A History of Technology

A Brief History of Technology

by Tim Lambert

Prehistoric Technology

About 1.8 million years ago a new species called Homo erectus appeared in East Africa. Later (about 1 million years ago) they spread to Asia.

Homo erectus inhabited caves and they made stone tools such as hand axes and cleavers. They probably also made wooden tools but they have not survived. Scientists believe that in Asia Homo erectus used bamboo tools.

There is a debate about when hominids first used fire. However between 400,000 and 300,000 years ago there is evidence of hearths. Charred bones were found on them so it seems Homo erectus had learned to cook. Obviously fire was also useful in cold weather and Homo erectus may have made tools by firelight after dark.

From about 500,000 onwards a slightly different species called Home Heidelbergensis lived in Europe. Homo Heidelbergensis had a larger brain than Homo erectus and they hunted animals like horses and deer with spears.

The Neanderthals first evolved about 250,000 years ago and they disappeared about 28,000 BC. Clearly the Neanderthals were not stupid. They must have been resourceful to survive in a very harsh and dangerous environment. Nevertheless Neanderthal technology was primitive. They made simple tools of wood, stone and antler. Using spears they hunted reindeer, horses, red deer and bison. They also sometimes ate mammoth and woolly rhinoceros.

The Neanderthals made simple clothes from animal skins. They used stone borers to make holes in the edges of skins and threaded leather thongs through.

Modern humans appeared in Africa about 100,000 years ago. About 35,000 years ago they entered Europe when it was in the grip of an ice age. (They are sometimes called Cro-Magnons).

In harsh environment the Cro-Magnons hunted mammoth, reindeer, red deer, bison and wild horses. They invented the spear thrower, which allowed them to hurl spears much further than before. The Cro-Magnons also used bows and arrows. They also fished using harpoons tipped with bone points.

Although we often call them cave men in fact caves were absent from much of Europe. In those places the Cro-Magnons made tents using mammoth bones as supports.

The Cro-Magnons were not stupid or brutish. On the contrary they were highly skilled at making efficient tools from stone, bone, wood and antler.

The Cro-Magnons made warm clothes such as trousers, coats and boots from animal skins using bone needles.

Stone hammers with wooden handles were used as early as 10,000 BC. So were nets made of vines.

The Agricultural Revolution

After 9,000 BC a great change came over the world. Previously humans lived by hunting animals and gathering plants. Then about 8,500 BC people began to grow wheat, barley, peas and lentils instead of gathering them wild. By 7,000 BC they domesticated sheep, pigs and goats. By 6,000 BC they also domesticated cattle.

Farming first began in the Fertile Crescent, which stretches from Israel north to southeast Turkey then curves southeast to the Persian Gulf. However agriculture was invented independently in other parts of the world as well.

The invention of agriculture took place over millenia but it fundamentally changed human life. People began to live in settled communities instead of being nomadic or semi-nomadic. When the food supply improved the population increased. Most of all people developed new skills, first making pottery then using metals. Finally they invented writing.

Pottery was first made in the Middle East and North Africa about 7,000 BC. Pottery was, of course, no use to people living a nomadic or semi-nomadic life but it was very useful to people living in settled villages.

Catal Huyuk was one of the world's first towns. It was built in what is now Turkey about 6,500 BC not long after farming began.

In Catal Huyuk the houses were made of mud brick. Houses were built touching against each other. They did not have doors and houses were entered through hatches in roofs. Since houses were built touching each other the roofs must have acted as streets! People must have walked across them.

People in Catal Huyuk wore clothes woven from wool. They also wore jewellery made of stone, bone and shell.

The people of Catal Huyuk wove baskets of reeds. They also made pottery and they used obsidian, a hard volcanic rock to make tools and weapons. Craftsmen made dishes of wood. They also made carved wooden boxes for storage.

Meanwhile about 7,000 BC Chinese farmers began growing millet. About 6,500 BC they began growing rice. By about 6,000 BC farming had also begun in the Indus Valley. Then, about 3,500 BC people in Mexico began growing maize and beans.

Meanwhile farming spread from the Middle East to Europe. By about 4,000 BC people in central Europe were using oxen to pull ploughs and wagons. About the same time people in the Middle East began using donkeys as beasts of burden. Also about 4,000 BC horses were domesticated on the steppes of Eurasia.

Furthermore about 4,500 BC people began using copper. By about 3,500 they used bronze tools.

Farming reached England about 4,500 BC. The early farmers mined flint for making tools. They dug shafts, some of them 15 metres (50 feet) deep. They used deer antlers as picks and oxen shoulder blades as shovels. They also made pottery vessels but they still wore clothes made from skins. They erected simple wooden huts to live in.

After 2,000 BC English society was changed by the invention of Bronze. Metal artefacts appeared in England as early as 2,700 BC although it is believed they were imported. By about 2,000 BC bronze was being made in England.

Bronze is made of 9 parts copper and one part tin. It is, of course, harder than stone and provided more efficient tools and weapons. The Bronze Age people also rode horses and they were the first people in England to weave cloth. Bronze age women held their hair with bone pins and they wore crescent shaped necklaces.

Meanwhile by 5,000 BC people had learned to dig canals to bring water from rivers to their crops. As a result they began to farm the arid lands between the Tigris and the Euphrates. It was here that the world's first civilisation arose.

Technology in the Ancient World

The human race learned to use metals in prehistoric times. Stone age farmers made axes of stone and wood and saws of flint with serrated edges. Metal made it possible to make more efficient axes and saws as well as adzes and chisels.

Great improvements were also made in transport. The Egyptians invented the sailing ship about 3,100 BC. The wheel was invented in Sumeria (Iraq) about 3,400 BC. It may have been invented first as a potters wheel and later used for transport. The first carts and chariots had solid wheels and oxen or asses pulled them. Horses were domesticated about 2,000 BC and about 1,800 BC spoked wheels were invented.

About 3,500 the ard was invented in Sumeria. It was a kind of light plough. It scratched the soil but did not turn a furrow as a modern plough does. Nevertheless the invention of a simple plough greatly improved agriculture.

From about 3,300 BC onwards both Sumerians and Egyptians developed writing.

The first people to commonly use iron were the Hittites who lived in what is now Turkey about 1,600 BC. They heated iron ore then pounded out the impurities. When the Hittite Empire broke up about 1,200 BC techniques to iron working spread. By about 650 BC iron working reached England.

Some ancient civilisations had quite advanced sanitation. Stone age farmers lived in a village at Skara Brae in the Orkney islands. Some of their stone huts had drains built under them and some houses had cubicles over the drains. They may have been inside toilets.

Glass was invented about 3,000 BC. It was first used to make vessels about 1,500 BC. Glass was first blown about 100 BC.

In the Indus Valley civilisation (c.2,600-1,900 BC) streets were built on a grid pattern and networks of sewers were dug under them. Toilets were flushed with water.

On the island of Crete the Minoan civilisation flourished from 2,000 to 1,600 BC. They too built drainage systems, which also took sewage. Toilets were flushed with water.

Ancient Greece

The Greeks were superb engineers. The most famous Greek inventor was Archimedes (c.287-212 BC). The Archimedes screw, a device for raising water is named after him (although it many have been used before his time). According to legend the king of Syracuse in Sicily wanted to know if his crown was made of pure gold or not! One day Archimedes sat in his bath and the water level rose. He is supposed to have jumped out of his bath and ran naked through the streets shouting 'Eureka!' (I have it!). Archimedes immersed the crown in water and noted the level the water rose to. Then he placed some pure gold weighing the same as the crown in the water. The water did not rise to the same height proving it was not pure gold.

Meanwhile about 400 BC the pulley was invented.

In the first century AD Hero of Alexandria invented mechanical toys. He used steam to make a metal ball spin round.

the Ancient Greeks are believed to have invented the watermill. (It was invented separately in China). The Greeks also invented the torsion catapult about 340 BC.

Greek engineering reached a peak in the first century AD when they built the Antikythera Mechanism. This remarkable device was discovered in 1900. It seems to be a calculating device to predict the movements of the Sun, Moon and planets.

The Romans are famous for their roads and aqueducts. However the Romans were innovators rather than inventors. The Greeks were the true engineering geniuses of the Ancient World.

Ancient China

The Ancient Chinese were also very inventive. About 300 BC the Chinese invented the horse collar. Previously horses were attached to vehicles by straps around their necks. The horse could not pull a heavy load because the strap would constrict its neck! The horse collar allowed horses to pull much heavier loads.

During the Zhou dynasty (1022-221 BC) the Chinese invented kites. The compass was invented in China in the 3rd century BC but at first it was used for divination (a spoon like object made of magnetite was placed on a board and watched to see which way it would turn). It was not used for navigation till much later.

During the Han dynasty (206 BC -220 AD) Chinese civilisation was one of the most brilliant in the world. Han inventions include the watermill and the chain pump (this pump was worked by feet and helped to irrigate the rice fields). Another Han invention was the wheelbarrow. The ships rudder was invented in China in the first century AD.

According to tradition about 100 AD a man named Cai Lun invented paper (previously people had written on silk or bamboo). Then in 132 AD a man called Cheng Hang invented the seismometer (a device for measuring the strength of earthquakes and locating their centre).

The umbrella was invented in China in the 4th century AD. Covered in oiled paper it sheltered the user from both sun and rain.

To read about the Ancient World click here.

Technology in the Middle Ages

It is sometimes said that after the fall of the Roman Empire there was a dark age in Europe. However a number of inventions were made in Europe at that time or reached the continent from other cultures.

One big improvement was the 3-field system. In the Ancient World land was divided into 2 fields, one of which was sown while the other was left fallow. In Germany in the 8th century the 3-field system was invented. One field was sown in Spring, one in Autumn and one was left fallow. This system allowed farmers to grow more food.

Another useful invention, the crank was first recorded in France in the 9th century.

An Arab named al-Hazen (c. 965-1040) invented a device called the camera obscura. The Arab scientist Jabir Ibn Hayyan (c. 721-815) perfected the process of distillation. The Arabs also perfected the astrolabe, a device to measure the altitude of heavenly bodies in order to navigate.

Gunpowder was probably invented in China around the year 900 AD. At first it was used for rockets, grenades and bombs that were placed against the wooden gates of enemy cities. Printing with wooden blocks was also invented during the Tang dynasty (618-907). The earliest printed book is the Diamond Sutra, printed in 868 AD.

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD sophisticated plumbing disappeared from Europe for centuries. For centuries toilets for ordinary people were simply pits in the ground with wooden seats over them.

However in the Middle Ages monks built stone or wooden lavatories over rivers. At Portchester Castle in the 12th century monks built a stone ledge along a wall overhanging the sea. The ledge had holes in it and when the tide went in and out it would flush away the sewage.

At sea a number of useful inventions were made. The Chinese invented the compass centuries before it was used in Europe. Nevertheless by the 12th century Europeans had learned to use it. Also in the 12th century Europeans invented the rudder. (The Chinese independently invented it centuries before). Rudders made ships much easier to steer. Furthermore shipbuilding became far more advanced and by the 15th century ships were made with 3 masts.

Ironworking was improved when a primitive blast furnace called a Catalan forge was invented in Spain in the 8th century AD. It was gradually improved and by the 14th century Europeans had efficient blast furnaces.

Horses were also used more efficiently in the Middle Ages. The horse collar was invented in China long before it was known in Europe. However the horse collar was known in Europe by the 9th century. Previously horses were attached to vehicles by straps around their necks. The horse could not pull a heavy load because the strap would constrict its neck! The horse collar allowed horses to pull much heavier loads.

Stirrups, which literally held the knight in his saddle, were invented in China about 300 AD. By the 8th century they had reached Europe.

The wheelbarrow was also invented in Ancient China. It was probably independently invented in Europe in the 12th century.

Another useful invention was the spinning wheel. It was invented in Asia (exactly where is not known) and by the 13th century it had reached Europe.

In the Middle Ages 'Arab' numerals (they were actually invented in India) reached Europe and gradually replaced Roman numerals. They were a great boon to mathematicians.

The windmill was invented in Iran early in the 7th century AD. However its vanes turned a vertical post. In the 12th century a windmill that turned a horizontal post was invented in Europe.

Watermills were also common in Europe. From the 11th century they were used not just to grind grain but for a variety of tasks.

A great deal of ingenuity went into making weapons. In 678 the Byzantine Empire used a new weapon called Greek fire (naphtha), a highly inflammable liquid. Earth, dust or cloth was soaked in Greek fire and fired from a catapult at enemy ships. Greek fire could also be held in a container of stone or metal, which exploded when it hit its target. It proved to be a deadly weapon.

Greek fire was invented about 650 BC by Callinicus of Heliopolis.

However in the 9th century the Arabs and other enemies of the Byzantines learned to make it.

The Romans used a version of the crossbow called a hand ballista. However it died out in Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire. The crossbow reappeared in the 10th century. Some crossbows were so powerful they had to be loaded by a mechanical device called a cranequin.

When attacking a castle people could use a kind of crane called a tenelon to get over the wall. On the end of a long wooden arm was a basket containing soldiers. The basket could be swung over the castle walls.

The attackers could also hurl missiles using siege engines. A medieval catapult called a mangonel was powered by twisted rope. (It was similar to those used by the Romans). The rope was twisted tighter and tighter then released, firing a stone.

Another Medieval siege weapon was called a trebuchet, which worked by counterweight. A trebuchet had an arm set on a pivot so it had a long and a short end. The long end held the missile and a heavy weight was attached to the short end. The long end was winched down and when it was released the weight at the short end swung down. The long end swung up firing the missile.

To read a history of weapons click here.

Between the mid-13th century and the mid-14th century four very important inventions were made in Europe. The glass mirror was invented in the late 13th century. Eyeglasses were first made in Italy in the late 13th century. Mechanical clocks powered by weights were invented c.1300. Then in the early 14th century guns were invented. Early guns were unwieldy, slow to reload and dangerous but they gradually improved over the decades and eventually became a decisive factor in warfare.

Perhaps the most important invention of the Middle Ages was the printing press. It was invented by Johann Gutenberg in 1445 and it made books much cheaper.

Technology in the 16th Century

In the 16th century guns transformed warfare. Early guns were lit by a slow match (string was soaked in saltpetre and when it was lit it smouldered). The slow match was touched to the gunpowder to ignite it. However in the early 16th century the wheelock was invented. A metal wheel spun against a piece or iron pyrites generating sparks that ignited the gunpowder. As a result most cavalry stopped using lances. Instead they carried two or three pistols each, ready to fire, and sabres.

Meanwhile the traditional English weapon was the longbow but handguns were increasingly used. The longbow slowly went out of use during the 16th century. However muskets took a long time to reload and during that time the infantry needed protection from cavalry. They were protected by men with pikes (a weapon like a long spear).

Cannons meant that fortifications had to be re-designed. Walls were now made to slope outwards to deflect cannon balls. Instead of towers forts and walled towns now had bastions. They were triangular sections of wall that jutted out from the rest of the wall. They provided flanking fire. In other words guns on the bastion could fire at approaching soldiers from the sides.

Solid cannonballs (called shot) were useful for firing at walls during sieges and for firing at enemy ships. However for killing enemy soldiers or sailors canister or case shot was used. That was a cylindrical container filled with sharp stones or pieces of metal. When fired the cylinder burst and sprayed the enemy.

Furthermore shot could be heated until they were red hot then fired at enemy ships. They were called hot shot.

Ships also fired chain shot (iron cannonballs were joined by a chain and fired at the enemies masts to break them). Sailors also fired bar shot (two cannonballs joined by a bar) to break the enemies masts.

In the 16th century surgery became a little more advanced. Leonardo Da Vinci (1452-1519) dissected some human bodies and made accurate drawings of what he saw.

However the greatest surgeon of the age was Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564). He did many dissections and realised that many of Galen's ideas were wrong. In 1543 he published a book called The Fabric of the Human Body. It contained accurate diagrams of a human body.

Vesalius's great contribution was to base anatomy on observation not on the authority of writers like Galen.

Another great surgeon was Ambroise Pare. In 1514 Giovanni de Vigo introduced the practise of pouring boiling water onto wounds. In 1536 during the siege of Turin pare ran out of oil. He made a mixture of egg yolk, rose oil and turpentine and discovered it worked better than oil. Pare also designed artificial limbs.

Cartography was improved by Geradus Mercator (1512-1594) who invented the Mercator Projection in 1569.

In 1593 Galileo invented a rudimentary thermometer. The microscope was also invented at the end of the 16th century.

The pocket watch was invented in 1510. The pencil was invented in 1565 and the knitting machine was invented in 1589.

In 1596 Sir John Harrington invented a flushing lavatory with a cistern. However the idea failed to catch on. People continued to use chamber pots or cess pits.

Technology in the 17th Century

In the 17th century technology advanced rapidly. In 1608 Hans Lippershey invented the telescope, which had a profound impact on astronomy. In 1642 Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) invented an adding machine. Then in 1643 Evangelista Torricelli (1608-1647) invented the barometer. In 1650 Otto von Guericke invented an air pump.

In 1660 Robert Hooke invented the universal joint.

Meanwhile much effort went into improving weapons. In the early 17th century firearms were either matchlocks or wheel locks. A matchlock held a slow burning match, which was touched to the powder when the trigger was pulled. With a wheel lock a metal wheel spun against iron pyrites making sparks. During the 17th century both of these were gradually replaced by the flintlock which worked by hitting a piece of flint and steel making sparks.

Furthermore in the early 17th century the cartridge was invented. The musket ball was placed in a container, which held the right amount of gunpowder to fire it. The soldier no longer had to measure powder from a powder horn into his gun.

Apart from artillery there were two branches of an army. The cavalry were usually armed with wheelock pistols and sabres. The infantry consisted of men armed with muskets and those armed with pikes. A musket took a long time to reload and the soldiers were very vulnerable while they did so. Therefore they were protected by men with pikes (a weapon like a long spear). In theory there were two musketeers to each pike man. The pike men usually had a steel helmet but musketeers did not usually wear armour.

About 1680 the ring bayonet was invented. With bayonet fixed a musket could be used as a weapon even if it had been fired and was not reloaded. The bayonet did away with the need for pike men.

The British army began using grenades in 1677.

During the 17th century people became able to measure things more accurately. In 1636 William Gascoigne invented the micrometer. In 1656 Christiaan Huygens invented the pendulum clock, which allowed people to measure time more accurately.

In 1675 Denis Papin invented the pressure cooker and at the end of the 17th century people experimented with harnessing the power of steam. In 1698 Thomas Savery made the first steam engine.

Technology in the 18th Century

The Agricultural Revolution

In the 18th century there was an agricultural revolution in England. It began with Jethro Tull. In the 17th century seed was sown by hand. The sower simply scattered seed on the ground. However in 1701 Tull (1674-1741) invented the seed drill. This machine dropped seeds at a controllable rate in the straight lines. A harrow at the back of the machine covered the seeds to prevent birds eating them. Tull also invented a horse drawn hoe which killed weeds between rows of seeds.

Furthermore new forms of crop rotation were introduced. Under the old system land was divided into 3 fields and each year one was left fallow. This was, obviously, wasteful, as one third of the land was not used each year. In the 17th century the Dutch began to use new forms of crop rotation with clover and root crops such as turnips and swedes instead of letting the land grow fallow. (Root crops restored fertility to the soil). In the 18th century these new methods became common in England. A man named Charles 'Turnip' Townshend (1674-1738) did much to popularise growing turnips.

Turnips had another advantage. They provided winter feed for cattle. Previously most cattle were slaughtered at the beginning of winter because there was not enough food to keep them through the season. Now fresh milk and butter became available all year round.

Moreover in the early 18th century farmers began to improve their livestock by selective breeding. One of the most famous pioneers of selective breeding was Robert Bakewell (1725-1795).

There were other minor improvements. On light soil farmers used marl (clay with a lime content). Other farmers drained their fields with stone lined trenches. Manure has always been used as fertiliser but in the mid-18th century farmers began to build underground tanks to protect manure from the weather.

The Industrial Revolution

In the late 18th century everyday life in Britain was transformed by the industrial revolution. Towns, industry and trade had been growing for centuries but about 1780 economic growth took off.

A number of technological advances made the revolution possible. In 1709 Abraham Darby (1677-1717), who owned an ironworks, began using coke instead of charcoal to melt iron ore. (It was a much more efficient fuel). Darby and his family kept the new fuel secret for a time but in the late 18th century the practice spread.

From 1712 Thomas Newcomen made steam engines to pump water from coalmines. Then, in 1769, James Watt patented a more efficient steam engine and in the 1780s it was adapted to power machinery.

The first industry to become mechanised was the textile industry. In 1771 Richard Arkwright opened a cotton-spinning mill with a machine called a water frame, which was powered by a water mill. Then, in 1779, Samuel Crompton invented a new cotton-spinning machine called a spinning mule. Finally in 1785 Edmund Cartwright invented a loom that could be powered by a steam engine. As a result of these new inventions cotton production boomed.

Iron production also grew rapidly. In 1784 a man named Henry Cort (1740-1800) invented a much better way of making wrought iron. Until then men had to beat red hot iron with hammers to remove impurities. In 1784 Cort invented the puddling process. The iron was melted in an extremely hot furnace and stirred of 'puddled' to remove impurities. The result was a vast increase in iron production.

Meanwhile in 1778 Joseph Bramah invented patented the modern water closet.

Gaslight was invented in 1792 by William Murdoch. Meanwhile in 1783 the Montgolfier brothers invented the hot air balloon. In the USA Benjamin Franklin invented the lightning conductor in 1752. In 1784 Franklin also invented bi-focal lenses. In 1793 Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin.

Technology in the 19th Century

In the 19th century people mastered electricity. In 1819 a Dane, Hans Christian Oersted discovered that electric current in a wire caused a nearby compass needle to move. The Englishman Michael Faraday (1791-1867) showed that a magnet can produce electricity. In 1831 Faraday invented the dynamo. Meanwhile the electromagnet was invented in 1825. In 1837 Samuel Morse invented the electric telegraph. In 1876 Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone.

In the 19th century machines in factories were usually operated by steam engines. At the end of the 19th century they began to convert to electricity.

In the mid 19th century travel was revolutionised by railways. They made travel much faster. (They also removed the danger of highwaymen). The Stockton and Darlington railway opened in 1825. However the first major railway was from Liverpool to Manchester. It opened in 1830. In the 1840s there was a huge boom in building railways and most towns in Britain were connected.

The first underground railway in Britain was built in London in 1863. Steam locomotives pulled the carriages. The first electric underground trains began running in London in 1890.

Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler made the first cars in 1885 and 1886.

Meanwhile at sea travel was revolutionised by the steam ship. By 1815 steamships were crossing the English Channel. Furthermore it used to take several weeks to cross the Atlantic. Then in 1838 a steam ship called the Sirius made the journey in 19 days. However steam did not completely replace sail until 1897 when Charles Parsons invented the steam turbine.

A number of inventions to do with clothing were made in the 19th century. The safety pin was invented in 1849. Henry Seely invented the electric iron in 1882 but it did not become common until the 1930s. Dry cleaning was invented in 1855. The zip fastener was invented in 1893.

Gaslight first became common in well off people's homes in the 1840s. By the late 1870s most working class homes had gaslight, at least downstairs. Bedrooms might have oil lamps. Gas fires first became common in the 1880s. Gas cookers first became common in the 1890s.

Joseph Swan invented the electric light bulb in 1878. The first town to have electric streetlight was Godalming in 1881.

During the 19th century medicine made grat advances. Louis Pasteur (1822-1895) proved that microscopic organisms caused disease. In the early 19th century many scientists believed in spontaneous generation i.e. that some living things spontaneously grew from non-living matter. In a series of experiments between 1857 and 1863 Pasteur proved this was not so. Once doctors what caused disease they made rapid headway in finding cures or preventions.

Surgery was greatly improved by the discovery of Anaesthetics. As early as 1799 the inventor Humphrey Davy (1778-1829) realised that inhaling ether relieved pain. Unfortunately decades passed before it was actually used. An American dentist Henry H. Morgan began using ether in 1846. In the same year ether was used as an anaesthetic by surgeons.

James Simpson (1811-1870), who was Professor of Midwifery at Edinburgh University, began using chloroform for operations in 1847. Incredibly some people disapproved of using chloroform to relieve pain, especially if it was used to help women giving birth. Some people thought that childbirth ought to be painful! However in 1853 Queen Victoria insisted in having chloroform when she gave birth to her eight child. Afterwards most of the opposition to using chloroform ended. Nobody dared criticise the queen!

In 1865 Joseph Lister (1828-1912) discovered antiseptic surgery, which enabled surgeons to perform many more complicated operations. Lister prevented infection by spraying carbolic acid over the patient during surgery. German surgeons developed a better method. The surgeons hands and clothes were sterilised before the operation and surgical instruments were sterilised with super heated steam.

Rubber gloves were first used in surgery in 1890.

Anaesthetics and antiseptics made surgery much safer. They allowed far more complicated operations.

In 1851 Herman von Helmholtz invented the ophthalmoscope. The hypodermic syringe was invented in France in 1853.

In 1895 x-rays were discovered by Wilhelm Roentgen. The same year aspirin was invented.

During the 19th century people discovered new materials. Portland cement was invented in 1824. In 1839 Charles Goodyear discovered rubber vulcanisation and celluloid was invented in 1869.

In 1885 Henry Bessemer (1813-1898) invented the Bessemer converter, which converted iron to steel by blowing air through it while molten.

Meanwhile a whole host of inventions improved life for people during the 19th century. These included the lawn mower in 1830. Cyrus McCormick�s mechanical reaper in 1831 and the cash register in 1879. Other useful inventions were barbed wire by Joseph Glidden in 1873, the electric fan in 1882 and the fountain pen in 1884. In 1885 Donald Dewar invented the vacuum flask.

At the end of the 19th century bicycling became a popular sport. The safety bicycle went on sale in 1885 and in 1892 John Boyd Dunlop invented pneumatic tyres (much more comfortable than solid rubber ones!) Bicycling clubs became common.

The steam driven printing press was invented in 1814 allowing newspapers to become more common.

One new hobby in the 19th century was photography. Henry Fox Talbot took the first photograph in 1835. However photography was more than just a pastime. In 1871 a writer said that one of the great comforts for the working class was having a photo of a family member who was working a long way off. They could be reminded what their loved one looked like.

The first cheap camera was invented in 1888 by George Eastman. Afterwards photography became a popular hobby.

The industrial revolution also transformed warfare. Railways meant armies could be transported much faster than before. The telegraph meant that messages could also be transmitted much faster.

At the beginning of the 19th century Sir William Congreve (1772-1828) developed the Congreve rocket. These rockets were used at Copenhagen in 1807 and they set most of the town on fire. However rockets lacked both range and accuracy and after the Napoleonic Wars they fell from favour.

Meanwhile in 1807 a Scot named Alexander Forsyth patented the percussion cap. When a trigger was pulled a hammer hit a container of fulminate of mercury, which exploded and ignited the charge of gunpowder. The percussion cap replaced the flint lock.

In 1837 Johann von Dreyse invented the first breech loading firearm, the needle-gun. It was adopted by the Prussian army in 1841. Over the following decades the breech loading rifle was refined and improved.

Breech loading guns greatly increased the rate of fire. The British army began using breech loading guns in 1865.

The range of guns was improved by rifling. Some guns had been rifled for centuries but it only became commonplace in the 19th century.

In the late 19th century rifles were improved further by the introduction of magazines, which greatly increased the rate of fire.

Meanwhile in 1835 Samuel Colt invented the revolver. Traditionally the cavalry fought with pistols and swords but the revolver made swords obsolete.

In the 19th century many people experimented with machine guns. In 1862 Richard Gatling invented the Gatling gun. However the first really successful machine gun was the maxim gun, invented by Hiram Maxim in 1884. It was adopted by the British army in 1889.

War at sea was changed by exploding shells, by steam engines and by iron ships. In 1858 the French launched La Gloire. It was made with plates of iron fixed onto timber. However in 1860 Britain launched HMS warrior. This ship was made with an iron hull instead of a wooden hull with iron plates fixed on. Soon the traditional gun deck on warships was replaced by turret guns on the top deck.

In the 1860s Robert Whitehead developed the modern torpedo. The British navy began making torpedoes in 1871.

In the 19th century new explosives were invented to replace gunpowder. TNT was invented in 1863 and dynamite followed in 1867. Cordite was invented in 1889.

In the 19th century European armies fought a number of colonial wars in Africa. African warriors fought with spears and throwing axes as well as the bow. They also used throwing knives, which had several blades pointing in different directions.

Technology in the 20th Century

In the early 20th century vehicle technology advanced rapidly. In 1934 Percy Shaw invented the cat's eye. Carlton Magee invented the parking meter. The first one was installed in the USA in 1935.

In 1931 an American called Rolla N. Harger invented the first breathalyser. It was first used in Indianapolis USA in 1939.

A Swede named Nils Bohlin developed the three-point seat belt in 1959.

The first hovercraft was launched in 1959.

Antibiotics were discovered too. Penicillin was discovered in 1928 by Alexander Fleming but it was not widely used till after 1940.

Meanwhile the iron lung was invented in 1928. The electronic hearing aid was invented in 1935. In 1943 Willem Kolf built the first artificial kidney machine. (The first kidney transplant was in 1963).

In 1954 Dr Jonas Salk invented a vaccine for poliomyelitis.

Meanwhile surgery made great advances. The first pacemaker was made in 1958. The first heart transplant was performed in 1967. The first artificial heart was installed in 1982. The first heart and lung transplant was performed in 1987.

The laser was invented in 1960. In 1964 it was used in eye surgery for the first time.

Meanwhile the invention of fibre optics in the 1950s made possible the development of endoscopes in the 1960s.

Contraceptive pills went on sale in Britain in 1961.

Treatment for infertility also improved in the late 20th century. The first test tube baby was born in 1978.

The Wright brothers invented the aeroplane in 1903. In 1909 Bleriot flew across the English Channel. In 1919 Alcock and Brown became the first people to fly across the Atlantic. In 1919 aeroplanes began carrying passengers between London and Paris. Jet passenger aircraft were introduced in 1949.

In July 1915 the Germans used the first flamethrowers. In 1916 the British introduced the tank.

Meanwhile in 1918 the Germans introduced the first sub-machine gun, which could be operated by one man. In 1920 the Thompson sub-machine gun or Tommy gun was produced.

In 1944 jet engines were introduced and planes became still faster. In 1947 a plane flew faster than sound for the first time.

During the Second World War tanks continued to play a dominant role despite the development of anti-tank guns. However during World War II there were two new developments. The Germans began using rockets. On 13 June 1944 they launched the first V-1 flying bomb. More dangerous was the V-2 rocket. It had a range of 200-220 miles. It rose to a height of 50 miles and travelled at over 2,000 mph.

In 1954 the Soviet Union made the first ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile).

The other development was the atomic bomb. On 6 August 1945 one exploded over Hiroshima. On 9 august another exploded over Nagasaki. Each killed tens of thousands of people. The Soviet Union exploded an atomic bomb in 1949.

In 1952 American scientists invented the much more powerful hydrogen bomb. The USSR exploded a hydrogen bomb in 1954.

During the Vietnam War the Americans experimented with laser guided missiles. However they were not used on a large scale until the Gulf War of 1991.

The first nuclear powered submarine, the Nautilus was launched in 1955. However peaceful use was also made of nuclear power. The first nuclear power station opened in Russia in 1954. The first one in Britain opened in 1956.

Great progress was made in inventing plastics. Bakelite was invented in 1908. So was cellophane. PVC was first used in the 1940s. By the 1960s all kinds of household goods from drain pipes to combs were made of plastic.

Nylon was first made in the 1935 by Wallace Carothers and polyester was invented in 1941. It became common in the 1950s. Vinyl (a substitute for leather) was invented in 1924.

The first steps were taken into space. The first artificial satellite Sputnik I was launched in 1957. Telstar, the first communication satellite was launched in 1962. In 1961 Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space. In 1963 Valentina Tereskova became the first woman in space. In 1969 Neil Armstrong became the first person on the Moon.

Meanwhile in 1901 Marconi sent a radio message across the Atlantic heralding a new age of mass communications. The BBC began broadcasting radio in 1922. In 1925 John Logie Baird invented television. The BBC began broadcasting television in 1936. Meanwhile in 1927 the Jazz Singer the first film with sound was made. The transistor was invented in 1948.

Perhaps the greatest invention of the 20th century was the computer. In the 1930s and 1940s electronic calculators were built. However the first computer program was written in 1948. The first commercial computer was sold in 1951. Computer technology proceeded very rapidly and computers rapidly became quicker and much smaller. The first pocket calculator was sold in 1971.

Meanwhile the mouse was invented in 1965. The internet was 'born' in 1969 when 4 computers were linked. by the beginning of the 21st century the internet had become one of the most popular way to exchange information and ideas.

At the end of the 20th century genetic engineering became possible. In 1997 Dolly the sheep, the first animal to be successfully cloned was born.

To read a history of science click here.

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