The Greatest Inventions of the Past 2,000 Years

by John Brockman

The editor and literary agent John Brockman recently challenged the salon of scientists that he hosts on his website by "What is the most important invention of the past two thousand years?" Not content to be merely right, his contributors vied for originality, provocativeness and intellectual panache. This book provides a showcase for more than a hundred of their responses, which are as varied, and in some cases strange, as the participants themselves. Gutenberg's printing press wins the most endorsements and passing nods. But the neuroscientist Colin Blakemore and others argue for the birth-control pill. The biologist Richard Dawkins nominates the spectroscope. The physicist Freeman Dyson makes a case for hay. John Maddox, the former editor of Nature, favours the calculus. Computers, genetic engineering, the atom bomb, board games, mirrors, anaesthesia, paper, Western classical music and reading glasses all have their champions, as do ideas such as the scientific method, democracy, the number zero and the concept of the unconscious mind. The result is a wonderfully eclectic, lively and stimulating collection, full of intriguing new ideas, and new perspectives on old ideas.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Technology, History

Hardcover

First published January 12, 2000

About the author

John Brockman is an American literary agent and author specializing in scientific literature. He established the Edge Foundation, an organization that brings together leading edge thinkers across a broad range of scientific and technical fields.

He is author and editor of several books, including: The Third Culture (1995); The Greatest Inventions of the Past 2000 Years (2000); The Next Fifty Years (2002) and The New Humanists (2003).

He has the distinction of being the only person to have been profiled on Page One of the "Science Times" (1997) and the "Arts & Leisure" (1966), both supplements of The New York Times.

Reviews

[Senthil Kumaran · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book fascinating. It provided me a window to glimpse at the history of humankind's inventions, inventors, and discoverers. The aspect that I liked the most was to do with things that I didn't know about or with the aspects that I had overlooked in the inventions.
For e.g. Invention of Rudder played a major role in navigation, the invention of multiple other devices, funding from the king that helped made Columbus's journey possible. Modern printing press's invention was for printing Bible. English first came to the US to occupy the lands in the Longitude 77, that had significance in John Dee's calendar. The Hindu Arabic numeral system that contributed greatly to the numerous advances in the western world and thinking. Drawing the connections between the inventions and context of these inventions were equally captivating as the invention itself.

[William Schram · Rating 3 out of 5]

What is the greatest invention of the past 2000 years? From essays that span multiple pages to short replies of one or two sentences, an eclectic collection of people answer this question. John Brockman is the editor of this collection of essays.

Some of the essays are thought-provoking, while others come across as snarky. A few of the responses are the same, only differing in the reason that they chose them.

If I had the option to choose, and I do, I would choose the automatic bread slicing machine. I was surprised that no one selected that option. In any case, my serious response would be the Internet. Several people chose that option but became pensive at the idea of microchips and the Personal Computer essential to the backbone of the Internet. One of the responders got into that quandary by mentioning that the automobile requires an internal combustion engine.

The book is from the year 2000, and many things have changed since then. When people selected the Internet as an option, technologies to make the modern Internet might not have existed yet. I am not a very good historian in that sense. It is interesting to see how people had hope about the Internet shattering boundaries.

[Stephanie Pieck · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was interesting reading the opinions of many esteemed members of the scientific community about "the greatest inventions" as written at the turn of the millennium. All the usual candidates appeared--computers, the printing press/movable type, the combustion engine. Others were a bit more surprising--contraceptive pills, hay, and lenses, for instance.
Some writers tackled the question with an eye to the past, while others decided to consider what invention would have the greatest impact on humanity over the next two thousand years.
I have one major complaint, and that is the lack of female contributors. This book was drawn from an invitation-only discussion forum hosted by the editor online, so the error is compounded. Surely there are more women who are just as brilliant, erudite, and worth listening to?

[The_J · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two millennia of newness

[Paulrx04 · Rating 5 out of 5]

All these super brains do a great job convincing you their choice is the best.
Really makes you think