Although it is common to associate the term technology with computers, the Internet and electronic devices, technology is all the knowledge and tools that are created to satisfy a need or solve a problem.
For this reason, it is possible to identify relevant technological advances in each of the historical stages of humanity, as we will see below.
Prehistory: fire, tools and wheel
Technological evolution began 2.5 million years ago with Homo habilis , the first humans to develop stone tools . Technology from that period also included:
The use of fire
Knowledge of the creation and use of fire was crucial for the survival of the first humans who left Africa and moved to colder areas such as Asia or Europe. This technology allowed them to eat cooked food and survive the low temperatures.
The first agricultural techniques
This allowed them to abandon the nomadic lifestyle and become sedentary, which had an impact on the formation of the first archaic societies.
The invention of the wheel
The wheel is estimated to have been invented between 5,000 and 3,000 BC. At first, it was used as an ornament for certain small artifacts, until its application as a rudimentary means of transportation was discovered.
The work with metals molten in fire marks the end of prehistory in technological terms and gives way to the ancient Age.
Antiquity: writing, civil works and mathematics
Antiquity began with the development of the first writing systems, such as the one created by the Sumerian civilization around 5000 BC. C, the oldest recorded so far. Other contributions of this time were:
Urban Development
The technological evolution was expressed in the creation of the first cities with their respective infrastructures: aqueducts, drainage systems, public baths, etc. The Egyptians engineered monumental stone pyramids and farming systems.
Math and tools
The Greeks developed advanced mathematics and invented the lever, the hydraulic pump, and the astrolabe, among other tools. In what is now the Americas, the Mayas, Aztecs, and Incas developed solar and lunar calendars, complex number systems, and astronomical observation.
Antiquity ended with the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476.
Middle Ages: windmills, clocks and fork
The Middle Ages began in the 5th century, when the cultivation of cereals was done with water mills, which worked with hydraulic power. The invention of windmills was a technological development that allowed food to be grown in places where there were no water flows, making agriculture more widespread. Other technological advances of that time were:
Mechanical watches
Another important step in the technological evolution of the Middle Ages was the creation of mechanical clocks, much more accurate than their predecessors, the sundials. With this invention, the idea of time divided into fractions, called hours, became popular.
Use of the fork
Another important artifact that is essential today is the fork. Although tools for carving food already existed, in Europe people ate with their hands, placing the vegetables and meat on a slice of bread. The popularization of the fork revolutionized the way of eating in the Middle Ages, giving way to a much more hygienic way of eating food.
The Middle Ages end with the fall of the Byzantine Empire (or Eastern Roman Empire) in 1453.
Modern Age: Printing Press, Telescope, and Exploratory Voyages
Two events mark the beginning of the Modern Age: the invention of the printing press and the discovery of the American continent.
Guttenberg's printing press
The great technological leap of the Modern Age was promoted by Johannes Guttenberg with the invention of the printing press in the year 1450. The Chinese had invented paper, but it was in medieval times that its use reached Europe and the printing press allowed the reproduction of texts on paper, giving rise to books as we know them.
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