Incredible Machines and Inventions The definition of a machine is an apparatus using or applying mechanical power and having several parts, each with a definite function and together performing a particular task. One has to wonder when humans first decided they could improve what they were doing by using a machine? Scientists have looked into this and what they claim to have found is the hand axe was the first machine ever used by a human. I am not so sure about this. If one throws a rock at an enemy, isn’t he multiplying the force of his hand if he punched the person? Do we really know when the first hand axe was used? What we know is when the first one was found and dated. It has been dated as being 2 million years old. If we believe this archaeology this was before modern humans existed. There were very long periods of time in the past where hundreds of thousands of years went by without much improvement in our machines and some say almost two million years based on that hand axe. One of the most important machines ever invented was the wheel. The invention of the wheel changed the world. For quite some time It was believed the Mesopotamians invented it. Doubt was cast on this fact when evidence was found in Europe that those early Europeans might have invented it. This is believed because many ancient drawings of wheels and ruts cut from wheels along with ancient toys with wheels were found in Europe. The date most believed for its invention is 5,500 years ago, but this could be even older. Wheels were not only used as means of transportation, they had many other uses such as pottery wheels and water wheels. Wheels have become the basis for many complicated machines. Once the wheel was invented, in relatively short time compared to the great gap of time before the wheel where not much was happening except for inventions to aid in attacks and hunting, complex machines started to appear. It has been said the most fascinating of these inventions were known as automata. Automata are mechanisms which imitate living creatures. When they started to appear, some people must have thought they were magic. The ancient Greeks were masters of ancient automata. They had created automatic doors for some temples which would open and close seemingly by themselves, but in reality, used steam power. They had the first vending machines where you inserted a coin and a fixed amount of holy water came out. They even created a flying chariot which would travel the length of the temple. They were unparalleled for their time. Perhaps their greatest accomplishment in this area was the Antikythera mechanism which was an actual mechanical computer , which has been dated as being around 2,000 years old and is so complex it shocked scientists by its existence. Scientists are split on whether it is a one of a kind object, or was on a ship because these were being sold and shipped. After examining this amazing mechanism, it is a wonder why the world of technology didn’t advance faster. This makes me think it was just a one of a kind object and remained relatively unknown. One of the greatest inventors of complex machines in the ancient world was the inventor Hero. He lived in Alexandria in Egypt and was responsible for many of the ancient Greek inventions. He had even invented a sort of rolling entertainment device which was able to wow the audience with different scenes. To program it he used knots in rope. Each knot was a command to change something. It very well could be he invented the that complex mechanical computer. What is even more amazing is the fact precise cut gears had to be invented first for it to work. He even invented the first steam powered device called the aeolipile, a ball with a jet on each side when filled with water and suspended over a flame would spin. It is a shame a proper steam engine was not conceived from this, because can you imagine where our technology would be today if it had been? The Chinese were responsible for many inventions and some of them were world changing. There are four which are considered by many to be the greatest. They are paper, printing, the compass and gunpowder. I think of the four, paper may have been the greatest because it allowed the dissemination of information more freely and to me the second most important was printing which allowed books to be created to spread ideas first all over the country and then all over the world. I am not trying to say the compass was not important, but it was an incredible invention and yet very simple. It allowed travel to a destination to be much more certain and if it wasn’t for the compass, maybe some of the great navies of history would not have existed. As far as gun powder goes, while it was important for building, it did make it easier to kill and I am never for that. For many years people lived in the dark at night. There routine was mostly to get up at dawn and go to bed at nightfall. When a British inventor named Sir Joseph Wilson Swan invented the light bulb this all changed. Yes, I know you have been taught Edison invented it, but he did not, he improved it. Once the light bulb became popular it changed peoples lives. They could stay up later at night and do things like reading and having more family time. This was one of the most important inventions of all time. I classify the light bulb as a machine with several parts, but some may not. As machines were being invented, they were also being improved. A new machine would come along and an older one might be updated to make it more efficient. One modern invention which has changed all our lives is the computer. In just a few years it has crept into every home in one way or another and into all our cars and planes. Technology is racing ahead and I can’t wait to see what is next.
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