# Humanities & Anthropology > History & Civilisations >  Best invention for the past 200 years?

## Mycernius

BBC radio four has been running a small poll in conjunction with this years Reith Lectures. As the lectures have been about technology and its impact on the world the poll was about what the public thought was the most important invention in the past two hundred years. There were several put forward and one was eventually selected. These included, radio, communication satellites, nuclear power, but strangely enough not TV. The winner was the bicycle. I wonder what your views on the most important invention for the past two hundred years is and your reasosn why? I would like a poll, but the chioces are vast and probably too large to do a poll for.
As for me I would go for the humble lightbulb. It gives us light at the flick of a switch and the ability to carry on working or posting into the night. Otherwise we would still be stuck with gas lighting, which smell and is a little bit more dangerous than the lightbulb. It has turned the human race into a 24 hour people.

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## Duo

best invention, hmm antibiotics ;)

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## Iron Chef

Tough one. I'll wager... the personal computer? Don't know if that goes hand-in-hand with the internet but it seems like it will be the springboard for just about anything and everything that has to do with science and technology in the immediate future.

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## -Rudel-

E=m(c^2)  :Smiling:  


At least...for us science nerds...hehe

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## Tim33

Communication methods in General.

Radio/TV/VHS/DVD/Internet

The ability to communicate and learn has greatly increased.

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## Mike Cash



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## kirei_na_me

I'm with Duo. I was going to say penicillin.

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## Mike Cash

But was penicillin an invention? Or a discovery?

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## kirei_na_me

You are right. I guess I wasn't really thinking...  :Sou ka: 

Invention: telegraph/telephone maybe(which I guess should probably make my first choice electricity?) Even though I'm not particularly fond of the phone at times, it did cut down response time, which is a good thing, I guess.

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## Tim33

The phone was a good invention now its just an annoying advertising technique.

Getting phoned 3 times a day by companies wanting me to change my line, buy there furniture or win there fake prizes.

I actually leave my phone off the hook all day long now and the only reason i have it is because i need a phone line for internet use.

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## Duo

> You are right. I guess I wasn't really thinking... 
> 
> Invention: telegraph/telephone maybe(which I guess should probably make my first choice electricity?) Even though I'm not particularly fond of the phone at times, it did cut down response time, which is a good thing, I guess.



Well, if we really think about every invention is a discovery, I mean for example electricity or what not, is just a discover that if we stik charged electrons through a metal they will travel through, or smth like that, or like the radio, it was just a discovery of the radio waves and a way to exploit them, so the same with penicillin ;)

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## Sensuikan San

> The phone was a good invention now its just an annoying advertising technique.
> 
> Getting phoned 3 times a day by companies wanting me to change my line, buy there furniture or win there fake prizes.
> 
> I actually leave my phone off the hook all day long now and the only reason i have it is because i need a phone line for internet use.


Personally, if I could find a time machine, there would be two people I could cheerfully murder .....

Adolf Hitler .... and _Alexander Graham Bloody Bell !_

If the fax machine and email had come first .... the telephone wouldn't have got a 'look in' in my book !

No record of what's been said, no body language, instant access wether you want it or not .... and that damned intrusive "ring"!

...... I'm _glad_ he spilled acid on his knees ! He deserved it ! And he lied!

His first words were not (something to the effect...)_ "Come in here please, I need your assistance.."_

They were (more than likely...)_ "Holy #%@*! My pants !"_

No; the invention in this period that changed everything (for better or for worse), was without fail .... the *internal combustion engine* .... !

W
[/I]

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## Dutch Baka

Electric light!!!! even i like the dark, im happ my room is lighten in the evening, and that the streets are too!!!

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## No-name

I was thinking of what life would be like without:
Mass water purification systems
Mass sanitation systems
Air conditioning
Electricity
Refridgeration
Airplane
Cotton Underwear w/elastic waistband
Anesthesia
Plastic
Saran wrap
ziplock bags
teflon
comic books
right turn on red lights

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## Mycernius

Sabro, what is the best out of all of them?

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## No-name

Underwear is closest to my...heart?

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## Mycernius

> Underwear is closest to my...heart?


What, you wear a bra?  :Shocked:

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## Doc

Pornography.

Doc :Ramen:  :Joyful:

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## Zauriel

Steam engine. If i remember history, correctly, it signaled the start of Industrial Revolution. 

Television: It's one of the most popular entertainments for the past 200 years. 

Betamax video player: With that, you can not only have video copies of your favorite movies but also can record movies into another tape. Too bad they went the way of dinosaurs despite its superior format. 

Computer: It made my school life easier. You don't need it to write, then erase, and write again your lengthy homeworks.

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## No-name

> What, you wear a bra?


 Only when no one is looking. Please don't tell my wife
 :Poh:

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## CC1

I would have to say Condoms. Too bad not enough people use them!

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## Frank D. White

I would chose the opposite sex (having sex).

Frank

 :Blush:

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## Mike Cash

> I would have to say Condoms. Too bad not enough people use them!


http://www.craigsweb.com/condom2.htm

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## CC1

I knew that they had been around longer than 200 years, but I was mainly referring to companies such as "trojan", "magnum" or "rough rider" you know...something more along the line of "ribbed for her pleasure" but I appreciate the link!

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## Dutch Baka

The laser!!!!!!

as it is being used to listen to cd's , medical threadment, warfare, cutting , (starwars.....) stupid speed controls, guidance for transportation and spacecraft to thermonuclear fusion. etc etc


Look here to see what a laser really is, 

and here to see what kind of laser types there are

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## jarvis

the bikini

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## Sensuikan San

> the bikini



Swimsuit or Nuclear test ?

Regards,

W

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## Sensuikan San

Sorry folks !

It just occurred to me ....

_The steam engine is invalid_ !

It predates 1805 !

With apologies ...

W

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## Dutch Baka

> the bikini


mmm i like topless more then bikini.....

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## Mike Cash

> Sorry folks !
> 
> It just occurred to me ....
> 
> _The steam engine is invalid_ !
> 
> It predates 1805 !
> 
> With apologies ...
> ...


Dang! I was just getting ready to bust you on that!

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## Mike Cash

> Swimsuit or Nuclear test ?
> 
> Regards,
> 
> W


Strange this should come up. Just yesterday I watched a 1987 documentary, "Radio Bikini" about those tests. Bikini has to be one of the finest examples of a good idea poorly implemented.

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## Sensuikan San

Aaaaah yes!

The old geezer's 'hot to trot' today !

Let's just say "age will occasionally beat beauty" ! (Especially when you actually _went to school_ with Watt, Newcomen and Trevithick ....!) :Clap: 

 :Smiling:  

W

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## Sensuikan San

> .... Bikini has to be one of the finest examples of a good idea poorly implemented.


Yeah !

_Swimsuit or Nuclear Test_ ?

(Is there a smiley .... for "rolling around on the floor, absolutely out of control, laughing" ?)

So sorry ! Just couldn't resist ... !

Warmest Regards,

W

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## Mahoujin Tsukai

I believe it's the transistor  :Smiling:  . Without it, many of today's technological developments could not have been possible (or would have at best, progressed very slowly). 

Imagine using vaccum tubes in place of transistors - the result would be unreliable electrical appliances (vaccum tubes failed easily) and _theorectically speaking_, the average *Pentium II CPU* (not Pentium IV) could be as large as a warehouse.

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## Mike Cash

> Yeah !
> 
> _Swimsuit or Nuclear Test_ ?
> 
> (Is there a smiley .... for "rolling around on the floor, absolutely out of control, laughing" ?)
> 
> So sorry ! Just couldn't resist ... !
> 
> Warmest Regards,
> ...


You should see that documentary about the Operation Crossroads test/fiasco at Bikini. I just now did some googling on the operation and found a page that expands on some things the documentary didn't really get a chance to cover.

http://www.aracnet.com/~pdxavets/weis1.htm

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## Kara_Nari

Ribbed for her pleasure? How many of you guys turn it inside out so its ribbed for 'your' pleasure???? I have heard of that being done.
I think transportation is pretty good, whether it be a huge old ship back in the days, or bumper boats in a theme park. Im a big fan.

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## Mike Cash

> Ribbed for her pleasure? How many of you guys turn it inside out so its ribbed for 'your' pleasure????


The late and much lamented Southern philosopher Lewis Grizzard (may he rest in peace) related a tale, likely apocryphal, of a small town Georgia youth in the 1950s venturing into a drugstore and asking for a "french tickler".

"Son, do you know what that will do to a woman?" asked the druggist.

"No, but it'll make a goat jump six inches straight up in the air," replied the boy.

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## Kara_Nari

:Blush:  ... each to their own  :Cool:

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## Sensuikan San

> The late and much lamented Southern philosopher Lewis Grizzard (may he rest in peace) related a tale, likely apocryphal, of a small town Georgia youth in the 1950s venturing into a drugstore and asking for a "french tickler".
> 
> "Son, do you know what that will do to a woman?" asked the druggist.
> 
> "No, but it'll make a goat jump six inches straight up in the air," replied the boy.


Six inches ?

That guy wasn't so good, was he ?

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## Mike Cash

You say that like a man who has made goats jump higher in his day.....

You post put me in mind of a song from Lewis Grizzard, with the refrain of "Damn, brother...I don't believe I woulda told that"

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## Sensuikan San

.....Well .....

I don't like to _brag_! .... but ....



W

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## mynimal

Definately the PEZ dispenser.  :Smiling:

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## galychanyn

computers and the internet

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## NewEngland

M-16 / Ar-15

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## Franco

In my opinion: Vaccine.

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## Yetos

maybe ecology and what hurts enviroment ?

maybe what causes cancer?

or maybe how to drive the masses like tv?

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## Goga

Everything by Nikola Tesla. According to me one of the greatest genius of all times! He was a Serbian.

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## lebowsky

I think STEAM ENGINE. Regards.

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## himagain

Condoms, and especially pornography have been around for much longer than 200 years.
I think food preservation, a Napoleonic military invention, should top the list.

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## Ramses II

Best invention?

It would have to be the airplane. It's amazing how tons of metal can fly.

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## Dianatomia

Funny thing is that a primitive steam engine was developed in Alexandria almost two thousand years ago, but they ignored its potential because it was too expensive compared to slavery.

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## JFWR

> Funny thing is that a primitive steam engine was developed in Alexandria almost two thousand years ago, but they ignored its potential because it was too expensive compared to slavery.


I think it was actually lost due to war before it could even be thought of as useful for anything practical.

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## Francisus

instagram

jk

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