Understanding the Inventions That Changed the World

by W. Bernard Carlson

Listening Length: 17 hours and 25 minutes

History is made not only by kings, queens, presidents, and generals, but equally by inventors and the technological powers they unleash. This course explores the inventions that have changed the world from prehistoric times to the 21st century. Along with recounting famous inventions such as the steam engine, airplane, atomic bomb and computer chip, these lectures explore a number of surprising innovations, including beer, pagodas, indoor plumbing and department stores.

Genres: History, Science, Nonfiction, Audiobook, World History

280 pages, Audible Audio

First published August 31, 2013

About the author

W. Bernard Carlson is professor of science, technology, and society in the School of Engineering and Applied Science and professor of history at the University of Virginia. His books include Technology in World History and Innovation as a Social Process: Elihu Thomson and the Rise of General Electric, 1870-1900.

Reviews

[Petra X · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm really not enjoying this book. It looks like it's going to be the first dnf of 2016. I was jogging along all right with it until the author got to keels on boats. For more permanent sea-going vessels than the bunches of reeds lashed together or shallow-based pirogues boats need keels to help them balance. The author said these keels were made of hydrophobic cement that could stand being submerged without degrading. And he just passed over the cement. I know all about the boats, we all do, but how was cement invented, especially hydrophobic cement?

Inventions, not ideas, don't just come out of nowhere, they are built on existing technology and if the technology or material itself is extraordinary, that is what I want to know about. Cement in itself is an amazing material and the development of hydrophobic cement suggests fairly sophisticated ideas of chemistry and testing. Maybe cement isn't just sexy enough compared to galleons and caravelles?

I suppose this might be an interesting course for bright 11 year olds who would enjoy classroom discussions on the development of civilizations, but it's not doing it for me.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good listing of inventions. Part of the GreatCoursesPlus course but it is a decent standalone. No colour pictures as it is a holdover from the Teaching Company, but the illustrations are fine and helpful. Not all the chapters have a bibliography, but most do, and they are good for if you want to learn about a particular topic more fully. Like one recommendation on Gunpowder, the Science and Civilization in China by Needham, or Reynold's Windmills and Watermills and so forth for the chapter on Waterwheels and Clocks. Frankly, I think that this is a very helpful feature and have bookmarked many of the books to get a better understanding of the topic.

The inventions are the Potter's wheel and metallurgy.
beer and wine and spirits, coins and the alphabet, crossbows,
roman arches, pagodas and cathedrals, paper and printing,
gunpowder, telescopes and microscopes, the caravel and celestial navigation,
coal, steam engines, canals, and railroads, food preservation,
water and sewers, cameras, telephones and phonographs.
electric light and power department stores and retail.
motion pictures, surgery and the operating room,
steel and glass and plastic, the model T, aviation, radio and television,
nuclear power, household appliances, satellites and cell phones and gps,
genetic engineering, the internet, social media and democracy.

[Luke · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finished listening to this set of lectures. Overall the lecturer seems like a really smart dude and knows his stuff, and I’d like to be in one of his classes, but 3 stars for me because I feel like lectures alone aren’t enough. Perhaps 3 stars is too harsh, because I’d probably feel this way about any lectures I bought and listened to.

[Nathaniel Teeter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fascinating course. I learned a lot about the significance of a lot of older technologies that I hadn't really thought about before. Things like how the potters wheel was the eventual germ for the actual wheel. And how pottery in general led to the development of charcoal, metallurgy, fermentation, and many other pursuits. This history also explained how beer and wine became associated with gods like Bacchus/Dionysus--since fermentation was brought about by airborne yeasts which weren't discernible by the naked eye, it was seen as a spontaneous gift of the gods, and a good source of preserving grains/calories in a safe to consume manner.

I lost a bit of interest when we got into the more modern inventions, since as an electrical engineer, I'm quite familiar with the development of transistors and other such marvels. I still appreciated the overall historical aspects of the lessons though.

The final lecture is a great reminder that inventions aren't in a vacuum. Often times, they are the result of many people putting various ideas together and tweaking old ideas for sometimes random, sometimes purposeful, reasons to come up with something new. Sometimes it's a genius that is the inventor, sometimes it's a committee of experimenters, sometimes is a manager who's talent is aiming true genius in useful directions, and sometimes it's many users trying to make a thing easier to work with.

A good book with a lot more positive facts to beleaguer my friend group with.

I still would have preferred more focus on other ancient inventions. What objects similar to the potters wheel have I been overlooking simply because it's fairly common and unimportant today?

[William · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was really disappointing, and that may have resulted in a slightly lower rating than it would otherwise have received. Unfortunately, I was hoping for some twist/insight/connections that just weren't part of the lecture- which again, is probably unfair because the title doesn't give any indication that the course would have that sort of content. The professor did a reasonably decent job justifying the important inventions, but I didn't really get much in the way of insights that I think will stick with me.

The other unfortunate feature of this course is that the speaker's cadence and occasional pronunciation was just off. There were so many awkward pauses or verbal corrections that it really distracted from the content (not that I'm a flawless speaker- then again, I'm not getting paid to present a 30 something lecture series.)

Overall, I just don't know who's going to get a lot out of this one. The science and list of inventions is certainly relevant, but there weren't any shockers. (Yes, pottery, gunpowder, and the airplane were inventions that changed the world. Got anything perhaps a little more interesting?) History, business, and cultural impacts were discussed, but there wasn't quite enough "there" there. Finally, the inventors themselves were also covered, but still without enough connective tissue between subjects.

To be fair, I did like the rare connection or odd implication that was thrown in- for example, pottery was crucial in its own right, but also because it led to the pottery wheel, which is the "first" time energy could be stored or transferred mechanically. Sadly, those insights were just too few and far between.

[Kate Lawrence · Rating 5 out of 5]

I watched, rather than read or listened to, this Great Course, having streamed it free on Kanopy.
I was fascinated by the variety and number of inventions covered and, because the intended audience is the general public, had my mechanical and tech knowledge expanded as a result. But the deeper takeaway for me was a profound sense of gratitude that living in this time period means I can enjoy the results of the painstaking, often frustrating, efforts of these inventors throughout history to solve problems, improve transportation, expand our horizons, lessen our everyday workload, improve our health and so much more.

[Hank Pharis · Rating 3 out of 5]

(NOTE: I'm stingy with stars. For me 2 stars means a good book or a B. 3 stars means a very good book or a B+. 4 stars means an outstanding book or an A {only about 5% of the books I read merit 4 stars}. 5 stars means an all time favorite or an A+ {Only one of 400 or 500 books rates this!).

The great news is that I can listen to a book a day at work. The bad news is that I can’t keep up with decent reviews. So I’m going to give up for now and just rate them. I hope to come back to some of the most significant things I listen to and read them and then post a review.

[Michał · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh course. It's main premise is supposed to be understanding that without people the inventions are worthless and that the science often comes after the invention comes about but it's delivered in a such a boring manner that the narration kills any enthusiasm for it. Most of the inventions are described as if the reader is someone who never read anything interesting nor was curious on how things work.

People who never had any curiosity for inventions - it's worth reading. Others - just skip it, it's just not that necessary.

[Jonathan Fein · Rating 2 out of 5]

The beginning was interesting, but the last chapters were not good. The author took a very western lens. Almost all inventions focus on UK, FR, DE and US. I was shocked that he used the chapter on the internet to lambast China, completely unnecessarily. No mention of how the US has spied on its allies and many others. No mention of the extraordinary inventions recently coming out of China (or Israel or Singapore, etc.)

[Mathew Benham · Rating 5 out of 5]

A 17hr long audio book, this book was well written and had been narrated by the author. I am now a fan of this author, and look forward to hearing more books by him.

[Todd Cheng · Rating 5 out of 5]

A pleasant and free audiobook that iterates through humans civilization inventing. He highlights the babe, culture, and overall importance of the change.

[Epclark · Rating 2 out of 5]

Frustrating that none of the diagrams he references are in the accompanying pdf. The content is interesting, but it feels like we are missing the most interesting parts.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another wonderful course. Covers inventions from pre-history to the present. Discusses their social and political affects. Lots of things I wasn't aware of.

[Gerry Vert · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book superbly summarizes the history behind some of everyday items. It provides the method these items were created, the people/societies involved, its impact at the time, and the historical context. As these are brief 30 minute seminars, some information not appear (eg disputes on the issue inventor). Instead it focuses on the invention, why it was made and how it affected its world.
I highly recommend it you want the occasional lesson between novels and music.
One good thing to mention: in the Audible version, the chapters titles include the invention being being taught. So you can skip to the ones that interest you.