Mankind's greatest accomplishment and invention since the civil war?

[herr_oberst]

I suspect most will say that the greatest invention is the transistor and the greatest accomplishment is the first moon landing, but I'd be interested in your ideas.

[Bugsinrugs]

The Mars rovers. The intelligence it takes to put such a complicated and delicate piece of equipment on another planet and have it work blows my mind.

[mgatepi]

The silicon chip

[masraum]

Super interesting question. Thinking about it. Herr_O mentioned the transistor. BugsiR mentioned the Mars rover. I suspect there could be arguments made for computers, the Internet, and possibly even smart phones. A question in my mind is, "would transistor trump the rest since none of the rest would exist without the transistor." Then there's "semiconductor devices" (of which transistor is one) and integrated circuits (which require transistors and semiconductor devices).

[Alan A]

Electricity on demand in every household.

Fertilizer.

[cockerpunk]

the Manhattan Project was both faster, and larger than the moon shot.


the haber process though is the actual answered to all of these questions.

[Tobra]

Alternating Current

[Alan A]

Originally Posted by Tobra

Alternating Current

He just had better publicists than Tesla…

I’m betting we’d all be happy with DC if we were used to it.

[Alan A]

Originally Posted by masraum

possibly even smart phones.

Contender for invention with the worst unintended societal consequences - social media I’m looking at you…

[IROC]

Not really in the running for "greatest" inventions, but think how differently the world would look without air conditioning and elevators.

[john70t]

Originally Posted by Alan A

I’m betting we’d all be happy with DC if we were used to it.

DC is safer and more healthy to live next to (ie EMF and safety). But we'd all be living within 10 miles or so of a power plant. DC doesn't go very far on distribution lines without losing much of it's voltage unfortunately. The entire suburbia urban-sprawl societal model would never have happened. That means starter homes, country living, the automotive industry, the works.

[1990C4S]

Originally Posted by john70t

DC is safer and more healthy to live next to (ie EMF and safety). But we'd all be living within 10 miles or so of a power plant. DC doesn't go very far on distribution lines without losing much of it's voltage unfortunately. The entire suburbia urban-sprawl societal model would never have happened. That means starter homes, country living, the automotive industry, the works.

Plus frequency control, transformers, and a dozen other advantages. It's not even close.

[asphaltgambler]

I think 1st, greatest impact = electricity implemented for the masses that preceeded the innovations listed above

[wdfifteen]

You guys are amazing. Such a variety of truly important inventions.

I'm ashamed to say my first thoughts were:

Greatest invention - BJs
Greatest accomplishment - getting Debbie Strauss to give me a BJ

[Dixie]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

You guys are amazing. Such a variety of truly important inventions.

I'm ashamed to say my first thoughts were:

Greatest invention - BJs
Greatest accomplishment - getting Debbie Strauss to give me a BJ

Huh, who knew BJs weren't invented until after the civil war.

[DonDavis]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

You guys are amazing. Such a variety of truly important inventions.

I'm ashamed to say my first thoughts were:

Greatest invention - BJs
Greatest accomplishment - getting Debbie Strauss to give me a BJ

*mic drop*

[Dixie]

The greatest invention is antibiotics, changing medicine forever.
The greatest accomplishment is that we haven't annihilated ourselves, accidently or on purpose.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Capt. Carrera

The greatest invention is antibiotics, changing medicine forever.
The greatest accomplishment is that we haven't annihilated ourselves, accidently or on purpose.

some what applicable, somewhat not...

Antibiotics have been used since ancient times. Many civilizations used topical application of moldy bread, with many references to its beneficial effects arising from ancient Egypt, Nubia, China, Serbia, Greece, and Rome.[7] The first person to directly document the use of molds to treat infections was John Parkinson (1567–1650). Antibiotics revolutionized medicine in the 20th century. Alexander Fleming (1881–1955) discovered modern day penicillin in 1928, the widespread use of which proved significantly beneficial during wartime. However, the effectiveness and easy access to antibiotics have also led to their overuse[8] and some bacteria have evolved resistance to them.

[john70t]

Vehicles and plumbing are perhaps utilization. The use of electricity both a discovery and invention. But the computer or rather internet would have to be a pure invention. All the greatest consolidated libraries in every language from all over the world available from the home or even a small portable device. And you don't even have to deal with librarians or the dewey decimal card catalog.

[Alan A]

Originally Posted by john70t

DC is safer and more healthy to live next to (ie EMF and safety). But we'd all be living within 10 miles or so of a power plant. DC doesn't go very far on distribution lines without losing much of it's voltage unfortunately. The entire suburbia urban-sprawl societal model would never have happened. That means starter homes, country living, the automotive industry, the works.

That’s not exactly true. Google HVDC and you’ll see it’s preferable for long distance transmission. Cost to change is the limiting factor. Hence my assertion.