By Theodore Gregor Spring 2012

An invention or discovery to make ones life easier, better, productive or to entertain them.

The abacus is an ancient calculator used mostly in Asia for arithmetic processes. Nowadays, they are made of a bamboo frame and beads sliding on wires, but they were originally built of beans or stones moved in sand, tablets of wood, stone or metal. The invention of the abacus eventually led to the idea of a modern calculator.

A clock is a device that tells the current time. The first clock invented was the sundial, but it could only tell the time when the sun was up. Eventually people invented the first fully mechanical clock in 724 BC. This design was better than the sundial because you could see what time it was at night instead of waiting until morning. The mechanical clock led to the invention of the analog clock and eventually analog watches. Analog clocks evolved into digital clocks and watches, which are smaller and tell the time in numbers.

The Eyeglasses 1286 Eyeglasses are objects that you put in front of your eyes to help you see better. The first eyeglasses were invented by Giordano da Pisa. Eyeglasses were originally used to make people that had vision issues see better, but in the present, people use glasses for aesthetic purposes as well. Glasses were originally built to hold in place, but modern day glasses have stems and earpieces to hold the device in place for you.

The Flying Shuttle 1733 The flying shuttle is an invention that allows a weaver to weave wider fabrics and could allow automatic machine looms. This invention was an easier alternative to manually weaving cloth. The invention of the flying shuttle became one of the key developments in the industrialization of weaving.

In 1746, Benjamin Franklin accidentally shocked himself. In 1750, Ben wanted to prove that lightning was electricity and also wanted to find a way to protect people and structures from lightning. Lightning rods were invented in 1750 and protected structures by redirecting the lightning into the ground.

A camera is an object that can capture and store images. The first camera that could produce permanent photographs was invented in 1826 by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce. Earlier cameras were two wooden boxes, one of the ends carrying the lens and the other carrying a removable ground glass focusing screen. The electronic video camera tube was invented in the 1920’s, eventually resulting in digital cameras. Photography has many uses ranging from police use to entertainment purposes.

The Powered Airplane 1903 The first powered airplane was invented in 1903 by the Wright Brothers (Orville and Wilbur). They called this aircraft the Wright Flyer, which was developed from the Wright Glider, an unpowered version of the Wright Flyer. They made three versions of the Wright Flyer and when Wilbur used the third version of the Wright Flyer, he made a 39-minute, 24-mile nonstop circling flight on October 5 th. This aircraft inspired people to start looking into flight and invent modern-day planes. Planes have many purposes such as for war or for faster transport to places around the world.

Antibiotics were invented in 1928 by Alexander Fleming, who was a Scottish scientist. Antibiotics target specific infections and kill off the bacteria. An example of an infection is the Black Plaque, which struck during the Middle Ages and wiped out whole villages. Antibiotics are an important invention in medical science that has saved many, many lives.

The Atomic Bomb 1945 In 1945, the U.S. created the atomic bomb. An atomic bomb is a highly powered bomb that also releases radiation into the air, which can give you radiation sickness if you breathe in the radiation. Two atomic bombs were dropped on Japan in One of them was “Little Boy” which was dropped on Hiroshima, the other was “Fat Man” which was dropped on Nagasaki. Today, atomic bombs are rarely used except for extreme emergencies.

The World Wide Web (also known as WWW or W3) was invented by Tim Berners-Lee and Robert Caillau. With the internet a person can view web pages (using a web browser). The web pages could have text, images, videos, and other multimedia on them. There were a small amount of websites compared to the present day web, but some popular services started off on the World Wide Web. The web has been used for many things including sharing scientific discoveries and important news.

I think technology has changed our society and our values because most teenagers text all the time even if the person they are texting is right next to them. Teenagers also seem to care more about their phones than their parents and family. But teenagers are not the only people who text a lot, parents do too. In fact, some adults even text more than teenagers, which is not setting a good example for kids. In the future, I think technology will be overused and just about everything that uses gas will have solar panels to power the vehicle instead because of pollution. I also think people will be obese and will travel everywhere with a vehicle of some sort. It is my guess that there will be very few trees and parks in the world and cities will be huge. This is just a prediction and this may not happen, but it looks like this is what the world could become.