Way back, somewhere about two and a half million years ago, (a hypothetical scenario) maybe one of our distant ancestors got frustrated trying to catch that days dinner, and in sheer exasperation picked up a rock and threw it at the unfortunate critter. To his total amazement, he hit it! Then all he had to do was stroll over, pick it up and it was as they say, in the pot. From that moment on, his life and that of his fellow hunter gatherers in his tribe, was that little bit easier.
Our early ancestors were not too quick on the uptake. After his initial rock throwing escapade, our hero and his buddies practiced until they became pretty good at it, but they left it at that. For untold generations, their descendants lived and died without improving on our hero's flash of inspiration. Nonetheless, technology had been kick started.
Very gradually over the next million years or so, they began crudely shaping pieces of flint to form tools. then they started lashing them to pieces of wood to make axes, knives, spears and scrapers. About this time, they began living in semi permanent communities. A half million years later, the bow and arrow appeared, the communities became permanent and animals and plants were domesticated. Agriculture was born
So progress continued, while not exactly at breakneck speed, it continued. The next major breakthrough occurred about seven thousand years ago, (once again a hypothetical scenario). A clansman was tending his fire when he noticed a bright shiny thing like a small snake emerging from the stones of the hearth. It was molten copper! Now the pace picked up. A trivial thousand years or so later, some genius decided to mix another bright shiny stuff they had found with molten copper. It was tin, so lo and behold, stone is dead, long live king bronze.
The reign of king bronze was not too long, a mere two thousand year eye blink in the evolving history of technology, before being supplanted by iron, in about two thousand BC. The versatility of iron, mainly it's ability to be alloyed with other metals to create speciality steels made it popular with metal workers. It could be beaten and drawn into the required form, unlike bronze which had to be cast. Still, progress could not be termed rapid. From approximately two thousand BC to the late Middle Ages, the most significant developments were in the fields of armament and metallurgy, but in the eighteenth century, things began to change.
In 1777 in a Severn River gorge in England, the World's first iron bridge was built. It was truly a marvel, built entirely of cast iron, the longest span measuring an incredible seventy feet. There being no precedent for such a structure, it was designed and built to timber construction methods. Each component was individually cast to fit, complete with mortise and tenon and dovetail joints. Heavily over engineered for it's span, it stands to this day. Only one hundred and thirteen years later in1890, The Forth Rail Bridge was built in South East Scotland. Constructed of steel, the main spans stretch a mind blowing five hundred and twenty one meters, (one thousand seven hundred and ten feet.) Now we are seeing progress.
Similarly in 1829, George Stephenson, his son Robert, and Henry Booth built the rocket, an early steam locomotive, which reached a staggering 24 mph. Japan, 2003, a Maglev (Magnetic Levitation) train reached a mind boggling 581kph (361mph.) That is faster than the fighter aircraft at the onset of World War Two. Piston engined fighter aircraft were cutting edge technology in1939, and could attain Mach 0.5 (approximately 350 mph). By 1945 Mach 0.8 Today's fighters hit Mach 2 plus. The Spitfires and Hurricanes of the Battle of Britain were vectored on to their targets by ground based radar which could barely tell the distance, height or numbers of enemy aircraft. Today's interceptors carry onboard radar which can 'paint' the target and the onboard computer tells the pilot not only height range and course, but identifies friend from foe, and even aircraft type.
On the subject of flight, we staggered into the air courtesy of Wilbur and Orville Wright at Kittyhawk Sands in December 1903. Sixty six short years later, Man walked on the surface of the Moon. Apollo Eleven, the craft which took us there had the equivalent computing power of somewhere between a present day digital watch and a mobile phone. The combined computing power of Houston of 'we have a problem' fame had the equivalent of a single modern day laptop.
The technology explosion which started with World War Two, giving us jet engines, transistors and silicone chips among other wonderous things continues to this day and shows no sign of slowing down, rather the pace seems to be speeding up. You can buy the latest smart phone, computer, printer, TV, DVD or what have you, and by next week there is something better on the market.
What will be the next quantum leap forward? That is any ones guess. George Orwell tried to predict it and got it all wrong.
To check out some of the most recent advances, click the links at the top of the page. (Just below the title.)
To check out some of the most recent advances, click the links at the top of the page. (Just below the title.)
