Age of Invention

Age of Invention Technological optimists maintain that the impact of innovation on our lives is increasing, but the evidence goes the other way. The author’s grand mother [see photo] lived from the 1880s through the 1960s and witnessed the adoption of electricity, phonographs, telephones, radio, television, airplanes, antibiotics, vacuum tubes, transistors, and the automobile. In 1924 she became one of the first in her neighborhood to own a car. The author contends that the inventions unveiled in his own lifetime have made a far smaller difference. 1876–1920 Ü • Germ theory of disease Ö 1880s Ö 1906 Mechanized newspaper typesetting Vacuum tube Ö 1926 1877 • Liquid-fueled rocket 1936 à • Helicopter 1970 1942 • Nuclear chain reaction PHOTO CREDITS: THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES; HONDA; NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AMERICAN HISTORY; RADIOMUSEUM KOELN; ESA; U.S. AIR FORCE; UNIVERSITY OF MARY WASHINGTON; NASA; NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH; APPLE; ISTOCKPHOTO Toilet paper • Optical fiber 1897 Ü 1876 Ü • Telephone Lightbulb 1971 1962 1956 1957 • Videotape recorder • Sputnik launch • Live-virus polio vaccine 1879 Aspirin á 1902 Teddy bear 1945 • Atomic bomb • Microwave oven • Commercial cellphone network • Light-emitting diode 1972 1973 1930 1931 1877 Ü 1967 • Commercial video games and VCRs • Ethernet • Magneticresonance imaging • Cellophane tape • Radio astronomy • First heart transplant 1968 à 1842 1843 Phonograph 1905 á 1903 Airplane • Ether anesthesia • Vulcanized rubber Theory of special relativity 1928 á 1920s 1922 1935 1945 1947 • Computer mouse 1990 á • Sliced bread • Ballpoint pen • Computer theory • Transistor 1977 Ü • Hubble telescope • Mapping of the human genome • Post-It notes 2000 á 1914 Ü Zipper • Quantum theory 1936 1937 • Radar • Xerography • Jet engine 1948 2001 1969 • Velcro • ARPANET • Quartz watch • Apollo 11 moon landing 1837 Ö 1873 1857 • Segway • iPod • Oceangoing steamship Blue jeans • Insulin 1923 Ü 1889 á Automobile 1844 á 1846 • Traffic light • Telegraph • Cylinder printing press • Passenger elevator 1934à • Nylon 1896 Ü Ö 1885 Motorbike 1927 1909 Ü Toaster 1970s á 1979 1859 Flashlight • Television • Personal computers 1991 á 1982 á • Permanent artificial heart • Theory of evolution • Oil well 1928 1958 • World Wide Web • Penicillin • Integrated circuit • Laser • Smallpox eradicated 1998 • Google 1830 1840 1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 GRANDMOTHER’S LIFETIME AUTHOR’S LIFETIME