A History of the World [in 100 Objects]

British Museum and the BBC ^ | various

[AndyJackson]

Obviously a lot to see here and worth visiting over and over.

[AndyJackson]

ping

[Sacajaweau]

What’s missing...a map of the world...way back when...

[theDentist]

10: Jomon pot

We're jomon'...
I wanna jomon wid you.
We're jomon', jomon',
And I hope you like jomon', too.

[kosciusko51]

Somehow, it seems to short the accomplishments of Europeans and Americans. Where is Gutenberg's printing press or at least one of Bibles from this press? Where is Watt's steam engine, a Model T Ford, Marconi's radio, an Engima machine, Einstein's original draft of the Special Theory of Relativity, Philo Farnsworth's idiot box, a musket, rifle, or revolver, a Supermarine Spitfire, a Panzer Tank, an AK-47, a Goddard rocket?

I could go on, but what the museum has is a collection of esoterica, not history.

[LibWhacker]

Thank you. I was about to make the same point.

[Moonmad27]

I went to the British Museum this week and passed that special exhibit by — there’s too much to see in all the other rooms!

[Red_Devil 232]

Item number 14, Jade Axe , is very interesting. If you click on it you are taken to another window that lets you magnify the view of the Axe. Look at the left side of the Axe it is very finely serrated.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Any list of the 100 most important artifacts for understanding human progress has to include the Antikythera Mechanism.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Does the list end with a burka and a hijab? That is how civilization is ending.

[AndyJackson]

Thank you for the link on that very interesting object. One reason it is not in the list is that the list is of objects that are in the British Museum.

[Oratam]

No cross? No pieta? Nothing representative of the faith that transformed the world?

[martin_fierro]

[GAB-1955]

Even so, it was a fascinating series.

[luvbach1]

Don’t meant to knit pick but, in the interest of precision, Gutenburg did not invent the printing press, although his was one of the earliest. His invention of movable type, which supplanted wood block printing, started the Printing Revolution and is widely regarded as the most important event of the modern period.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

If they are going to pick a chronometer, they ought to pick the one on HMS Endeavor, not HMS Beagle. HMS Endeavor did some serious cartography. Anyway, it’s nitpicking, certainly, the British invention of the ship’s chronometer in the 18th Century was a milestone in history.

[kosciusko51]

I would agree that the prehistoric items are definitely fascinating, since they are rare and offer a glimpse at life in those times.

For the modern era, it should be firsts or superlatives of transformative items, not just some shiny doodads.

[Kirkwood]

Chock full o nuts coffee?

[kosciusko51]

Not to “nit-pick” either, but I listed several transformative items, and did not list necessarily “firsts”. Movable type and the Gutenburg Bible lead a revolutionary change in the modern world.

[Andyman]

The radio program(me) is wonderful. You can quibble about the items they selected, but the history behind the ones they chose is interesting nonetheless.