Scientific Inventions
STONE TOOLS
The invention of the first stone tools morethan 2 million years ago was the momentwhen humankind started to distinguish itselffrom all other species on the planet. It tookour forebears another 1.2 million yearsbefore they found otheringenious ways touse their natural resources--by learning tocontrol fire, build shelter, and make items of
clothing. But having gained momentum, theideas kept coming, and the inventions that followed resulted in full-blown civilizations.
Ihe very first human invention consisted of sharpflints, found and used in their natural state by primitive peoples, who then went on to purposely sharpen stones. The practice reaches back to the
very dawn of humankind; stone tools found in 1969 in Kenya are estimated to be 2,600,000 years old.
The principal types of tools, which appeared in the Paleolithic period, and varied in size and appearance, are known as core, flake, and blade tools. The core tools are the largest and most primitive, and were made by working on a fist-sized piece of rock or
stone (core) with a similar rock(hammerstone) and knocking large flakes off one side to produce a sharp
crest. This was a general-purpose implement used for hacking. pounding. or cutting. Eventually, thinner and sharper core tools were developed, which were more usetul Much later, especially during the last 10,000 years of the Stone Age other techniques of producing stone artifacts-including pecking. grinding. sawing. and boring came into play. The evolution of tool making enabled early humankind to complete many tasks previously impossible or accomplished only very crudely. Animals could be skinned, defleshed, and the meat divided up with stone cutters, cleavers, and choppers. Clothing was made from animal hides cleaned with rough stone scrapers and later punctured with awls. Hunting became more efficient with spearheads fashioned from stone flakes. And with the aid of stone adzes
(axesl.early humankind could create shelter and begin to shape the physical worid to its liking.
CONTROLLED FIRE
Fire is an essential tool, control of which helped to start the human race on its path to civillization. The original source of fire was probably lightning. and for generation blazes ignited in this manner remained the only source of fire.
Initially Peking Man, who lived around 500.000 B.C.E, was believed to be the earliest user of fire, but evidence uncovered in Kenya in 1981, and in South Africa in 1988, suggests that the earliest controlled use of fire by hominids dates from about 1,420.000 years ago. Fires were kept alive permanently because of the difficulty of reigniting them, being allowed to burn by day and damped down at night. Flint struck against pyrites or friction methods were the most widespread methods of producing fire among primitive people.
The first human beings to control fire used it to keep warm, cook their food, and ward off predators. It also enabled them to survive in regions previousily too
cold for human habitation. They also used it in "fire drives to force animals or enemies out of hiding. Controlled fire was important in clearing forest for roadways, grasslands for grazing. and agricultural lands-uncontrolled, the fire destroyed the potential of the soil. Mastering fire also opened up the possibilities of smelting metals, enabling humankind to escape the limitations of the Stone Age.
Built shelter:
The earliest evidence for built shelter appears to have been constructed by Homo heidelbergensis, who lived
in Europe between around 800,000 8ac.E. and 200,000 &.CE Anthropologists are uncertain whether these were ancestors of Homo sapiens (humans) or Homo neanderthalensis (Neanderthals) or both
At the French site of Terra Amata, which dates backaround 400,000 years, archeologists have found what
they believe to be the foundations of large oval huts One of these showS evidence of fire in a hearth, although other archeologists postulate that natural processes could be responsible. Archeology on sites from hundreds of thousands of years ago is complicated Claims of the discovery of built shelters in Japan from more than 500,000 years ago were discredited in 2000. In fact, all evidence for humans in Japan before 35,000 years ago is currently questionable.
We do know that our ancestors spent time in caves for hundreds of thousands of years. But caves are only found in certain areas. Whether they started building 100,000 or 400,000 years ago, their ability to create
shelters close to fo0d, water, and other resources provided our ancestors with protection against the elements and dangerous animals. Living close to work also gave them more time to experiment with different ways of doing things in other words, time to invent.
Clothing:
Around 400,000 years ago, Homo sapiens devised asolution to protect the vulnerable naked human body from the environment-clothes. Anthropologists believe the earliest clothing was made from the fur of
hunted animals or leaves creatively wrapped around the body to keep out the cold, wind, and rain.
Determining the date of this invention is difficult, although sewing needles made from animal bone dating from about 30,000 B.C.E. have been found by archeologists. However, genetic analysis of human body lice reveals that they evolved at the same time as clothing. Scientists originally thought the lice evolved 107,000 years ago, but further investigations placed their evolution a few hundred thousand years earlier.
Clothing has changed dramatically over the centuries, although its ancient role as an outward indication of the status, wealth, and beliefs of the wearer is as important as ever. During the Industrial Revolution the textile industry was the first to be mechanized, enabling increasingly elaborate designs to be made at a faster rate. In the twenty-first century, mechanization has allowed sophisticated practical clothing to be devised to protect us from dangers Such as extreme weather, chemicals, insects, and outer space. Without clothes we would not have been able to explore and exploit our world and the surrounding universe to the extent that we have.
SPEAR
The earliest example of a sharpened wooden pole, or spear, comes from Schoningen in Germany. There,
eight spears were dated to 400,000 B.C.E. The ancient hominid hunters who sharpened each pole used a flint shaver to cut away the tip tO form a point and
then singed the tip in the fire to harden the wood, making it a more effective weapon. A similar technique was used by hunters in Lehringen near Bremen in Germany, where a complete spear was
found embedded inside a mammoth skeleton, Suggesting such Spears were used mainly for hunting rather than wartare or self-defense. The need for food was so great thata mammoth would be attacked with only a flimsy spear, although its use would have been more to Scare the mammoth in the direction of a trap or pit dug previously than to attack it directly.
Around 60,000 B.c.E., Neanderthals living in rock shelters and temporary hunting camps in France sharpened small pieces of tlint and slotted them into the tips of their spears. Hunters in the Sahara used sharpened stones in the same way, while Central Americans used obsidian, a natural volcanic glass.Around the world, Stone Age people gradually earned how to work small stones or flints into tiny, sharpened blades known as microliths for use as spear points. I he greatest advance, however, came with the development of metalworking, notably copper, in outheast Europe after 5000 B.c.E., followed by bronze,an alloy of copper and tin, around 2300 B.C.E., and then iron a millennium later. These new technologies 1lowed hunters and warriors to make hard, sharp,effective spear points.
STONE TOOLS
The invention of the first stone tools morethan 2 million years ago was the momentwhen humankind started to distinguish itselffrom all other species on the planet. It tookour forebears another 1.2 million yearsbefore they found otheringenious ways touse their natural resources--by learning tocontrol fire, build shelter, and make items of
clothing. But having gained momentum, theideas kept coming, and the inventions that followed resulted in full-blown civilizations.
very dawn of humankind; stone tools found in 1969 in Kenya are estimated to be 2,600,000 years old.
The principal types of tools, which appeared in the Paleolithic period, and varied in size and appearance, are known as core, flake, and blade tools. The core tools are the largest and most primitive, and were made by working on a fist-sized piece of rock or
stone (core) with a similar rock(hammerstone) and knocking large flakes off one side to produce a sharp
crest. This was a general-purpose implement used for hacking. pounding. or cutting. Eventually, thinner and sharper core tools were developed, which were more usetul Much later, especially during the last 10,000 years of the Stone Age other techniques of producing stone artifacts-including pecking. grinding. sawing. and boring came into play. The evolution of tool making enabled early humankind to complete many tasks previously impossible or accomplished only very crudely. Animals could be skinned, defleshed, and the meat divided up with stone cutters, cleavers, and choppers. Clothing was made from animal hides cleaned with rough stone scrapers and later punctured with awls. Hunting became more efficient with spearheads fashioned from stone flakes. And with the aid of stone adzes
(axesl.early humankind could create shelter and begin to shape the physical worid to its liking.
CONTROLLED FIRE
Fire is an essential tool, control of which helped to start the human race on its path to civillization. The original source of fire was probably lightning. and for generation blazes ignited in this manner remained the only source of fire.
Initially Peking Man, who lived around 500.000 B.C.E, was believed to be the earliest user of fire, but evidence uncovered in Kenya in 1981, and in South Africa in 1988, suggests that the earliest controlled use of fire by hominids dates from about 1,420.000 years ago. Fires were kept alive permanently because of the difficulty of reigniting them, being allowed to burn by day and damped down at night. Flint struck against pyrites or friction methods were the most widespread methods of producing fire among primitive people.
The first human beings to control fire used it to keep warm, cook their food, and ward off predators. It also enabled them to survive in regions previousily too
cold for human habitation. They also used it in "fire drives to force animals or enemies out of hiding. Controlled fire was important in clearing forest for roadways, grasslands for grazing. and agricultural lands-uncontrolled, the fire destroyed the potential of the soil. Mastering fire also opened up the possibilities of smelting metals, enabling humankind to escape the limitations of the Stone Age.
Built shelter:
The earliest evidence for built shelter appears to have been constructed by Homo heidelbergensis, who lived
in Europe between around 800,000 8ac.E. and 200,000 &.CE Anthropologists are uncertain whether these were ancestors of Homo sapiens (humans) or Homo neanderthalensis (Neanderthals) or both
At the French site of Terra Amata, which dates backaround 400,000 years, archeologists have found what
they believe to be the foundations of large oval huts One of these showS evidence of fire in a hearth, although other archeologists postulate that natural processes could be responsible. Archeology on sites from hundreds of thousands of years ago is complicated Claims of the discovery of built shelters in Japan from more than 500,000 years ago were discredited in 2000. In fact, all evidence for humans in Japan before 35,000 years ago is currently questionable.
We do know that our ancestors spent time in caves for hundreds of thousands of years. But caves are only found in certain areas. Whether they started building 100,000 or 400,000 years ago, their ability to create
shelters close to fo0d, water, and other resources provided our ancestors with protection against the elements and dangerous animals. Living close to work also gave them more time to experiment with different ways of doing things in other words, time to invent.
Clothing:
Around 400,000 years ago, Homo sapiens devised asolution to protect the vulnerable naked human body from the environment-clothes. Anthropologists believe the earliest clothing was made from the fur of
hunted animals or leaves creatively wrapped around the body to keep out the cold, wind, and rain.
Determining the date of this invention is difficult, although sewing needles made from animal bone dating from about 30,000 B.C.E. have been found by archeologists. However, genetic analysis of human body lice reveals that they evolved at the same time as clothing. Scientists originally thought the lice evolved 107,000 years ago, but further investigations placed their evolution a few hundred thousand years earlier.
Clothing has changed dramatically over the centuries, although its ancient role as an outward indication of the status, wealth, and beliefs of the wearer is as important as ever. During the Industrial Revolution the textile industry was the first to be mechanized, enabling increasingly elaborate designs to be made at a faster rate. In the twenty-first century, mechanization has allowed sophisticated practical clothing to be devised to protect us from dangers Such as extreme weather, chemicals, insects, and outer space. Without clothes we would not have been able to explore and exploit our world and the surrounding universe to the extent that we have.
SPEAR
The earliest example of a sharpened wooden pole, or spear, comes from Schoningen in Germany. There,
eight spears were dated to 400,000 B.C.E. The ancient hominid hunters who sharpened each pole used a flint shaver to cut away the tip tO form a point and
then singed the tip in the fire to harden the wood, making it a more effective weapon. A similar technique was used by hunters in Lehringen near Bremen in Germany, where a complete spear was
found embedded inside a mammoth skeleton, Suggesting such Spears were used mainly for hunting rather than wartare or self-defense. The need for food was so great thata mammoth would be attacked with only a flimsy spear, although its use would have been more to Scare the mammoth in the direction of a trap or pit dug previously than to attack it directly.
Around 60,000 B.c.E., Neanderthals living in rock shelters and temporary hunting camps in France sharpened small pieces of tlint and slotted them into the tips of their spears. Hunters in the Sahara used sharpened stones in the same way, while Central Americans used obsidian, a natural volcanic glass.Around the world, Stone Age people gradually earned how to work small stones or flints into tiny, sharpened blades known as microliths for use as spear points. I he greatest advance, however, came with the development of metalworking, notably copper, in outheast Europe after 5000 B.c.E., followed by bronze,an alloy of copper and tin, around 2300 B.C.E., and then iron a millennium later. These new technologies 1lowed hunters and warriors to make hard, sharp,effective spear points.
