Evolution and Influence of Technology

Stone Age 250,000 B.C. Time for survival Tools were made of stone Used for cutting, hunting, pounding vegetables, and even progressed to harnessing fire

Bronze Age 3000 B.C. - 1200 B.C. Tools were made from metal Metal was easier to shape, more durable and useful than stone tools. Improved agriculture practices, growing industries and military applications.

Iron Age 1200 B.C. - 500 A.D. People began to move from farms to develop towns and cities. Tools were made of iron and steel Developments such as the plow and irrigation enabled fewer farmers to grow more food.

Middle Ages 500 A.D. - 1450 A.D. Development of paper money Waterwheel to grind grain Magnetic compass for exploration Printing press for books All these allowed people to trade, travel and spread information easier.

Renaissance 1450 A.D -1700 A. D. Rebirth of the arts and humanities Leonardo da Vinci created drawings The camera obscure, telescope, the submarine, and hydraulic press Mechanization of the farm, labor was freed up for work in the factories. This caused people to move into the cities.

Industrial Age 1700 - 1940 Industry played a major role in society Eli Whitney’s interchangeable parts and Henry Ford’s movable conveyor

Industrial Age 1700 - 1940 The steam engine, gasoline and diesel engine, airplanes, telephones, telegraphs, and radios People more leisure time more time for children to spend in school instead of on the farm.

Information Age 1940 - present Processing and exchanging information. “The development of binary language, transistors, microchips Explosion of computers, calculators and communication processes to quickly move information form place to place”

Information Age 1940 - present Hydrogen bomb, space shuttles, communication satellites, prefabrication, biotechnology, freeze-drying, and the International Space Station. The Information Age has placed knowledge and information at the touch of button.