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Four Ways to View Technology History

General

This web page began as a book which defined the history of technology. The book’s title – TECHNOLOGY: Table, Truths, Timeline, and Top 100 – lists four complimentary ways the history of inventions can be described.

InventTable – a Periodic Table of Technology

The table, InventTable, is similar to the Periodic Table of Chemistry. All of technology history is in the table. The table organizes 1000 inventions. The horizontal axis of the table is the 10 classes of technology: data communication, data storage, energy radiant, energy current, machines- non transport, transport machines, materials-metals, materials- nonmetals, biotechnology domestic, biotechnology medical. All 1000 inventions exist in one of these 10 technology classes. The vertical axis of the table is 9 time eras of technology: oral era, tokens era, written era, alphabet era, numbers era, print era, wired era, wireless era, and internet era. A data invention defines each of the 9 time eras. To understand the classes and eras of technology is to understand the history of inventions. I believe this InventTable is the simplest, most complete way to represent all of technology history.

Technology Truths

The second way to represent technology history is to list generalizations, laws, axioms, or rules which I call TRUTHS of technology. These truths may seem similar to Kranzberg’s 6 Laws of Technology listed in 1985. My list of technology truths is more extensive and I think more informative of the history of inventions.

Data viewed as technology history

Timeline of Technology

The timeline is 2000 inventions in 9 eras of technology. The list is chronological and includes where known: the invention, description, date, inventor, and country of invention origin.

Top 100 Greatest Inventions Of All Time

The Top 100 is by importance. Similar to the timeline, the list includes: the invention description, date, inventor, and country of invention origin.

Each of the 4 methods to depict technology history is a complimentary window into the history of inventions. When taken together, the view of the history of technology is broad and diverse. This web site is an expansion of these 4 depictions of the history of inventions.