaths. Water purification (36) (1804) and food preservation (37) (1810) have
also saved millions of lives, while the camera (38) (1816) has allowed us to capture our
past, and communicate the events of our present. The next few hundred years would see big advances
in communication with the wireless telegraph (39) (1837), the telephone (40) (1876), radio
waves (41) (1888) and radio (42) (1906), and television (43) (20th century) all transforming
our world and making it feel a little smaller.
The world of medicine changed drastically in 1846 with the advent of anesthesia (44)
and antiseptic (45)(1867), allowing for major surgeries that would previously be too painful,
saving countless lives. The sanitation system (46) (1880) also improved the incidence of
many diseases, and refrigeration (47) (1876) would later change how people eat around the
world. The invention of the light bulb (48) (1879) falls shortly after, though observations
of static electricity were made in 600 BCE and the invention of a simple capacitor (49)
in 1745 as well as many other discoveries that paved the way for using electricity.
Transportation took another major step in 1885 with the modern car (50), and later the
airplane (51) (1903). Semiconductors (52) would help regulate the flow of electricity
(1911) and eventually transistors (53) (1947) without which modern electronic devices could
not function.
Many more scientific discoveries would follow, starting with the electron (54) (1897) which
would help Niels Bohr (55) (1913) create his model of the atom - although the atom was
actually first theorized 2300 years earlier (400 BCE)! Nitrogen fixation (56) (1918) and
plant breeding (57) (9000 BCE) help sustain our population and are credited with saving
1 billion lives, along with antibiotics (58) such as penicillin, an accidental discovery
which fights bacterial infections. Birth control (59) has also reduced the number of children
women have, allowing for higher quality of life. Polyethylene (60) and other plastics
are all around us, affecting so many products we make.
The discovery of DNA (61) in the 1950s unleashed so much of what we now know about humanity
through heredity and genetics. It would also lead to genetic engineering (62) (1973) and
genome sequencing (63) (1977) in the 70s. And in the last 80 years, communication has
taken leaps and bounds forward, starting with satellite communications (64) in the 40’s
for TV, weather forecasting and defense, to the beginnings of the internet (65) in the
60’s and the personal computer (66) and GPS (67) in the 70s. Not to mention the device
that is likely in your hands or your pocket right now - the smartphone (68), which was
first invented by IBM in 1994.
And as technology continues forward here on Earth, space exploration continues to intrigue
us, with the first successful orbital launch (69) in 1957, the first moon landing (70)
in 1969, and the Hubble telescope (71) in the 90’s, which is both a spacecraft and
a telescope that orbits earth every 97 minutes.
But as we look to the universe and the future,
what comes next? While sometimes it may seem like the world is getting darker, these innovations
show that people live longer, healthier, and happier lives. Science will only continue
to innovate and help solve some of the world’s biggest challenges. One of the best ways to
make sure we keep innovating is to support leaders that recognize the importance of public
research programs from everything to global health or agriculture or information technology
or energy.