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Atlas

88 inventions

Writing & Communication

Writing

Knowledge that outlives memory

c. 3,300 BCEII
Writing & Communication

Printing Press

Movable type, copied by the thousand

c. 1440III
Energy & Prime Movers

Steam Engine

Heat turned into motion

1712IV
Tools & Making

Stone Tools

The first cutting edge

3.3 MyaI
Land Transport

Wheel & Axle

Rolling instead of dragging

c. 3,500 BCEII
Electricity & Electronics

Computer

A machine with its program in memory

1948V
Materials & Chemistry

Iron Smelting

Wider adoption around 1200 BCE; ore, charcoal and a bloomery

c. 1,200 BCEIII
Agriculture & Livestock

Irrigation

Leading water to the crops

c. 6,000 BCEII
Medicine & Hygiene

Penicillin

An antibiotic made by a mould

1928V
Agriculture & Livestock

Plough

Opening the soil for seed

c. 5,000 BCEII
Medicine & Hygiene

Vaccination

Teaching the body in advance

1796IV
Medicine & Hygiene

Anaesthesia

Surgery without pain or awareness

1846IV
Electricity & Electronics

Electric Motor

Current turned into rotation

1834IV
Energy & Prime Movers

Steam Turbine

Steam spinning the world's generators

1884V
Materials & Chemistry

Steel

Iron with just enough carbon

c. 1,000 BCEIII
Energy & Prime Movers

Windmill

Wind turned into flour

c. 900III
Agriculture & Livestock

Crop Rotation

Keeping fields fertile year after year

c. 700 BCEII
Electricity & Electronics

Transformer

Raising and lowering the voltage

1885V
Energy & Prime Movers

Water Turbine

Falling water turned into electricity

1827IV
Aeronautics

Aeroplane

Lift, thrust and control

1903V
Mechanics

Gears

Teeth that trade speed for force

c. 300 BCEIII
Writing & Communication

Paper

A cheap surface for memory

c. 150 BCEIII
Fire & Shelter

Rope & Cordage

Twisted fibres that hold the world

50,000 years agoI
Electricity & Electronics

Transistor

A switch without moving parts

1947V
Energy & Prime Movers

Water Wheel

A river turned into work

c. 300 BCEIII
Textiles & Everyday Life

Weaving

Threads crossed into cloth

c. 6,700 BCEII
Energy & Prime Movers

Wind Turbine

Wind turned into electricity

1887V
Building & Cities

Arch and Vault

Stones that hold each other up

c. 3,500 BCEII
Materials & Chemistry

Aluminium

Alumina turned into metal by electricity

1886V
Electricity & Electronics

Battery

Chemistry that pushes a current

1800IV
Food & Preservation

Bread

Ground grain, water and heat

12,400 years agoII
Materials & Chemistry

Pottery

Clay turned to stone by fire

18,000 years agoII
Writing & Communication

Radio

Messages without wires

c. 1895V
Ships & Navigation

Sail

Catching the wind to move a boat

c. 3,200 BCEII
Materials & Chemistry

Distillation

Separating liquids by boiling and condensing

c. 300III
Mechanics

Piston Pump

Water raised by valve and piston

c. 270 BCEIII
Electricity & Electronics

Solar cell

Sunlight turned into current

1954V
Building & Cities

Bricks

Standard blocks of earth

c. 7,500 BCEII
Materials & Chemistry

Bronze

Copper and tin, harder together

c. 3,300 BCEIII
Materials & Chemistry

Charcoal

Wood cooked slowly under earth

c. 4,500 BCEII
Writing & Communication

Telephone

A voice carried down a wire

1876V
Agriculture & Livestock

Horse Collar

The horse pulls with its shoulders

c. 480III
Materials & Chemistry

Glass

Melted sand you can see through

c. 2,500 BCEIII
Materials & Chemistry

Leather Tanning

Raw hide, oak bark and months in pits

c. 1,500 BCEII
Optics & Imaging

Microscope

A world too small to see

c. 1590IV
Building & Cities

Roman Concrete

Lime, volcanic ash and rubble

c. 200 BCEIII
Food & Preservation

Salting & Curing

Drawing water out to stop decay

c. 6,050 BCEII
Medicine & Hygiene

Soap

Fat and ash against germs

c. 2,800 BCEII
Optics & Imaging

Telescope

Bringing the distant close

1608IV
Building & Cities

Aqueduct

Water carried by gravity alone

c. 690 BCEIII
Defence & Fortification

Gunpowder

The explosive behind guns and mining

c. 850III
Defence & Fortification

Bow & Arrow

Stored energy released at a distance

62,000 years agoII
Optics & Imaging

Photography

Light that leaves a trace

c. 1827IV
Textiles & Everyday Life

Refrigeration

Pumping heat out of a box

1834IV
Land Transport

Bicycle

Two wheels driven by the legs

1817IV
Food & Preservation

Cheese

Milk that keeps for months

c. 5,500 BCEII
Textiles & Everyday Life

Dyeing

Colour fixed in the fibre

c. 4,200 BCEII
Optics & Imaging

Eyeglasses

Lenses that extend a working life

c. 1286III
Textiles & Everyday Life

Spinning Wheel

Fibre into thread, faster

c. 1000III
Food & Preservation

Beer

Grain sugars fermented into alcohol

c. 3,500 BCEII
Textiles & Everyday Life

Sewing Machine

A thousand stitches a minute

1830IV
Time & Measurement

Sundial

Telling time with a shadow

c. 1,500 BCEII
Textiles & Everyday Life

Lock & Key

A bolt that only its key frees

c. 700 BCEII

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