Greatest/Most Influential Invention

[MacFall]

^ Nope.

 

[Chesterton]

YouTube - Popeil Pocket Fisherman Commercial

 

[QuakerPete]

For me, it's definitely moveable type in conjunction with the printing press. The spread of knowledge and learning in a defined / consistent way paved the way for greater understanding of every subject under the sun across countries and continents. Its effects are just as powerful today as they were then, through its various processes including the internet.

 

[alexacker]

The harnessing of electricity and its consequences... just think about how you feel during a power cut

 

[Jazer]

What do you think is the greatest or most influential invention of man?

Going back to the Greeks you had the cylinder. They pumped water out of the mines. Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) added the gear and worm gears. This was the beginning of the first engine. Thomas Edison invented most everything that had to do with electronics. He said he would finish what other people had started.

The wheel is interesting. It did not change much for 4,000 years. Then Firestone came along and invented the first pneumatic tire.

 

[MacFall]

Thomas Edison did very little original work. Mostly, he copied other people's work but then made sure he got the patent so that nobody else could take credit for or profit from it.