Posted on 10/10/2014 12:14:30 AM PDT by Windflier
This original and fascinating book sets out to discover which of the ten centuries from 1000 to 2000 saw the most change in the human condition.
Surely, most of us would say, it can only be the 20th century? Flying, mass motoring, space travel, advanced weapons, atomic power, telephones, radio and television, computers and iPads — what more change do you want?
Ah, says the historian Ian Mortimer, history is not just a matter of inventions. More important are changes in the conditions under which we live and, above all, in the ideas that are ruling at any one time.
Many crucial inventions are ones we take for granted. People can get by without laptops but not without buttons, introduced in the 1330s, which transformed the way people looked, from loose hanging garments to tight-fitting ones.
Think of how life indoors was transformed in the 1500s with the coming of efficient chimneys to take the smoke out and glass windows to let the light in (but not the cold). Or the coming of gas light in the streets in the 1820s and soon afterwards in the home with the boon of a gas cooker instead of the coal-fired range from 1834.
Electric light bulbs (1870) led to all kind of electrically powered appliances — kettles, toasters, fans and sewing machines by the end of the 19th century. And the Great Exhibition of 1851 unveiled the flushing lavatory which soon led to dedicated bathrooms for the well-to-do.
Columbus discovered the New World in 1492 but America’s existence made little difference to life for the average European except for the novelty of potatoes, tomatoes and tobacco.
Tea, coffee and chocolate did not appear till the 17th century, along with Dutch gin, French brandy, champagne and humble lemonade.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
clothing zippers were also a very big deal. vast improvement over buttons.
refrigerators and modern stoves powered by gas or electricity are much more important than any stinkin internet. Just go visit a poor country where houses/homes do not have refrigerators.
Or how about if your power is our for 5 days or months. There goes any refrigeration.
The modern electric grid is more important than computers, internet, DVD players, 50” flat screen TVs and so on
That era begins with a lifestyle not much different than the previous 5000, with horse travel and sailing ships being the fastet travel. Most things were done with human manual labor. In 1830 there were almost no roads in the modern sense, just trails. You were born in a town, never travelled more than about 50 miles from where you were born, and died there. Homesteading in a different place, say moving from New York to California, risked your life on a year long journey.
In the next 110 years, steam power replaced horses and human labor, revolutionizing travel and creating modern industry. Electricity continued replacing human labor, and oil and rail made the world much smaller. By the end of that century in 1945, was the beginning of the atomic age, the jet age, worldwide communications, computers, and the beginnings of space travel.
From 1945 until now, the changes are nowhere as great. We have far more in common with a person from 1945 than a person from 1945 has with someone from 1845.
Stupid leftard article.
What's the biggest thing to hit media since Gutenberg? ... Duh! You're using it!
I was thinking zippers too…until I read that the Dutch brought us gin in the 17th century. Better than zippers, I say. Or perhaps associated with them in some way…:)
buttons — that was a distraction for me during the film ‘Gladiator’.
The actor Oliver Reed had on a shirt with buttons. They were used in the far past as decorations on clothing, but not as fasteners until the early Renaissance.
Ooops!
Full title:
Why buttons changed the world more than the internet: Forget today’s marvels – a new book hails the power of far humbler inventions
Air conditioning changed the way people interact.
Before that people were outdoors more in hot weather. Sitting on porches, taking walks and talking with neighbors and people they met.
After A/C people didn’t have the same opportunity to interact with each other.
We began to loose the skills of civil, verbal social communication.
Now it is not uncommon for people, even entire families, to be in the same room and communicate via text rather than the spoken word.
For me the most important invention was indoor plumbing..I remember chamber pots under beds at grandma’s farm...You just hoped you were the first to use it....kids were 3 to a bed....
Agreed.
I look back to the time when my great grandparents were in their prime, and except for all of the cool electronic technology and futuristic transportation we have today, there's really not that much difference in our day to day lives.
A Lady I know- who turned 100 last year was asked what she thought was the greatest improvement in her lifetime. Modern medicine was the answer.
Not disagreeing with previous posters- I am just of the opinion that modern medicine has advanced since 1945 more than any other field.
extended life and quality of life beyond anyones expectations over last 150 yrs.
I agree that indoor plumbing is the number one best improvement to the lives of modern humans. The rest of our technological innovations pale in comparison to that.
My paternal granddad was born in 1906 (he passed in '92).
He once told me that he figured he'd lived in the perfect time, because he'd witnessed the U.S. go from a mostly rural, agrarian culture, to walking on the moon.
He once related how, when he was a small boy in rural Mississippi, the kids would chase after any car that came through town, because they were so rare.
For the common man, I think GPS probably did something of a magnificent nature. We all used to carry various maps in the car. It’d take forever if we were driving four-hundred miles to some auction-sale in a building that we’d never been to in our lives. Today, I plug in the coordinates, and get the most direct route, never get lost, and if I need to eat....I can find a fine dining place within sixty seconds.
My wife once demanded an Italian vacation (to drive from Germany down to Italy). This was prior to GPS. We got down to Milan and there was some point in town where we were supposed to turn left. The Italians for some reason simply didn’t make direct interstate-type roads....you got off one....transited over to second interstate a mile or two down the road.
Well...I missed that turn, and we spent almost two hours touring around Milan with a marginal map that simply showed the country of Italy, and not the city of Milan. It was an interesting episode, and I saw a Milan that few ever get to see (nor desire). If I’d had a GPS? It would have redefined the vacation, eliminated the two hours in Milan, and downsized the situation where a frustrated wife was telling me where I went wrong.
Absolutely true.
GPS is very cool. But, by itself, all GPS gives you is four numbers: latitude, longitude, elevation, and the current time.
In order to make use of that point in space-time, you need the internet. First of all, to plot your location on the map. And then, to make sense of your location with respect to the current situation (current traffic, etc.) and your immediate needs (basic navigation on the map, place to stay, place to eat, sites to see, directions to a specific destination, etc.)
Like me, you probably spent two whole hours there, because you refused to ask for directions .. LOL
I'm a map guy who still doesn't use GPS. I do like Google Maps, though.
Zippers over buttons? 100%.
Buttons over nada? Incalculable.
As much as I love indoor lighting and electronic communications mediums, I'd have to go with indoor plumbing if I were forced to choose.
Washing clothes sure would be a pain, though. I remember washing boards!
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