Five Innovations That Changed Human History
Transitions and Impacts

Describes the impacts of five major innovations in human history: fire, horse domestication, writing, printing, and wireless communication.

Robin Derricourt (Author)

9781009523394, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 21 November 2024

304 pages
22.9 x 15.3 x 1.5 cm, 0.49 kg

'This book is an important resource for students of all levels of education who are interested in history, archaeology, and the impact innovations or inventions throughout history have on the world. … Recommended.' L. Dubell, CHOICE

We live in an era of major technological developments, post-pandemic social adjustment, and dramatic climate change arising from human activity. Considering these phenomena within the long span of human history, we might ask: which innovations brought about truly significant and long-lasting transformations? Drawing on both historical sources and archaeological discoveries, Robin Derricourt explores the origins and earliest development of five major achievements in our deep history, and their impacts on multiple aspects of human lives. The topics presented are the taming and control of fire, the domestication of the horse,and its later association with the wheeled vehicle, the invention of writing in early civilisations, the creation of the printing press and the printed book, and the revolution of wireless communication with the harnessing of radio waves. Written in an engaging and accessible style, Derricourt's survey of key innovations makes us consider what we mean by long-term change, and how the modern world fits into the human story.

List of illustrations
1. Introduction: transitions and impacts
2. Taming fire
3. Domesticating horses
4. Developing writing
5. Inventing printing
6. Communicating wirelessly
7. Innovation, progress and presentism
Notes
Further reading
Index.

Subject Areas: Archaeology [HD]