According to Kennislink visitors, no invention is as valuable as the printing press. And with that it trumps the transistor (number 2) and the penicillin pill (number 3) in the election for the most important invention ever. In recent months, Kennislink has been dominated by inventions because of the summer exhibition 'De Uitvindfabriek' in Science Center Nemo.
Thanks to the printing press, copying texts was no longer a time-consuming task. Books, pamphlets and scientific works could be produced much more easily. As a result, important works, some of which were few in number, were more easily reproduced and preserved for later generations. In addition, printed texts could be distributed much more easily. It is difficult to overestimate how much this benefited knowledge development and transfer. The printing press, invented by Johannes Gutenberg around 1450, was therefore voted the most valuable invention with 234 votes.
The Invention Factory
Visitors have been able to cast their vote in recent months. The transitor (188) and the penicillin pill (120) also scored high. The editors of Kennislink had made a top ten that could be voted on, which could also be seen at the summer exhibition 'De Uitvindfabriek' of Science Center Nemo. There was of course a lot of discussion in the editorial. We decided to select only physical inventions because they could be linked to an inventor. In addition, we merged a number of inventions. For example, transistors also included computers and the Internet. And under the clock GPS. Admittedly, it also took the editors a lot of headaches to come up with a top ten. Despite warm pleas for the sewer and the flute, they did not make the list.
It soon became apparent that not everyone would agree with our top ten and the eventual winner the printing press. After we had written the election, visitors could not only vote, but also discuss it. And the different predilections for certain innovations stood out. Especially about inventions that we had missed according to our readers.
The discussion
For example, there was a lot of plea for the sewer as the most valuable invention. By Edu van Dijk, among others:“The most effective invention seems to me to be the sewer, this prevented more deaths than all medicines and hospitals combined and made technical, social (urban) evolution and, among other things, science possible in this time :-) ”
Many visitors also emphasized the importance of writing. That by the editors, like other inventions mentioned in comments, was added to our original top 10. In the end, the writing even shared fourth with 59 votes. Or is it actually even a winner? Because the first place of the printing press also gives writing a bit. “Every invention rests on predecessors. There is no printing press without writing,” wrote Robert van de Veen rightly. The same, of course, applies to other innovations. As 'jch' writes:'without current there is no transistor. No transistor>no PC>no automation, telephones, TV, etc." Remarkably few votes went out to the telephone, plastic and the tin can, while the impact of this is very large.
All that ingenuity also led to some fascinating reflections. Like this one by RR:"The most important invention is the invention itself. The possibility of man to increasingly determine his own existence, for good or bad. It ultimately leads to either his downfall or to the (almost) all-determining being. ."
There is good news for those who want to continue to delve into inventions and who missed the exhibition 'De Uitvindfabriek' in Science Center Nemo. The exhibition will move to Continium in Kerkrade and can be seen there from 12 October.