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History of Human Technology

by Jennie Kies

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Overview

History of the World in Seven Minutes
Stone Age
Bronze Age
Iron Age
Middle Ages
Renaissance/Reformation/Enlightenment
Industrial Age
Information Age

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Stone Age

Time Period: Rise of Homo Sapiens to 2500 BC
Often divided into 2 main eras:

Paleolithic (old stone age)
Neolithic (new stone age)

Pictures: http://iws.collin.edu/rfender/image.html

http://cdis.missouri.edu/exec/data/courses2/2268/lesson01/lesson01.asp

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Stone Age Artifacts

Stone axes, bone needles, hearth sites, leatherwork, basketry, fishing tackle, canoes, bows, stone circles, pottery, cave art, spinning and weaving tools, wooden and stone plows and sickles

Pictures: http://iws.collin.edu/rfender/image.html

http://www.iupui.edu/~mstd/a103/Paleolithic%20Tool%20Types.htm

http://www.cs.iastate.edu/~jia/album/2005/album-xian-museum1.html

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Stone Age Construction

Stone Age people built stone circles throughout Europe. How? Why?

Stonehenge Picture: http://crystalhatchlings.com/EasterEggs/Stonehenge.htm

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Improved Technology Led to:

Improvements in:

Diet

Safety

Plant domestication

Animal domestication

Understanding seasons

Led to:

Longer life span

More people

Settled communities

Spread of disease

Better Agriculture

Picture: http://worldhistoryforusall.sdsu.edu/eras/era2.php

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Picture: http://worldhistoryforusall.sdsu.edu/eras/era3.php

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Stone Age to Bronze Age

Pictures: http://www.oetzi.com/en/node/226

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Bronze Age

Time Period: 2500 BC to 700 BC
Earliest civilizations and the development of metallurgy
People discovered processes of melting copper and tin together to make bronze

Pictures: http://worldhistoryforusall.sdsu.edu/eras/era3.php

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Bronze Age Artifacts and Impacts

Bronze jewelry, tools and weapons
Stone tools were phased out to make way for bronze tools, which were stronger, sharper, and more durable.
Living in cities and towns allowed specialization

Pictures: http://www.amlwchhistory.co.uk/bronze.html

http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/greeks/art/pottery/latebronze.htm

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Iron Age

Time Period: 700 BC - 450 AD
The period of human history characterized by the use of iron as the main metal

Coliseum in Rome

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Iron Age Artifacts and Impacts

Iron daggers, chisels, plows, figurines, jewelry, swords, axes, and spearheads
People could kill animals and each other more efficiently
People could farm more efficiently
People learned about hygiene and health

Picture: http://c-engineer.net/images/aqueduct.jpg

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Middle Ages

Time Period: 450 - 1400 AD
The period of European History between the fall of Rome and the Renaissance

Pictures:

http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/medieval/clothing/index.htm

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Middle Ages Artifacts and Impacts

Wheeled plow, improved harness, shoes, stirrups for riding horses, waterwheel, windmill, cannon, clock, compass, ocean-going ships...
The rise and decline of serfdom and fuedalism
The rise of a money-based economy

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Renaissance/Reformation/Enlightenment

Time period: 1400-1750 AD
Transition from Middle Ages to Modern times

Pictures: http://www.learning-to-fly.com/aviation-history-timeline.html

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Leonardo_da_Vinci-_Vitruvian_Man.JPG

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Renaissance Artifacts and Impacts

Telescope, microscope, thermometer, clocks, barometer, eye glasses...
Instruments allowed scientists to observe and quantify natural phenomena

Pictures:

http://www.astronomynotes.com/history/zgaltelescope.jpg

http://www.darwin.museum.ru/expos/etap/etap2_A.htm

Yet the Renaissance was more than a "rebirth." It was also an age of new discoveries, both geographical (exploration of the New World) and intellectual. Both kinds of discovery resulted in changes of tremendous import for Western civilization. In science, for example, Copernicus (1473-1543) attempted to prove that the sun rather than the earth was at the center of the planetary system, thus radically altering the cosmic world view that had dominated antiquity and the Middle Ages. In religion, Martin Luther (1483-1546) challenged and ultimately caused the division of one of the major institutions that had united Europe throughout the Middle Ages--the Church. In fact, Renaissance thinkers often thought of themselves as ushering in the modern age, as distinct from the ancient and medieval eras.

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Industrial Age

Time Period: 1750 - 1950 AD
Period in human history defined by the first use of complex machinery, factories, and urbanization

Pictures: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9e/Maquina_vapor_Watt_ETSIIM.jpg

The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transport and technology had a profound effect on the socioeconomic and cultural conditions starting in the United Kingdom, then subsequently spreading throughout Europe, North America, and eventually the world. The onset of the Industrial Revolution marks the major turning point in human history; almost every aspect of daily life was eventually influenced in some way. Most notably, average income and population began to exhibit unprecedented sustained growth. In the two centuries following 1800, the world's average income increased over 10-fold, while the world's population increased over 6-fold.^[2] In the words of Nobel Prize winning Robert E. Lucas, Jr., "For the first time in history, the living standards of the masses of ordinary people have begun to undergo sustained growth. ... Nothing remotely like this economic behavior has happened before."^[3]

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Industrial Age Artifacts and Impacts

Steam engine, electricity, automobile, airplane, radio, television, telephone, rockets...
Mass urbanization

Pictures: http://www.tching.com/wp-content/images/industrial-era.jpg

http://www.glogster.com/media/3/7/66/17/7661746.jpg

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Information Age

Time period: 1950 to Present

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Information Age Artifacts and Impacts

Transistors, integrated circuit, computer, communication satellite, digital photography, artificial organs and limbs, nuclear power plants, space shuttle

Pictures:

http://www.harmonie-constantia.nl/assets/images/computer.jpg

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/history/shuttle-mir/multimedia/photos/sts-79/79p-065.jpg

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Resources:

Foundations of Technology by ITEA
http://worldhistoryforusall.sdsu.edu/
Pictures by Jennie Kies or as noted on each page