Inventing the 20th Century: 100 Inventions That Shaped the World

by Stephen van Dulken

This is one of those rare books which is as entertaining as it is informative. Van Dulken selects and discusses "100 inventions that shaped the world", organizing his material within ten chapters to correspond with the ten decades of the 20th 1900-1910 (e.g. aeroplane, air conditioning, and the vacuum cleaner) 1910-1919 (e.g. Formica, neon lighting, and the self-service supermarket 1920-1929 (e.g. the bread slicing machine, power steering, and television 1930-1939 (e.g. the jet engine, the photocopier, and radar 1940-1949 (e.g. the ballpoint pen, the computer, and the transistor 1950-1959 (e.g. the geodesic dome, the microchip, and Velcro fasteners) 1960-1969 (e.g. implantable pacemaker, the mouse, and the Workmate workbench) 1970-1979 (e.g. the artificial heart, Post-it notes, and the smart card) 1980-1989 (e.g. cellular phones, genetic fingerprinting, and the video game) 1990-1999 (e.g. cloning animals, fuel cells, and programmable materials) Van Dulken discusses ten different inventions in each of the ten chapters, providing detailed descriptions as well as explanations of the historical context in which each was devised and by whom. In the Introduction by Andrew Phillips, the reader is told that the inventions highlighted in this book "have benefitted people of virtually every nation. Some have helped combat the despair of disease, poverty, excessive (even unendurable) labour. Other inventions -- though less illustrated by this book --have contributed to the ravages of war. What comes forth so often, however, from the examples described here is the individuality and initiative which characterizes so many inventors who helped change the world between 1900 and 1999." Quite true. Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to check out Mokyr's The Lever of Riches and Novak's The Fire of Invention.

Genres: History

246 pages, Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[Roy · Rating 2 out of 5]

NOT a book about "the most significant 20th
century inventions."

The subtitle says, "100 inventions that shaped
the world," and the preface states, "this book
describes 100 significant, or at least interesting,
inventions..." In fact, the book has profound
inventions (transistor) as well as inconsequential
inventions (silly putty). Did silly putty or Scrabble
shape the world?

The index is incomplete. For example, missing from
the index are Kennedy, John F. (p. 148) and Internet
(p. 149.) But worse, the writing is painfully abstruse.
For example, "The 1970s were to confirm the beginning
of much reduction and rationalisation of industry
some of it, like shipbuilding and steel, moving
increasingly to the cheaper Far East."

And this whopper:
But if many of the hopes of the early decade were
tarnished by its end international cooperation
and shared concerns, together with the ability
to speak freely in so many countries, were still
far greater than the years of the Cold War and
of Vietnam would have foreseen.

You can peruse yourself at archive.org. The book is
copyright by The British Library Board.

[Gayle Pritchard · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun book with cool illustrations. Although the writing is dry, the decade by decade synopses are concise and thorough (except for ignoring the art world completely), and it is interesting to know what was invented when, and by whom.