You may well ask how on earth one could possibly choose just ten greatest inventions of all time? I have made a list of inventions that I consider are all great – and it’s as long as my arm (well almost). Obviously this is a somewhat subjective topic too. Some women may consider their hair dryer to be worthy of inclusion on their top 10. But if you usually let your hair dry naturally, then there are certainly innumerable inventions that would come before that.
Anyway I will try to reduce my list to just 10 – so here goes. I don’t think they will be in order of greatness though – that’s possibly asking a bit much.
1) The electric light bulb. I was going to say electricity but my husband informed me that’s not actually an invention, so the light bulb will have to suffice. The light bulb and electricity go together like a horse and carriage anyway.2) The automobile. No doubt about it, this one has to be right up there! They might gobble up way too much of our money – but most of us have at least one – and many families find it hard to cope without two in these times.
3) The aeroplane/airplane – talking about being right up there! Throughout history men wanted to imitate the birds and fly – so aircraft is one of mankind’s greatest inventions for sure. It certainly has made the world a smaller place.
4) The wheel. The automobile, aircraft – and many other things could never have been invented without it – and nobody was going anywhere very fast if it hadn’t been conceived.
5) The camera. What an amazing invention this is! Something that can capture an image and save it for future pleasure, information or evidence. Have you ever stopped to think how magical this is? Our lives have been greatly enriched by the invention of the camera.
6) The telephone. Being able to communicate with people anywhere in the world by phone is something we all value greatly. Many people would possibly put the mobile/cell phone on their list – but any kind of phone is deserving of inclusion here.
7) The printing press. Without it, we wouldn’t have the great abundance of books, newspapers, magazines, etc that we have in the world today. Just imagine if every copy had to be printed by hand. Of course these days we have printers in our own homes – but the printing press would still have to be the grand-daddy of all kinds of printing devices.
8) Glasses/spectacles. I would be absolutely lost without mine and I’m sure there would be countless people who would agree that this one should be included in the top 10 greatest inventions of all time.
9) The indoor “loo”. Let’s face it, we all use it many times a day – and it’s hard to imagine life without one! Its the most popular seat in the house at times and has power to give incredible relief. It sure beats having to go out to a backyard dunny in the middle of the night (let alone just a hole in the ground)!
10) The washing machine. If you’ve seen what hard yakka (Aussie slang for physical toil) it used to be to get a family’s washing done – an all-day chore once a week – then you would surely agree with many women that this has to be on the list too.
Now I’m not even going to review the long original list I’ve just extracted these ones from. I know if I did I’d be convinced I should have included many others – but I’m limited to ten and I know all the above deserve to be there, even if others do as well. Mankind has certainly come up with some amazing inventions down the centuries – not least of all in the twentieth century alone. I’m using one of them right now! I applaud all those men and women who have given us these things – because one thing’s for sure, I couldn’t have even begun to dream up even one of them!
