Greatest Inventions of the Aeonic World

What are the greatest inventions/discoveries in the history of mankind?  The three things that have changed the human race and given Homo Sapiens a distinct and superior identity are undoubtedly “Fire”, “Wheel” and “Paper”. All of them have enhanced and sophisticated the mankind at different times in different fields. Let me elaborate on each of them separately.

FIRE symbolizes both light and heat. In the initial days, fire offered warmth to the cavemen, protecting from the harsh cold. It allowed them to see things and work in dark. It also enabled them to cook/roast food. A secondary benefit was that it helped them to scare away wild animals from their homes. Electricity is the modern version of fire. Needless to say, electricity has been very much a part of our lives and development.

WHEEL signifies the entire transportation. It allowed us to save time and energy and reduced the distances between fellow human beings. I wouldn’t be wrong if I say that wheel led to the discovery of continents, mountains, rivers, people, civilizations, etc. It enabled people to mix and trade with other people from different lands. Even today, we feel the presence of wheel in the form of trains, ships, airplanes, rockets, etc.

PAPER, although an invention much later than the first two, has made our civilization progress by leaps and bounds. Paper could imply lot of things. For example, accounting, maths, science, etc can be called the effects of paper invention. If not for paper, we would have still been in the Stone Age and trading in the form of barter system which needed minimal calculations. Paper actually enabled us to refine our calculations and thus came out scientists and technicians. It allowed us to share/retain knowledge in a more visible manner. It developed the traditional form of teaching called “shruti” (ancient oral based learning) to a modern classroom based education, supplemented with books and computers.

Now that we have dealt with all these three, one feels tempted to compare them and ask as to which one is the greatest invention ever.  Anyhow, all these put together have definitely revolutionized our lifestyle and made MAN as the most superior species in the universe. One might also want to analyze if there are anymore similar discoveries. One might say telephones, but if we look closely, it is a mixture of the effects of electricity and paper. Hence, fire, wheel and paper are the mother of all inventions and will continue to do so.