Mr. Gribble
AP World History
7 September 2014
The Growth of Technology Throughout World History The growth of new civilizations impacted an important aspect of human society known as technology. As these societies become more modernized, new technology have been introduced along with improvements of some of the earliest types. Technology has vastly changed from the earliest times to current times with the help of constant developments in the construction of tools, formation of science and mathematical laws, methods of successful building in architecture, and the invention of machines. The invention of tools was the most important technology developed throughout human history. The earliest tools were made out of sticks …show more content…
The discovery of different types of metals such as copper helped in making stronger tools that were able to last for a longer period of time. During the latter part of the Stone Age, people found that by adding certain metals to copper it would create an even sturdier metal known as bronze. “They discovered that if you add just a little of another very rare metal, it makes the copper stronger. That metal is tin...”(Gombrich, 9). The development of bronze for tool-making aided humans in constructing a variety of weapons such as swords and axes and other objects such as bracelets, necklaces, and cauldrons. Gunpowder was the next biggest development in tool-making, which took place in China, where they had began using it in fireworks. News of the invention later spread to Europe in around 1300, where they began using gunpowder in cannons and guns, which were both used in warfare. However, during this period, guns were too cumbersome so the most efficient and most widely used weapon was the bow and arrow because of its speed and accuracy. The next major technological development in tool-making also occurred in China with the invention of the compass. “It was the discovery that a piece of magnetized iron …show more content…
Many ancient civilizations worshipped the sun, stars, and the moon, believing it would bring them closer to their gods. In Assyrian and Babylonian civilizations, they gazed up into the sky each night and recorded what they saw. They realized that the stars orbited in the same way each night. “They soon learnt to recognize those that seemed fixed to the vault of heaven, reappearing each night in the same place. And they saw shapes in the constellations and gave them names” (Gombrich, 20). The Assyrians and Babylonians believed that the stars constant revolving motion was associated with some strange kind of magic, which would allow them to predict the future. This observation and relationship with the stars was later called astronomy by the Greeks. Many civilizations began studying astronomy and later on the Arabs begun learning from Aristotle, a Greek philosopher's writings where they learned the science behind nature and the origins of how things on earth existed. The next major advancement in science took place in Florence, Italy, where a painter, Leonardo da Vinci discovered human anatomy, by dissecting the insides of human bodies. He was also very interested in how birds were able to fly. “He was the first person to carry out an accurate and precise investigation into the possibility of constructing an artificial bird or flying