Sunday 27 March 2011

Tracing The Giant's Shoulders

Isaac Newton famously remarked that all he had achieved was due to 'standing on the shoulders of Giants.'
One of the greatest quotes ever and there have been many giant's shoulders for us to stand upon but at some point in time, someone must take the credit as the inventor of the development that has most advanced mankind.
I would argue that the event that most advanced us was the asteroid that slammed into the Earth 65m years ago which hastened the death of the dinosaurs and allowed space for the growth of the mammals but what single development over the following 65m years has most bought us to where we are today.
There are many contenders which I hand over the prize to temporarily who without there development, we would be much worse off and make it almost impossible for me to create a list of their importance.
Furthest back in our history would be fire, or rather the ability to control fire, the wheel, language, boats, tools and weapons. All, without which, we would not have even began to advance and truly the giants who shoulders we later stood upon.
Then there is the invention of the printing press, astronomy, gunpowder, cartography, the steam engine and electricity, all of which would bring the world to a screeching halt if one of them were uninvented.
As if all those were not enough, we can throw space travel into the equation and that's a pretty decent group of developments and inventions that all have a good shout of being declared the one thing that has most advanced human beings.
It's too big a subject for my mind, especially on a lazy Sunday afternoon, but i can see how without tools, none of the other developments would have been possible so the giant whose shoulders Newton and everyone else has been upon was the first stone age person to use a tool. I think.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

lucy,

read your bible. the first tool was a fig leaf...

q

Cheezy said...

I thought the first tool was behind the fig leaf?

Lucy said...

snigger

Anonymous said...

hmmmm,

q