03.05.2013
No. 10. Leonardo da Vinci
Don't be surprised that this famous inventor in 10th place. The reason is this: he invented technologies that were many years ahead of the science of that time and could not actually be implemented. Leonardo was more of a futurist who imagined various innovations rather than a man who could actually create real things with his own hands. In addition, his interest changed rapidly and none of the theories received deep study. His inventions include a submarine, a tank, a glider.
No. 9. Edwin Land
Physicist and great inventor Edwin Land of Connecticut didn't invent photography, of course, but he invented or perfected just about everything else about it. In his freshman year at Harvard University in 1926, he developed a new kind of polarizer by aligning and embedding crystals in a plastic sheet, which he called Polaroid. He applied the polarization principle to light filters, optical devices and motion picture processes and founded the Polaroid Corporation. Holder of at least 535 US patents.
No. 8. Benjamin Franklin
Seriously? Ben Franklin? Absolutely! Not many people know that among his many skills (Franklin was a famous polymath: writer, satirist, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, public figure, statesman, diplomat), he was amazing great inventor. Among his many creations are a lightning rod that has saved countless homes from lightning fires, Armonica glass, a Franklin stove, bifocals, and even a flexible urinary catheter. Franklin did not patent his inventions, believing that innovation should be available to everyone, which is why his inventions are often forgotten.
No. 7. Heron of Alexandria
If he knew that his invention could turn the world upside down and start an industrial revolution, he would have told the whole world about it back in 50 AD. Alas, he thought that the invented steam engine was just a toy, and, besides, in the presence of slaves, why invent a steam engine for widespread use? Some of the best minds of the Roman Empire also developed other useful things, including a pump, a syringe, a fountain, a windmill - all during the pre-industrial era. It is a pity that he did not develop his inventions for wide application.
#6 Jerome "Jerry" Hal Lemelson
One of the most fruitful famous inventors of the world in history - 605 patents. What did he invent? Things like automated warehouses, industrial robots, cordless phones, fax machines, VCRs, camcorders and magnetic drive tapes, the tapes used in Sony's Walkman players. Lemelson has also filed patents in the fields of medical equipment, cancer detection and treatment, diamond plating, and consumer electronics and television.
No. 5. George Westinghouse
The main invention was electrical systems that ran on alternating current (the result of Nikola Tesla's work, by the way), which eventually surpassed Edison's DC devices and paved the way for the modern power grid. But before he surpassed Edison, he invented railroad brakes based on air masses. And, of course, he tried to develop a perpetual motion machine. However, without success. 361 patents.
No. 4. Alexander Graham Bell
Everyone knows the famous inventor of telephones, but not many people know that he also invented devices that help in the detection of icebergs, as well as a modern metal detector.
No. 3. Thomas Edison
What? The most prolific and one of great inventors of the world in modern history, with over a thousand patents and not number one? The inventor of the electric light bulb, the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and the man who electrified New York, literally? Can't be! In fact, although Edison was a gifted man, many of his most famous inventions were developed by other people working for him or in collaboration with an entire team, making him responsible for the development of projects, but not their main inventor.
No. 2. Nikola Tesla
A man little known in his lifetime, in fact, was responsible for the birth of commercial electricity more than anyone. His patents and theoretical work formed the basis of modern AC electrical power systems, including the multi-phase AC electrical distribution system that helped usher in the second industrial revolution. He also contributed in varying degrees to the science of robotics, laid the groundwork for the development of remote control, radar, and computer science, and even participated in the expansion of ballistics, nuclear physics, and theoretical physics. Some people also believe that he worked on anti-gravity, teleportation, and lasers, but this has not been proven. In any case, he has 111 patents and is recognized as one of the best and most innovative minds in history.
No. 1. Archimedes of Syracuse
How This Ancient Greek Scientist Ranked No. 1 in the Top 10 The most famous and great inventors of the world? First, he is recognized as one of the greatest mathematicians of all time. He came close to accurately calculating the value of pi, figured out how to determine the area under the arc of a parabola, and came up with many other things that are now a nightmare for schoolchildren in math classes. In addition, he invented many machines, including siege weapons and perhaps even a device that could set fire to Roman ships with a mirror by focusing sunlight on the sails. Not unimportantly, he did all this over 2,000 years ago, without the help of computers or the technology available to many inventors today. In addition, despite the fact that he studied at Alexandria (although this is not confirmed), he acquired most of his knowledge the old fashioned way - from his own experience.
Even 200 years ago, the world lived without electricity, good transport, without television, mobile phones, the Internet, and without many other things that we cannot do without today. Unfortunately, many modern technologies were not invented by Russian inventors and scientists. But in fact, our country has something to brag about. Here are the most significant Russian inventions created by our compatriots.
Mask with charcoal filter
Who invented: N. D. Zelinsky
N. D. Zelinsky invented a protective mask against the effects of poisonous gases on people, which were used by the enemy during the First World War. The mask was based on absorbent charcoal, which successfully neutralized most of the poisonous gases used in those years.
backpack parachute
Who invented: Kotelnikov G.E.
The world's first backpack parachute, which in principle is still used to this day, was invented by the self-taught Russian inventor Gleb Kotelnikov. The first parachute test took place in 1912.
According to legend, Gleb saw a woman in the theater with a piece of fabric folded on her back, who then, through simple manipulations, turned the folded fabric into a large scarf. It was this that perhaps illuminated the inventor, who came up with a new way to fold a parachute.
Mortar
Who invented: Gobyato L.N.
Gobyato Leonid Nikolaevich during the Russo-Japanese War in 1904-1905 invented the mortar, which was a classic cannon on wheels that used mortar mines for fire. A new device (mortar) made it possible to launch mines along a ballistic trajectory. This made it possible to shoot from a cannon at the enemy's trenches and mines at a certain angle and from a high trajectory of the projectile.
Torpedo
Who invented: Aleksandrovsky I.F.
Ivan Fedorovich Alexandrovsky is the author of the first Russian mobile mine (torpedo), as well as the creator in 1865 of the first Russian submarine.
The first Russian machine gun
Who invented: Fedorov V.G.
Vladimir Grigoryevich Fedorov is the author of the first Russian automatic rifle, which can be safely called "automatic", since the rifle was able to shoot in bursts.
The machine was created before the start of the First World War. Starting in 1916, the Fedorov rifle began to be used in hostilities.
Radio
Who invented: Popov A.S.
Who Invented the Radio Receiver? The debate has been going on for a long time. And it is quite possible that its author is our Russian scientist, Russian physicist and electrical engineer Alexander Stepanochiv Popov.
Popov showed his first radio receiver in 1895 at a meeting of the Physico-Chemical Committee in St. Petersburg.
Unfortunately, the scientist did not patent it. As a result, the Nobel Prize for the invention of radio was given to G. Marconi.
Inventor of television and electrical-based television broadcasting
Who invented: Zworykin V.K.
Zworykin Vladimir Kozmich developed the iconoscope, kinescope and color television. However, he made most of his inventions in the United States, where he immigrated from Russia in 1919.
Video recorder
Who invented: Ponyatov A.M.
Like Zworykin, Alexander Matveyevich Ponyatov immigrated to the United States during the Russian Civil War, where he founded the Ampex company, which in 1956 introduced the world's first commercial video recorder. One of the authors of the invention is Ponyatov A.M.
The world's first movie camera
Who invented: Timchenko I.A.
It is officially believed that cinema was born in 1895, when the brothers Louis and Auguste Lumiere announced the invention of the movie camera and received a patent for it. At the end of 1895, the brothers also staged the world's first paid film show in Paris.
But in fact, the first movie camera was invented by our Russian scientist Iosif Timchenko, who, even before 1895, had already demonstrated the first movie camera to the public.
The first film show in the world took place in 1893 in Odessa, where the author of the invention showed the public on a white sheet footage of cavalrymen.
Plaster casts
Who invented: Pirogov N.I.
During the Caucasian War in 1847, Nikolai Ivanovich Pirogov invented the world's first plaster casts. He used bandages soaked in starch, which proved to be very effective.
Compression-distraction apparatus
Who invented: Ilizarov G.A.
Ilizarov Gavriil Abramovich created a compression-distraction apparatus that can be used in orthopedics, traumatology, surgery, for curvature of bones, fractures and other limb defects.
The world's first machine for the treatment of cardiopulmonary diseases
Who invented: Bryukhonenko S.S.
Russian Soviet physiologist, doctor of medical sciences, created the world's first heart-lung machine and proved that a person can recover from clinical death. Sergey Sergeevich Bryukhonenko also proved to the whole world that open heart surgery is not a fantasy. In addition, the invention of the Russian scientist made it possible to transplant organs, including the possibility of transplanting a heart.
Founder of transplantology
Who invented: Demikhov V.P.
Vladimir Petrovich Demikhov invented the technology of human organ transplantation, becoming the founder of high-tech medicine in the field of transplantology. By the way, Vladimir Demikhov became the first person in the world to transplant lungs and create a model of an artificial heart.
Thanks to his many experiments on dogs and his knowledge as a scientist, his human organ transplant technology has saved thousands of lives.
Glaucoma treatment technology
Who invented: Fedorov S.N.
Svyatoslav Nikolaevich Fedorov made a huge contribution to the development of radial keratotomy. In 1973, he was the only one in the world who performed eye surgery on patients with early glaucoma. A year later, the doctor began to apply his own technology for the treatment of myopia, with the help of certain cuts on the cornea. Fedorov invented the whole technology of operations on the eyes himself.
Today, according to the Fedorov method, thousands of operations are performed all over the world.
Electric lamp
Who invented: Lodygin A.N.
Russian engineer Alexander Nikolaevich Lodygin invented the first electric light bulb, which was a vacuum flask with an internal core.
Arc lamp
Who invented: Yablochkov P.N.
The great inventor Pavel Nikolaevich Yablochkov invented arc lamps. These disposable lamps were even used in Europe for street lighting.
In 1908-1911 he built his first two simplest helicopters. The carrying capacity of the apparatus built in September 1909 reached 9 pounds. None of the built helicopters could take off with a pilot, and Sikorsky switched to building aircraft.
Airplanes Sikorsky won the main prizes in the competition of military aircraft
In 1912-1914, he created in St. Petersburg the Grand (Russian Knight), Ilya Muromets aircraft, which marked the beginning of multi-engine aviation. On March 27, 1912, on the S-6 biplane, Sikorsky managed to set world speed records: with two passengers on board - 111 km / h, with five - 106 km / h. In March 1919, Sikorsky emigrated to the United States and settled in the New York area.
The first experimental helicopter Vought-Sikorsky 300, created by Sikorsky in the United States, took off from the ground on September 14, 1939. In essence, it was a modernized version of his first Russian helicopter, created back in July 1909.
His helicopters were the first to fly across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans (with in-flight refueling). Sikorsky's machines were used for both military and civilian purposes.
He is the creator of the first accurately dated printed book "The Apostle" in the Russian kingdom, as well as the founder of a printing house in the Russian province of the Polish kingdom.
Ivan Fedorov is traditionally called "the first Russian book printer"
In 1563, by order of John IV, a house was built in Moscow - the Printing House, which the tsar generously provided from his treasury. In it was printed the Apostle (book, 1564).
The first printed book in which the name of Ivan Fedorov is indicated ( and Peter Mstislavets, who helped him), became precisely the “Apostle”, work on which was carried out, as indicated in the afterword to it, from April 19, 1563 to March 1, 1564. This is the first accurately dated printed Russian book. The following year, Fedorov's printing house published his second book, The Clockworker.
After some time, attacks began on printers from professional copyists, whose traditions and income were threatened by the printing house. After the arson that destroyed their workshop, Fedorov and Mstislavets left for the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
Ivan Fedorov himself writes that in Moscow he had to endure very strong and frequent anger towards himself not from the tsar, but from state leaders, clergymen and teachers who envied him, hated him, accused Ivan of many heresies and wanted to destroy the work of God. (i.e. printing). These people drove Ivan Fedorov out of his native Fatherland, and Ivan had to move to another country in which he had never been. In this country, Ivan, as he himself writes, was kindly received by the pious king Sigismund II Augustus, along with his staff.
Russian physicist and electrical engineer, professor, inventor, State Councilor, Honorary Electrical Engineer. Radio inventor.
The activity of A. S. Popov, which preceded the discovery of radio, was research in the field of electrical engineering, magnetism and electromagnetic waves.
On May 7, 1895, at a meeting of the Russian Physical and Chemical Society, Popov made a presentation and demonstrated the world's first radio receiver he had created. Popov ended his message with the following words: In conclusion, I can express the hope that my device, with further improvement, can be applied to the transmission of signals over a distance by means of fast electrical oscillations, as soon as a source of such oscillations with sufficient energy is found.».
On March 24, 1896, Popov transmitted the world's first radiogram over a distance of 250 meters, and in 1899 he designed a receiver for receiving signals by ear using a telephone receiver. This made it possible to simplify the reception scheme and increase the range of radio communication.
The first radiogram, transmitted by A. S. Popov to the island of Gogland on February 6, 1900, contained an order to the icebreaker "Ermak" to go to the aid of fishermen carried away on an ice floe into the sea. The icebreaker complied with the order, and 27 fishermen were rescued. Popov implemented the world's first radio communication line at sea, created the first marching army and civilian radio stations, and successfully carried out work that proved the possibility of using radio in the ground forces and in aeronautics.
Two days before his death, A. S. Popov was elected chairman of the Physics Department of the Russian Physico-Chemical Society. With this election, Russian scientists emphasized the enormous merits of A. S. Popov to domestic science.
Cherepanov brothers
In 1833-1834, they created the first steam locomotive in Russia, and then in 1835, a second, more powerful one.
In 1834, at the Vyisky plant, which was part of Demidov's Nizhny Tagil plants, the Russian mechanic Miron Efimovich Cherepanov, with the help of his father Efim Alekseevich, built the first steam locomotive in Russia entirely from domestic materials. In everyday life, this word did not yet exist, and the locomotive was called a “land steamer”. Today, the model of the first Russian steam locomotive of the 1−1−0 type, built by the Cherepanovs, is stored in the Central Museum of Railway Transport in St. Petersburg.
The first steam locomotive had a working mass of 2.4 tons. Its experimental trips began in August 1834. The production of the second steam locomotive was completed in March 1835. The second steam locomotive could carry loads already weighing 1000 pounds (16.4 tons) at a speed of up to 16 km /h
The Cherepanovs were denied a patent for a steam locomotive because it was "very smelly"
Unfortunately, unlike the stationary steam engines demanded by the Russian industry at that time, the Cherepanovs' first Russian railway was not given the attention it deserved. The drawings and documents now found, characterizing the activities of the Cherepanovs, testify that they were true innovators and highly gifted masters of technology. They created not only the Nizhny Tagil railway and its rolling stock, but also designed many steam engines, metalworking machines, and built a steam turbine.
Russian electrical engineer, one of the inventors of the incandescent lamp.
As for the incandescent lamp, it does not have a single inventor. The history of the light bulb is a whole chain of discoveries made by different people at different times. However, Lodygin's merits in the creation of incandescent lamps are especially great. Lodygin was the first to propose the use of tungsten filaments in lamps ( in modern electric light bulbs, the filaments are made of tungsten) and twist the filament in the form of a spiral. Also, Lodygin was the first to pump air out of the lamps, which increased their service life many times over. And yet, it was he who put forward the idea of filling light bulbs with an inert gas.
Lodygin is the creator of the autonomous diving suit project
In 1871, Lodygin created a project for an autonomous diving suit using a gas mixture consisting of oxygen and hydrogen. Oxygen was to be produced from water by electrolysis, and on October 19, 1909, he received a patent for an induction furnace.
Andrey Konstantinovich Nartov (1693—1756)
Inventor of the world's first screw-cutting lathe with a mechanized caliper and a set of interchangeable gears.
Nartov developed the design of the world's first screw-cutting lathe with a mechanized caliper and a set of interchangeable gear wheels (1738). Subsequently, this invention was forgotten and a screw-cutting lathe with a mechanical support and a guitar of interchangeable gears was reinvented around 1800 by Henry Models.
In 1754, A. Nartov was promoted to the rank of general, state councilor.
While working in the Artillery Department, Nartov created new machine tools, original fuses, proposed new methods for casting cannons and sealing shells in the gun channel, etc. He invented an original optical sight. The significance of Nartov's inventions was so great that on May 2, 1746, a decree was issued to reward A.K. Nartov for artillery inventions with five thousand rubles. In addition, several villages in the Novgorod district were assigned to him.
Boris Lvovich Rosing (1869—1933)
Russian physicist, scientist, teacher, inventor of television, author of the first experiments on television, for which the Russian Technical Society awarded him a gold medal and the K. G. Siemens Prize
He grew up alive and inquisitive, successfully studied, was fond of literature and music. But his life turned out to be connected not with the humanitarian areas of activity, but with the exact sciences. After graduating from the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of St. Petersburg University, B. L. Rosing became interested in the idea of transmitting an image over a distance.
By 1912, B. L. Rosing was developing all the basic elements of modern black and white television tubes. His work at that time became known in many countries, and his patent for the invention was recognized in Germany, Great Britain and the USA.
Russian inventor B. L. Rosing is the inventor of television
In 1931, he was arrested in the “case of academicians” “for financial assistance to counter-revolutionaries” (he loaned money to a friend who was later arrested) and exiled to Kotlas for three years without the right to work. However, thanks to the intercession of the Soviet and foreign scientific community, in 1932 he was transferred to Arkhangelsk, where he entered the Department of Physics of the Arkhangelsk Forestry Engineering Institute. There he died on April 20, 1933 at the age of 63 from a cerebral hemorrhage. November 15, 1957 B. L. Rosing was fully acquitted.
The history of mankind is closely connected with constant progress, the development of technology, new discoveries and inventions. Some technologies are outdated and history, others, such as the wheel or the sail, are still in use today. Countless discoveries were lost in the whirlpool of time, others, not appreciated by contemporaries, were waiting for recognition and implementation for tens and hundreds of years.
Editorial Samogo.Net conducted her own research, designed to answer the question of what inventions are considered by our contemporaries to be the most significant.
Processing and analysis of the results of Internet surveys showed that there is simply no consensus on this matter. Nevertheless, we managed to form a general unique rating of the greatest inventions and discoveries in the history of mankind. As it turned out, despite the fact that science has long gone forward, the basic discoveries in the minds of our contemporaries remain the most significant.
First place indisputably ranked Fire
People early discovered the beneficial properties of fire - its ability to illuminate and warm, to change plant and animal food for the better.
The "wild fire" that flared up during forest fires or volcanic eruptions was terrible for a person, but by bringing fire into his cave, a person "tamed" him and "put" him at his service. Since that time, fire has become a constant companion of man and the basis of his economy. In ancient times, it was an indispensable source of heat, light, a means for cooking, a hunting tool.
However, further cultural gains (ceramics, metallurgy, steelmaking, steam engines, etc.) are due to the comprehensive use of fire.
For long millennia, people used "domestic fire", maintained it from year to year in their caves, before they learned how to get it themselves using friction. This discovery probably happened by chance, after our ancestors learned how to drill wood. During this operation, the wood was heated and, under favorable conditions, ignition could occur. Paying attention to this, people began to widely use friction to make fire.
The simplest method was to take two sticks of dry wood, in one of which a hole was made. The first stick was placed on the ground and pressed against the knee. The second was inserted into the hole, and then they began to quickly rotate between the palms. At the same time, it was necessary to press hard on the stick. The inconvenience of this method was that the palms gradually slipped down. Every now and then I had to lift them up and again continue to rotate. Although, with a certain skill, this can be done quickly, nevertheless, due to constant stops, the process was greatly delayed. It is much easier to make fire by friction, working together. At the same time, one person held the horizontal stick and pressed on top of the vertical one, and the second quickly rotated it between the palms. Later, they began to clasp the vertical stick with a strap, moving which to the right and left, you can speed up the movement, and for convenience, they began to put a bone cap on the upper end. Thus, the entire device for making fire began to consist of four parts: two sticks (fixed and rotating), a strap and a top cap. In this way, it was possible to make fire alone, if you press the lower stick with your knee to the ground, and the cap with your teeth.
And only later, with the development of mankind, other methods of obtaining an open fire became available.
Second place in the responses of the Internet community took Wheel and Wagon
It is believed that its prototype may have been skating rinks, which were placed under heavy tree trunks, boats and stones when they were dragged from place to place. Perhaps at the same time the first observations on the properties of rotating bodies were made. For example, if for some reason the log-skating rink was thinner in the center than at the edges, it moved under the load more evenly and did not drift to the side. Noticing this, people began to deliberately burn the rinks in such a way that the middle part became thinner, while the side ones remained unchanged. Thus, a device was obtained, which is now called a "slope". In the course of further improvements in this direction, only two rollers at its ends remained from a single log, and an axis appeared between them. Later, they began to be made separately, and then rigidly fastened together. So the wheel was opened in the proper sense of the word and the first wagon appeared.
In subsequent centuries, many generations of craftsmen worked to improve this invention. Initially, solid wheels were rigidly fastened to the axle and rotated with it. When moving on a flat road, such wagons were quite suitable for use. On a bend, when the wheels must turn at different speeds, this connection creates great inconvenience, since a heavily laden wagon can easily break or roll over. The wheels themselves were still very imperfect. They were made from a single piece of wood. Therefore, the wagons were heavy and clumsy. They moved slowly and were usually harnessed to slow but powerful oxen.
One of the oldest carts of the described design was found during excavations in Mohenjo-Daro. A major step forward in the development of locomotion technology was the invention of a wheel with a hub mounted on a fixed axle. In this case, the wheels rotated independently of each other. And so that the wheel would rub less against the axle, they began to lubricate it with grease or tar.
In order to reduce the weight of the wheel, cutouts were cut out in it, and for rigidity they were strengthened with transverse braces. Nothing better could have been invented in the Stone Age. But after the discovery of metals, wheels with a metal rim and spokes began to be made. Such a wheel could rotate ten times faster and was not afraid of hitting stones. Harnessing swift-footed horses to the wagon, a person significantly increased the speed of his movement. Perhaps it is difficult to find another discovery that would give such a powerful impetus to the development of technology.
Third place rightfully occupied Writing
There is no need to talk about the great significance of the invention of writing in the history of mankind. It is impossible even to imagine what path the development of civilization could have taken if, at a certain stage of their development, people had not learned to fix the information they needed with the help of certain symbols and thus transmit and store it. It is obvious that human society in the form in which it exists today simply could not have appeared.
The first forms of writing in the form of signs inscribed in a special way appeared about 4 thousand years BC. But long before that, there were various ways of transmitting and storing information: with the help of branches, arrows, smoke from fires, and similar signals, folded in a certain way. From these primitive warning systems, more sophisticated ways of capturing information later emerged. For example, the ancient Incas invented the original system of "recording" with the help of knots. For this, wool laces of different colors were used. They were tied with various knots and attached to a stick. In this form, the "letter" was sent to the addressee. There is an opinion that the Incas, with the help of such a "knot letter", fixed their laws, wrote down chronicles and poems. "Knot writing" is also noted among other nations - it was used in ancient China and Mongolia.
However, writing in the proper sense of the word appeared only after people invented special graphic signs to fix and transmit information. The most ancient type of writing is pictographic. A pictogram is a schematic drawing that directly depicts the things, events, and phenomena in question. It is assumed that pictography was widespread among various peoples at the last stage of the Stone Age. This letter is very visual, and therefore it does not need to be specially studied. It is quite suitable for transmitting small messages and for recording simple stories. But when there was a need to convey some complex abstract thought or concept, the limited possibilities of the pictogram were immediately felt, which is completely unsuitable for recording what is not amenable to a picturesque image (for example, such concepts as cheerfulness, courage, vigilance, good sleep, heavenly azure, etc.). Therefore, already at an early stage in the history of writing, pictograms began to include special conventional icons denoting certain concepts (for example, the sign of crossed arms symbolized exchange). Such icons are called ideograms. Ideographic writing also arose in pictographic writing, and one can quite clearly imagine how this happened: each pictorial sign of a pictogram became more and more isolated from others and associated with a certain word or concept, denoting it. Gradually, this process developed so much that primitive pictograms lost their former visibility, but gained clarity and certainty. This process took a long time, perhaps several millennia.
Hieroglyphic writing became the highest form of the ideogram. It first appeared in ancient Egypt. Later, hieroglyphic writing became widespread in the Far East - in China, Japan and Korea. With the help of ideograms, it was possible to reflect any, even the most complex and abstract thought. However, for the hieroglyphs not dedicated to the secret, the meaning of what was written was completely incomprehensible. Anyone who wanted to learn how to write had to memorize several thousand icons. In reality, it took several years of constant practice. Therefore, few people knew how to write and read in antiquity.
Only at the end of 2 thousand BC. the ancient Phoenicians invented the alphabetic sound alphabet, which served as a model for the alphabets of many other peoples. The Phoenician alphabet consisted of 22 consonants, each representing a different sound. The invention of this alphabet was a great step forward for mankind. With the help of the new letter, it was easy to convey graphically any word without resorting to ideograms. It was very easy to learn from him. The art of writing has ceased to be the privilege of the enlightened. It has become the property of the whole society, or at least most of it. This was one of the reasons for the rapid spread of the Phoenician alphabet around the world. It is believed that four-fifths of all alphabets known today originated from the Phoenician.
So, Libyan developed from a variety of Phoenician writing (Punic). The Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek writing came directly from the Phoenician. In turn, on the basis of the Aramaic script, Arabic, Nabataean, Syriac, Persian and other scripts developed. The Greeks made the last important improvement to the Phoenician alphabet - they began to designate with letters not only consonants, but also vowels. The Greek alphabet formed the basis of most European alphabets: Latin (from which, in turn, French, German, English, Italian, Spanish and other alphabets originated), Coptic, Armenian, Georgian and Slavic (Serbian, Russian, Bulgarian, etc.).
Fourth place, after writing takes Paper
Its creators were the Chinese. And this is no coincidence. Firstly, China already in ancient times was famous for book wisdom and a complex system of bureaucratic management, which required constant accountability from officials. Therefore, there has always been a need for inexpensive and compact writing material. Before the invention of paper, Chinese people wrote on either bamboo or silk.
But silk was always very expensive, and bamboo was very bulky and heavy. (An average of 30 hieroglyphs was placed on one board. It is easy to imagine how much space such a bamboo “book” should have taken up. It is no coincidence that they write that a whole cart was required to transport some works.) Secondly, only the Chinese for a long time knew the secret of production silk, and paper business just developed from one technical operation of processing silk cocoons. This operation was as follows. Women engaged in sericulture boiled silkworm cocoons, then, spreading them on a mat, lowered them into water and ground them until a homogeneous mass was formed. When the mass was taken out and the water was strained, silk wool was obtained. However, after such mechanical and heat treatment, a thin fibrous layer remained on the mats, which, after drying, turned into a sheet of very thin paper suitable for writing. Later, women workers began to use defective silkworm cocoons for purposeful papermaking. At the same time, they repeated the process already familiar to them: they boiled the cocoons, washed and crushed them to obtain paper pulp, and finally dried the resulting sheets. Such paper was called "cotton" and was quite expensive, since the raw material itself was expensive.
Naturally, in the end, the question arose: is it possible to make paper only from silk, or can any fibrous raw material, including vegetable origin, be suitable for the preparation of paper pulp? In 105, a certain Cai Lun, an important official at the court of the Han emperor, prepared a new grade of paper from old fishing nets. It was not as good as silk, but was much cheaper. This important discovery had huge consequences not only for China, but for the whole world - for the first time in history, people received first-class and affordable writing material, an equivalent replacement for which to this day. The name of Cai Lun is therefore rightfully included among the names of the greatest inventors in the history of mankind. In the following centuries, several important improvements were made to the paper-making process, which allowed it to develop rapidly.
In the 4th century, paper completely replaced bamboo planks from use. New experiments have shown that paper can be made from cheap vegetable raw materials: tree bark, reed and bamboo. The latter was especially important, since bamboo grows in China in large numbers. Bamboo was split into thin slivers, soaked with lime, and the resulting mass was then boiled for several days. The filtered thick was kept in special pits, carefully ground with special beaters and diluted with water until a sticky, mushy mass was formed. This mass was scooped up using a special form - a bamboo sieve, mounted on a stretcher. A thin layer of the mass along with the form was placed under the press. Then the form was pulled out and only a paper sheet remained under the press. The pressed sheets were removed from the sieve, folded into a pile, dried, smoothed and cut to size.
Over time, the Chinese have achieved the highest art in paper making. For several centuries, they, as usual, carefully kept the secrets of paper production. But in 751, during a clash with the Arabs in the foothills of the Tien Shan, several Chinese masters were captured. From them, the Arabs learned to make paper themselves and for five centuries sold it very profitably to Europe. The Europeans were the last of the civilized nations to learn how to make paper themselves. The Spaniards were the first to adopt this art from the Arabs. In 1154, paper production was established in Italy, in 1228 in Germany, in 1309 in England. In subsequent centuries, paper has received the widest distribution throughout the world, gradually conquering more and more new areas of application. Its significance in our life is so great that, according to the well-known French bibliographer A. Sim, our era can rightly be called the "paper era."
Fifth place occupied Gunpowder and Firearms
The invention of gunpowder and its distribution in Europe had enormous consequences for the further history of mankind. Although the Europeans were the last of the civilized peoples to learn how to make this explosive mixture, it was they who were able to derive the greatest practical benefit from its discovery. The rapid development of firearms and the revolution in military affairs were the first consequences of the spread of gunpowder. This, in turn, led to profound social changes: the knights clad in armor and their impregnable castles were powerless before the fire of cannons and arquebuses. Feudal society was dealt a blow from which it could no longer recover. In a short time, many European powers overcame feudal fragmentation and turned into powerful centralized states.
There are few inventions in the history of technology that would lead to such grandiose and far-reaching changes. Before gunpowder became known in the West, it already had a long history in the East, and was invented by the Chinese. Saltpeter is the most important component of gunpowder. In some areas of China, it was found in its native form and looked like flakes of snow that powdered the ground. Later it was discovered that saltpeter is formed in areas rich in alkalis and decaying (nitrogen-supplying) substances. When kindling a fire, the Chinese could observe flashes that arose during the burning of saltpeter with coal.
For the first time, the properties of saltpeter were described by the Chinese physician Tao Hong-jing, who lived at the turn of the 5th and 6th centuries. Since that time, it has been used as an ingredient in some medicines. Alchemists often used it when conducting experiments. In the 7th century, one of them, Sun Si-miao, prepared a mixture of sulfur and saltpeter, adding to them a few shares of the locust tree. While heating this mixture in a crucible, he suddenly received a violent flash of flame. He described this experience in his treatise Dan Ching. It is believed that Sun Si-miao prepared one of the first samples of gunpowder, which, however, did not yet have a strong explosive effect.
Subsequently, the composition of gunpowder was improved by other alchemists, who experimentally established its three main components: coal, sulfur and potassium nitrate. The medieval Chinese could not scientifically explain what kind of explosive reaction occurs when gunpowder is ignited, but they soon learned to use it for military purposes. True, in their lives gunpowder did not at all have that revolutionary influence that it later had on European society. This is explained by the fact that the masters have been preparing a powder mixture from unrefined components for a long time. Meanwhile, crude saltpeter and sulfur containing foreign impurities did not give a strong explosive effect. For several centuries, gunpowder was used exclusively as an incendiary agent. Later, when its quality improved, gunpowder began to be used as an explosive in the manufacture of land mines, hand grenades and explosives.
But even after that, for a long time they did not guess to use the power of the gases that arose during the combustion of gunpowder to throw bullets and nuclei. Only in the XII-XIII centuries, the Chinese began to use weapons that very vaguely resembled firearms, but they invented firecrackers and rockets. The Arabs and Mongols learned the secret of gunpowder from the Chinese. In the first third of the 13th century, the Arabs achieved great skill in pyrotechnics. They used saltpeter in many compounds, mixing it with sulfur and coal, adding other components to them and making fireworks of amazing beauty. From the Arabs, the composition of the powder mixture became known to European alchemists. One of them, Mark the Greek, already in 1220 wrote down in his treatise a recipe for gunpowder: 6 parts of saltpeter to 1 part of sulfur and 1 part of coal. Later, Roger Bacon wrote quite accurately about the composition of gunpowder.
However, about a hundred years passed before this recipe ceased to be a secret. This second discovery of gunpowder is associated with the name of another alchemist, the Feiburg monk Berthold Schwartz. Once he began to grind a crushed mixture of saltpeter, sulfur and coal in a mortar, as a result of which an explosion occurred that scorched Berthold's beard. This or another experience gave Berthold the idea to use the power of powder gases to throw stones. It is believed that he made one of the first artillery pieces in Europe.
Gunpowder was originally a fine floury powder. It was not convenient to use it, since when charging guns and arquebuses, the powder pulp stuck to the walls of the barrel. Finally, it was noticed that powder in the form of lumps was much more convenient - it was easily charged and, when ignited, gave off more gases (2 pounds of powder in lumps gave a greater effect than 3 pounds in pulp).
In the first quarter of the 15th century, for convenience, they began to use grain gunpowder, which was obtained by rolling powder pulp (with alcohol and other impurities) into dough, which was then passed through a sieve. So that the grains do not fray during transportation, they learned how to polish them. To do this, they were placed in a special drum, during the spinning of which the grains hit and rubbed against each other and compacted. After processing, their surface became smooth and shiny.
Sixth place ranked in the polls : telegraph, telephone, internet, radio and other types of modern communication
Until the middle of the 19th century, the only means of communication between the European continent and England, between America and Europe, between Europe and the colonies, was steamship mail. Incidents and events in other countries were learned with a delay of whole weeks, and sometimes even months. For example, news from Europe to America was delivered in two weeks, and this was not the longest time yet. Therefore, the creation of the telegraph met the most urgent needs of mankind.
After this technical novelty appeared in all parts of the world and telegraph lines circled the globe, it took only hours, and sometimes even minutes, for the news on electrical wires from one hemisphere to rush to the other. Political and stock reports, personal and business messages on the same day could be delivered to interested parties. Thus, the telegraph should be attributed to one of the most important inventions in the history of civilization, because with it the human mind won the greatest victory over distance.
With the invention of the telegraph, the problem of transmitting messages over long distances was solved. However, the telegraph could only send written dispatches. Meanwhile, many inventors dreamed of a more perfect and communicative method of communication, with the help of which it would be possible to transmit the live sound of human speech or music over any distance. The first experiments in this direction were undertaken in 1837 by the American physicist Page. The essence of Page's experiments was very simple. He assembled an electrical circuit, which included a tuning fork, an electromagnet, and galvanic cells. During its oscillations, the tuning fork quickly opened and closed the circuit. This intermittent current was transmitted to an electromagnet, which just as quickly attracted and released a thin steel rod. As a result of these vibrations, the rod produced a singing sound similar to that of a tuning fork. Thus, Page showed that it is in principle possible to transmit sound using electric current, it is only necessary to create more advanced transmitting and receiving devices.
And later, as a result of long searches, discoveries and inventions, a mobile phone, television, the Internet and other means of communication of mankind appeared, without which it is impossible to imagine our modern life.
Seventh place in the top 10 according to the polls Automobile
The automobile is one of those greatest inventions, which, like the wheel, gunpowder or electric current, had a colossal influence not only on the era that gave birth to them, but also on all subsequent times. Its multifaceted impact goes far beyond the transport sector. The automobile shaped modern industry, spawned new branches of industry, arbitrarily rebuilt production itself, for the first time giving it a mass, serial and in-line character. It transformed the appearance of the planet, which was surrounded by millions of kilometers of highways, put pressure on the environment and even changed human psychology. The influence of the car is now so multifaceted that it is felt in all spheres of human life. He became, as it were, a visible and visual embodiment of technical progress in general, with all its advantages and disadvantages.
There were many amazing pages in the history of the car, but perhaps the brightest of them dates back to the first years of its existence. One cannot help but be struck by the speed with which this invention has gone from appearance to maturity. It took only a quarter of a century for the car to turn from a capricious and still unreliable toy into the most popular and widespread vehicle. Already at the beginning of the 20th century, it was basically identical to a modern car.
The immediate predecessor of the gasoline car was the steam car. The first practical steam car is considered to be a steam cart built by the Frenchman Cugnot in 1769. Carrying up to 3 tons of cargo, she moved at a speed of only 2-4 km / h. She also had other shortcomings. The heavy vehicle did not obey the helm very well, constantly ran into the walls of houses and fences, causing destruction and suffering considerable damage. The two horsepower that her engine developed was hard to come by. Despite the large volume of the boiler, the pressure dropped rapidly. Every quarter of an hour, to maintain pressure, it was necessary to stop and kindle the firebox. One of the trips ended in a boiler explosion. Fortunately, Kuno himself survived.
Cugno's followers were more fortunate. In 1803, Trivaitik, already known to us, built the first steam car in Great Britain. The car had huge rear wheels about 2.5 m in diameter. A cauldron was attached between the wheels and the rear of the frame, which was served by a stoker standing on the back. The steam car was equipped with a single horizontal cylinder. From the piston rod through the connecting rod-crank mechanism, the drive gear rotated, which was engaged with another gear mounted on the axis of the rear wheels. The axis of these wheels was pivotally connected to the frame and turned with a long lever by the driver, sitting on a high irradiation. The body was suspended on high C‑shaped springs. With 8-10 passengers, the car reached speeds of up to 15 km / h, which, of course, was a very good achievement for that time. The appearance of this amazing car on the streets of London attracted a lot of onlookers who did not hide their delight.
The car in the modern sense of the word appeared only after the creation of a compact and economical internal combustion engine, which made a real revolution in transport technology.
The first gasoline-powered car was built in 1864 by the Austrian inventor Siegfried Markus. Fascinated by pyrotechnics, Marcus once set fire to a mixture of gasoline and air vapors with an electric spark. Struck by the force of the ensuing explosion, he decided to create an engine that would use this effect. In the end, he managed to build a two-stroke gasoline engine with electric ignition, which he installed in an ordinary wagon. In 1875, Marcus created a more advanced car.
The official glory of the inventors of the car belongs to two German engineers - Benz and Daimler. Benz designed two-stroke gas engines and was the owner of a small plant for their production. The engines were in good demand and Benz's business flourished. He had enough funds and leisure for other developments. Benz's dream was to create a self-propelled carriage with an internal combustion engine. Benz's own engine, like Otto's four-stroke engine, was not suitable for this, since they had a low speed (about 120 revolutions per minute). With a slight decrease in the number of revolutions, they stalled. Benz understood that a car equipped with such an engine would stop in front of every bump. What was needed was a high-speed engine with a good ignition system and an apparatus for the formation of a combustible mixture.
Cars improved rapidly Back in 1891, Edouard Michelin, the owner of a rubber products factory in Clermont-Ferrand, invented a removable pneumatic tire for a bicycle (a Dunlop tube was poured into the tire and glued to the rim). In 1895, the production of removable pneumatic tires for cars began. For the first time these tires were tested in the same year at the Paris-Bordeaux-Paris race. The Peugeot equipped with them hardly reached Rouen, and then was forced to retire, as the tires were constantly punctured. Nevertheless, experts and motorists were amazed at the smoothness of the car and the comfort of driving it. Since that time, pneumatic tires have gradually come into life, and all cars began to be equipped with them. The winner of these races was again Levassor. When he stopped the car at the finish line and stepped on the ground, he said: “It was crazy. I was doing 30 kilometers per hour!” Now at the finish line there is a monument in honor of this significant victory.
Eighth place - Light bulb
In the last decades of the 19th century, electric lighting entered the life of many European cities. Appearing first on the streets and squares, it very soon penetrated into every house, into every apartment and became an integral part of the life of every civilized person. It was one of the most important events in the history of technology, with enormous and manifold consequences. The rapid development of electric lighting led to mass electrification, a revolution in energy and major shifts in industry. However, all this might not have happened if the efforts of many inventors had not created such a common and familiar device for us as an electric light bulb. Among the greatest discoveries of human history, she undoubtedly belongs to one of the most honorable places.
In the 19th century, two types of electric lamps became widespread: incandescent and arc lamps. Arc light bulbs appeared a little earlier. Their glow is based on such an interesting phenomenon as the voltaic arc. If you take two wires, connect them to a sufficiently strong current source, connect them, and then push them apart at a distance of several millimeters, then something like a flame with a bright light is formed between the ends of the conductors. The phenomenon will be more beautiful and brighter if two pointed carbon rods are used instead of metal wires. With a sufficiently large voltage between them, a light of dazzling power is formed.
For the first time, the phenomenon of a voltaic arc was observed in 1803 by the Russian scientist Vasily Petrov. In 1810, the English physicist Devi made the same discovery. Both of them obtained a voltaic arc, using a large battery of cells, between the ends of charcoal rods. Both of them wrote that the voltaic arc can be used for lighting purposes. But first it was necessary to find a more suitable material for the electrodes, since the charcoal rods burned out in a few minutes and were of little use for practical use. Arc lamps had another inconvenience - as the electrodes burned out, it was necessary to constantly move them towards each other. As soon as the distance between them exceeded a certain permissible minimum, the light of the lamp became uneven, it began to flicker and went out.
Foucault, a French physicist, designed the first manually adjustable arc lamp in 1844. He replaced charcoal with hard coke sticks. In 1848, he first used an arc lamp to illuminate one of the Parisian squares. It was a short and very expensive experience, since a powerful battery served as a source of electricity. Then various devices were invented, controlled by a clockwork, which automatically moved the electrodes as they burned.
It is clear that from the point of view of practical use, it was desirable to have a lamp that was not complicated by additional mechanisms. But was it possible to do without them? It turned out that yes. If two coals are placed not against each other, but in parallel, moreover, so that an arc can form only between their two ends, then with this device the distance between the ends of the coals is always kept unchanged. The design of such a lamp seems very simple, but its creation required great ingenuity. It was invented in 1876 by the Russian electrical engineer Yablochkov, who worked in Paris in the workshop of Academician Breguet.
In 1879, the famous American inventor Edison took up the improvement of the electric light bulb. He understood that in order for the light bulb to shine brightly and for a long time and have an even, unblinking light, it is necessary, firstly, to find a suitable material for the thread, and, secondly, to learn how to create a very rarefied space in the balloon. A lot of experiments were done with various materials, which were set up with Edison's characteristic scope. It is estimated that his assistants tested at least 6,000 different substances and compounds, while over 100 thousand dollars were spent on experiments. At first, Edison replaced the brittle paper charcoal with a more durable one made from coal, then he began to experiment with various metals, and finally settled on a thread of charred bamboo fibers. In the same year, in the presence of three thousand people, Edison publicly demonstrated his electric light bulbs, illuminating his house, laboratory and several adjacent streets with them. It was the first long life light bulb suitable for mass production.
penultimate, ninth place in our top 10 are antibiotics, and in particular - penicillin
Antibiotics are one of the most remarkable inventions of the 20th century in the field of medicine. Modern people are far from always aware of how much they owe to these medicinal preparations. Mankind in general very quickly gets used to the amazing achievements of its science, and sometimes it takes some effort to imagine life as it was, for example, before the invention of television, radio or steam locomotive. Just as quickly, a huge family of various antibiotics entered our lives, the first of which was penicillin.
Today it seems surprising to us that back in the 30s of the 20th century, tens of thousands of people died every year from dysentery, that pneumonia in many cases ended in death, that sepsis was a real scourge of all surgical patients, who died in large numbers from blood poisoning, that typhus was considered the most dangerous and incurable disease, and pneumonic plague inevitably led the patient to death. All these terrible diseases (and many others, previously incurable, such as tuberculosis) were defeated by antibiotics.
Even more striking is the effect of these drugs on military medicine. It is hard to believe, but in previous wars, most soldiers died not from bullets and shrapnel, but from purulent infections caused by wounds. It is known that in the space around us there are myriads of microscopic organisms of microbes, among which there are many dangerous pathogens.
Under normal conditions, our skin prevents their penetration into the body. But during the injury, dirt entered the open wounds along with millions of putrefactive bacteria (cocci). They began to multiply with tremendous speed, penetrated deep into the tissues, and after a few hours no surgeon could save a person: the wound festered, the temperature rose, sepsis or gangrene began. A person died not so much from the wound itself, but from wound complications. Medicine was powerless before them. At best, the doctor managed to amputate the affected organ and thus stopped the spread of the disease.
To deal with wound complications, it was necessary to learn how to paralyze the microbes that cause these complications, to learn how to neutralize the cocci that got into the wound. But how can this be achieved? It turned out that it is possible to fight against microorganisms directly with their help, since some microorganisms in the course of their life activity secrete substances that can destroy other microorganisms. The idea of using microbes to fight germs dates back to the 19th century. Thus, Louis Pasteur discovered that anthrax bacilli die under the action of some other microbes. But it is clear that the solution of this problem required a lot of work.
Over time, after a series of experiments and discoveries, penicillin was created. Penicillin seemed like a real miracle to seasoned field surgeons. He cured even the most seriously ill patients who were already ill with blood poisoning or pneumonia. The creation of penicillin turned out to be one of the most important discoveries in the history of medicine and gave a huge impetus to its further development.
Well, the last tenth place in the survey results took Sail and ship
It is believed that the prototype of the sail appeared in ancient times, when a person just started building boats and dared to go to sea. In the beginning, the sail was simply a stretched animal skin. The person standing in the boat had to hold it with both hands and orient it relative to the wind. When people came up with the idea to strengthen the sail with the help of a mast and yards, it is not known, but already on the oldest images of the ships of the Egyptian Queen Hatshepsut that have come down to us, you can see wooden masts and yards, as well as stays (cables that keep the mast from falling back), halyards (tackle for lifting and lowering sails) and other rigging.
Therefore, the appearance of a sailing ship must be attributed to prehistoric times.
There is much evidence that the first large sailing ships appeared in Egypt, and the Nile was the first deep river on which river navigation began to develop. Every year from July to November, the mighty river overflowed its banks, flooding the entire country with its waters. Villages and cities were cut off from each other like islands. Therefore, ships were a vital necessity for the Egyptians. In the economic life of the country and in communication between people, they played a much greater role than wheeled carts.
One of the earliest types of Egyptian ships, which appeared about 5 thousand years BC, was the barge. It is known to modern scientists from several models installed in ancient temples. Since Egypt is very poor in forests, papyrus was widely used to build the first ships. The features of this material determined the design and shape of ancient Egyptian ships. It was a sickle-shaped boat, bound from bundles of papyrus, with a bow and stern curved upwards. To give the ship strength, the hull was pulled together with cables. Later, when regular trade with the Phoenicians was established and Lebanese cedar began to arrive in Egypt in large quantities, the tree began to be widely used in shipbuilding.
An idea of what types of ships were built at that time is given by the wall reliefs of the necropolis near Saqqara, dating back to the middle of the 3rd millennium BC. These compositions realistically depict individual stages in the construction of a plank ship. The hulls of the ships, which had neither a keel (in ancient times it was a beam lying at the base of the bottom of the vessel), nor frames (transverse curved beams that ensure the strength of the sides and bottom), were recruited from simple dies and caulked with papyrus. The hull was strengthened by means of ropes that fitted the vessel along the perimeter of the upper plating belt. Such vessels hardly had good seaworthiness. However, they were quite suitable for swimming on the river. The straight sail used by the Egyptians allowed them to sail only with the wind. The rigging was attached to a bipedal mast, both legs of which were set perpendicular to the ship's midline. At the top, they were tightly bound. The beam device in the ship's hull served as a step (nest) for the mast. In the working position, this mast was held by stays - thick cables that went from the stern and bow, and legs supported it towards the sides. The rectangular sail was attached to two yards. With a side wind, the mast was hastily removed.
Later, by about 2600 BC, the bipedal mast was replaced by the one-legged one that is still used today. The one-legged mast made sailing easier and for the first time gave a ship the ability to maneuver. However, a rectangular sail was an unreliable means that could only be used with a fair wind.
The main engine of the ship was the muscular strength of the rowers. Apparently, the Egyptians own an important improvement of the oar - the invention of oarlocks. They did not yet exist in the Old Kingdom, but then the oar began to be fastened with rope loops. This immediately allowed to increase the power of the stroke and the speed of the vessel. It is known that the elite rowers on the ships of the pharaohs did 26 strokes per minute, which allowed them to reach a speed of 12 km / h. They controlled such ships with the help of two steering oars located at the stern. Later, they began to be attached to a beam on the deck, by rotating which it was possible to choose the desired direction (this principle of steering the ship by turning the rudder blade remains unchanged to this day). The ancient Egyptians were not good sailors. On their ships, they did not dare to go to the open sea. However, along the coast, their merchant ships made long journeys. So, in the temple of Queen Hatshepsut there is an inscription reporting on a sea voyage made by the Egyptians around 1490 BC. to the mysterious country of incense Punt, located in the area of \u200b\u200bmodern Somalia.
The next step in the development of shipbuilding was taken by the Phoenicians. Unlike the Egyptians, the Phoenicians had an abundance of excellent building material for their ships. Their country stretched in a narrow strip along the eastern shores of the Mediterranean. Extensive cedar forests grew here almost at the very shore. Already in ancient times, the Phoenicians learned how to make high-quality dugout single-deck boats from their trunks and boldly went out to sea on them.
At the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC, when maritime trade began to develop, the Phoenicians began to build ships. A marine vessel is significantly different from a boat; its construction requires its own design solutions. The most important discoveries along this path, which determined the entire subsequent history of shipbuilding, belong to the Phoenicians. Perhaps the skeletons of animals led them to the idea of installing stiffening ribs on one-poles, which were covered with boards on top. So for the first time in the history of shipbuilding, frames were used, which are still widely used.
In the same way, the Phoenicians first built a keel ship (originally, two trunks connected at an angle served as a keel). The keel immediately gave the hull stability and made it possible to establish longitudinal and transverse bracing. Sheathing boards were attached to them. All these innovations were the decisive basis for the rapid development of shipbuilding and determined the appearance of all subsequent ships.
Other inventions in various fields of science, such as: chemistry, physics, medicine, education and others, were also recalled.
After all, as we said earlier, this is not surprising. After all, any discovery or invention is another step into the future, which improves our life, and often prolongs it. And if not every, then very, very many discoveries deserve to be called great and are extremely necessary in our life.
Alexander Ozerov, based on the book by Ryzhkov K.V. "One Hundred Great Inventions"
The greatest discoveries and inventions of mankind © 2011
Famous inventors of the world have created a lot of useful things for mankind. Their benefit to society is difficult to overestimate. Many ingenious discoveries have saved more than one life. Who are they - inventors known for their unique developments?
Archimedes
This man was not only a great mathematician. Thanks to him, the whole world learned what a mirror and a siege weapon are. One of the most famous developments is the Archimedean screw (auger), with which you can effectively scoop out water. It is noteworthy that this technology is still used today.
Leonardo da Vinci
Inventors, known for their brilliant ideas, did not always have the opportunity to bring ideas to life. For example, drawings of a parachute, an airplane, a robot, a tank and a bicycle, which appeared as a result of the painstaking work of Leonardo da Vinci, remained unclaimed for a long time. At that time, there simply were no engineers and opportunities to implement such grandiose plans.
Thomas Edison
The inventor of the phonograph, kinescope and telephone microphone was the most famous. In January 1880, he filed a patent for an incandescent lamp, which later glorified Edison throughout the planet. However, some do not consider him a genius, noting that the inventors known for their developments worked alone. As for Edison, a whole group of people helped him.
Nikola Tesla
The great inventions of this genius were brought to life only after his death. Everything is explained simply: Tesla was so that no one knew about his work. Thanks to the efforts of the scientist, a multi-phase electric current system was discovered, which led to the emergence of commercial electricity. In addition, he formed the foundations of robotics, nuclear physics, computer science, and ballistics.
Alexander Graham Bell
Many inventors known for their discoveries have helped make our lives even better. The same can be said about Alexander Bell. Thanks to him, people were able to communicate freely, being thousands of kilometers apart, and all thanks to the phone. Bell also invented an audiometer - a special device that determines deafness; a device for searching for a treasure - a prototype of a modern metal detector; the world's first airplane; a model of a submarine, which Alexander himself called a hydrofoil boat.
Karl Benz
This scientist successfully realized the main idea of his life: a vehicle with a motor. It is thanks to him that we now have the opportunity to drive cars. Another valuable invention of Benz is the internal combustion engine. Later, a car manufacturing company was organized, which today is known throughout the world. This is Mercedes Benz.
Edwin Land
This famous French inventor devoted his life to photography. In 1926, he managed to discover a new type of polarizer, which later became known as the Polaroid. Land founded Polaroid and filed patents for 535 more inventions.
Charles Babbage
This English scientist worked on the creation of the first computer back in the nineteenth century. It was he who called the unique device a computer. Since at that time humanity did not have the necessary knowledge and experience, Babbage's efforts were not crowned with success. Nevertheless, brilliant ideas did not sink into oblivion: Konrad Zuse was able to realize them in the middle of the twentieth century.
Benjamin Franklin
This famous politician, writer, diplomat, satirist and statesman was also a scientist. The great inventions of mankind, which saw the light thanks to Franklin, are both a flexible urinary catheter and a lightning rod. An interesting fact: Benjamin basically did not patent any of his discoveries, because he believed that all of them were the property of mankind.
Jerome Hal Lemelson
Such great inventions of mankind as the facsimile machine, cordless telephone, automated warehouse and magnetic tape cassette were introduced to the general public by Jerome Lemelson. In addition, this scientist developed the technology of diamond coating and some medical devices that help in the treatment of cancer.
Mikhail Lomonosov
This recognized genius of various sciences organized the first university in Russia. The most famous personal invention of Mikhail Vasilyevich is an aerodynamic machine. It was intended to raise special meteorological instruments. According to many experts, it is Lomonosov who is the author of the prototype of modern aircraft.
Ivan Kulibin
It is not for nothing that this man is called the brightest representative of the eighteenth century. Ivan Petrovich Kulibin from early childhood was interested in the principles of mechanics. Thanks to his work, we now use navigational instruments, alarm clocks, and water-powered engines. For that time, these inventions were something from the category of science fiction. The name of the genius even became a household name. Kulibin is now called a person with the ability to make amazing discoveries.
Sergei Korolev
His interests included manned astronautics, aircraft engineering, the design of rocket and space systems, and missile weapons. Sergei Pavlovich greatly contributed to the exploration of outer space. He created the Vostok and Voskhod spaceships, the 217 anti-aircraft missile and the 212 long-range missile, as well as a rocket plane equipped with a rocket engine.
Alexander Popov
And the radio receiver is this Russian scientist. The unique discovery was preceded by years of research into the nature and propagation of radio waves.
A brilliant physicist and electrical engineer was born in the family of a priest. Alexander had six more brothers and sisters. Already in childhood, he was jokingly called a professor, because Popov was a shy, thin, awkward boy who could not stand fights and noisy games. In the Perm Theological Seminary, Alexander Stepanovich began to study physics based on Gano's book. His favorite pastime was assembling simple technical devices. The acquired skills were subsequently very useful to Popov when creating physical instruments for his own most important research.
Konstantin Tsiolkovsky
The discoveries of this great Russian inventor made it possible to bring aerodynamics and astronautics to a new level. In 1897, Konstantin Eduardovich finished working on a wind tunnel. Thanks to the allocated subsidies, he calculated the resistance of the ball, cylinder and other bodies. The data obtained were subsequently widely used in his work by Nikolai Zhukovsky.
In 1894, Tsiolkovsky designed an airplane with a metal frame, but the opportunity to build such an apparatus appeared only twenty years later.
Controversial question. Who is the inventor of the light bulb?
The creation of a device that gives light has been worked on since ancient times. The prototype of modern lamps were clay vessels with wicks made of cotton threads. The ancient Egyptians poured olive oil into such containers and set it on fire. The inhabitants of the coast of the Caspian Sea used another fuel material - oil - in similar devices. The first candles made in the Middle Ages consisted of beeswax. The notorious Leonardo da Vinci worked hard to create, however, the world's first safe lighting device was invented in the nineteenth century.
Until now, disputes about who should be awarded the honorary title "Inventor of the Light Bulb" have not subsided. The first is often called Pavel Nikolaevich Yablochkov, who worked as an electrical engineer all his life. He created not only a lamp, but also an electric candle. The latter device is widely used in street lighting. The miracle candle burned for an hour and a half, after which the janitor had to change it for a new one.
In 1872-1873. Russian engineer-inventor Lodygin created an electric lamp in its modern sense. At first, it emitted light for thirty minutes, and after pumping air out of the device, this time increased significantly. In addition, Thomas Edison and Joseph Swan claimed the championship in the invention of the incandescent lamp.
Conclusion
Inventors around the world have given us many devices that make life more comfortable and diverse. Progress does not stand still, and if a few centuries ago there were simply not enough technical capabilities to implement all the ideas, today it is much easier to bring ideas to life.