Influential Inventions

Saying that the modern world has not been influenced by the past is like saying grass isn’t green. Not only have we learned from the past but some of the greatest inventions come from ancient times. We have the cuneiform and the wheel from Sumerians, and gun powder from the Chinese. Those are only some of the ancient inventions that have evolved to great modern world technology. Without a good base how can anything function right? Without them cars, the alphabet, and firearms may have never been invented. Inventions that most of us could not live without; because we have places to go, things to say, and stuff to protect. A wheel serves as a way to move objects from one place to another without having to exert as much force as doing it with just human power. It evolved from logs, to wagons, to carts, and now cars. In ancient times there were no forklifts and cranes to lift heavy stuff, and the stamina of the builders of great architectural feats like ziggurats ran out quickly.

So great thinkers thought of a wheel, a creation that helped speed up the process of building because it reduces friction by facilitating motion aka rolling instead of just pushing. Basic science plays in, less friction equals easier to move things. Easier to move things meant things got built faster because times not wasted transporting materials. Another thing wheels helped do is diversify civilizations. You may not find something from one country but you may find it in another. Sure you could ride a horse or walk, but how are you able to haul a lot of things that you just got. The horse would tire out sooner and so would you because of a lot of weight. So the wheel allows you to go to farther places and get more products. All in all, the wheel has made transportation, trading, and building more sufficient.

Cuneiform was the first widespread writing, not only did the Sumerians (creators) use it but many other civilizations used it. It’s not really the base of our alphabet because the Greeks are credited for that, but without the thought of finding a way to document stuff aka cuneiform. The Greeks may have never thought of coming up with the Greek alphabet. In a world with no writing we wouldn’t be able to learn from our mistakes in the past because there is no documentation. History is important because we can take what happened then and apply it to a similar situation and have a better outcome because we know what to do. You could just pass it down from generation to generation by telling them in a story but things would get lost in translation and it won’t be the same story at the beginning. Also writing serves as a structure to a civilization. People know what to do because it’s written down for them, they know their religion, the laws that they have to follow, and who to follow, and etc. The founders create the structure and it gets passed down and become more concrete. Writing enables history to be passed on without details getting lost in translation, and structure a civilization.

Lastly, gun powder a chemical explosion that came from China is another great invention that came from an ancient civilization. It has many purposes it can be used in a weapon or in celebration. You could use it in a celebration because gun powder is used in fireworks which we use in holidays like 4th of July. A more important use of the gun powder is that it can be used in firearms. We use firearms mainly to protect ourselves but some may use it as a way to find there next meal, or as a hobby to shoot things. The ability to protect a nation means that it can prosper and grow, because if someone attacks them there not defenseless and can fight back. Also when having a major weapon you are feared and no one wants to mess with you. So to wrap it up gun powder is important because it allows then and now civilizations to protect themselves and prosper and grow.

There are many more great inventions that came from the ancient civilizations, but the most important ones are gun powder, cuneiform, and the wheel. They are important because they are things that affect our daily lives. We drive to friends, school, and work almost every day without the wheel our cars would not move. Without writing texting, e-mails, signs, and etc. wouldn’t exist because we would only have a spoken language not a written language. Lastly we need gun powder for guns which we use when hunting or protecting ourselves.