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Inventions that Changed the World

Scholasticus K
Necessity is the mother of invention, is a common saying and indeed. Some inventions that changed the world were fueled by the desire to fulfill some or the other necessity.
If we travel back in time, we can see how the following inventions have influenced the world. Some of the oldest and simplest inventions that changed the way of humans forever are stone tools and the control over fire. The next basic invention was microlith, the smallest of all stone tools, that is as small as a needle.
The bow and arrow and the canoe were the Mesolithic inventions that facilitated man's lifestyle. The next invention that brought about considerable changes in man's lifestyle were pottery and wheel, and thus began man's journey towards civilization. These two inventions were aided by the art of metallurgy, which forged the civilizations of the world.

Top 10 Inventions
1. The first invention that should be mentioned is that of gunpowder. Historians may argue that gunpowder was not invented but discovered. Anyhow, the discovery of gunpowder, drastically changed the way battles were fought.
2. Then Archimedes screw, was a revolutionary invention that was invented on some simple principles of physics, in order to facilitate irrigation. Initially this invention was used in order to simplify agriculture. Today we use it in every possible gadget and machine.
3. The Indus valley civilization is credited as the innovator of the plow and hoe. These two inventions facilitated early agricultural activities.
There are several other places where the plow and hoe had been used. Egyptian paintings, relics from Babylon and primitive farming techniques from South America show that this invention was discovered by several civilizations.
4. The historical point of view of arithmetic is quite interesting. Aryabhatta, a mathematics genius was first initiator of modern mathematical concepts like zero, decimals, geometry, trigonometry, algebra. It would have been impossible to live without these.
5. Surgery is a profession that came into being very late is a misconception. Sushruta, a medical practitioner from India, around 800 BC, performed cataract surgeries, plastic surgeries, successfully in his time.
An Ayurveda practitioner, Sushruta wrote a book Sushruta Samhita, during the course of his practice. In his book he described, 120 surgical instruments, 300 procedures, and 8 categorizes of surgeries. Believe it or not, we do use all the procedures and also the instruments even today.
6. The Chinese and Egyptian civilizations played a huge role in the development of paper. It led to the development to communication, literature, and rapid spread of knowledge. The paper, in different forms was used by many other civilizations.
7. One great discovery that helped save many lives was penicillin. Penicillin was the first discovered antibiotic. It has become the basis of many other essential antibiotic synthesis. This discovery is credited to a famous scientist by the name of Alexander Fleming from Scotland.
8. The wheel had been invented a long time ago and as the spread of trade and commerce began to attain greater speed, James Watt and Thomas Newcomen, came up with genuine mechanisms to use the power of steam. This has set things into such a great motion that they have never slowed down.
9. Among the significant inventions that altered the course of human history, Thomas Edison's bulb holds a special place. The invention has two great merits - one it gave light to the world and second it proved that impossible situations can be overcome with patience and sheer logic.
10. The modern world has become a place of extremely fast communications. The person who can be credited to have started the revolution is Alexander Graham Bell. The telephone is probably the one that has influenced the modern world the most.
Apart from these inventions, the Wright brother's airplane, computers, nuclear fission, internal combustion engine are just a few of the many.