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A Technology Exhibit

Human Innovation

The Industrial Revolution and Free Trade (by Edited By Burton W. Folsom, Jr.)
The Cambridge Press, 1638-1692: A Histor... (by Robert F. Roden)
Telephone Apparatus, An Introduction to ... (by Shepardson, George Defrees)
U.S. Foreign Assistance in Asia : Hearin... (by United States. Congress. House. Committee On Inter...)
Titles of the First Books from the Earli... (by Hawkins, Rush Christopher)
Conflict and the Computer : Information ... (by Nitzberg, Sam)
Early Agriculture in the Atlantic Provin... (by Trueman, Howard)
Agriculture (by Brooks, William Penn)

Human Innovation: A Technology Exhibit presents an unparalleled group of books showing the progression of the human race through technology. Once man was controlled by nature; now he is attempting to conquer both time and space. The following collections represent our endless quest for knowledge to bring us to where we are today: a high technology, globally connected world. Large cultural leaps were made and revolutions begun with inventions such as the Gutenberg Press, radio, the telephone and the rocket engine.

Collections: Technology, Science, Physics, Mathematics, warfare and under other disciplines.

Agriculture

The invention of tools such as the adze, fire, the wheel and language are profoundly connected by a burning need for mankind to control his environment. Even though tools have be used to produce goods and provide services, they have also been used for destructive intent, such as for war. “Human Innovation: A Technology Exhibit” discusses how mankind’s creativity has been deeply tapped to feed and enlarged societies, explore new lands, spread ideas, and can be directly connected to the intent of man to improve daily lives. While the invention of the wheel and an intense spirit of adventure compelled mankind to move journey far and wide like Marco Polo, Sir Richard Francis Burton, Lewis and Clark and Neil Armstrong, the creation of the Gutenberg Press allowed us the opportunity to conquer the many frontiers of the mind.

Technology has been integral to the agricultural sciences. Our early ancestors invented tools that would help them produce abundance and survive using the natural resources around them. The Sal Khan educational video titled, "Humanity on Earth: Development of Agriculture and Writing," chronicles how humans were paleolithic, nomadic hunter/gatherers, who ate meat and nuts. But 11,000 years ago, people invented farming to create and settle in dense environments. This fixed, sedentary type of food production led to technological innovation, particularly writing and bronze tools ("Humanity on Earth: Development of Agriculture and Writing," Sal Khan).

The Industrial Revolution and the concept of "free trade" drew from philosopher Adam Smith’s analysis of the Industrial Revolution (The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith). This great outburst of invention ended the old system of hand-crafted production and increased factory production. Giant textile mills and looms disgorged cotton cloth for new world markets. Mass quantities of goods were produced at great fortune for a few. While technology sophisticated human societies, it also promoted ideologies to commodify natural resources. Early Agriculture in the Atlantic Provinces details how farmers' development of technology increased the harvesting production of the land, allowing him to overcome “physical, chemical, biological and economic problems” in order to “acquire the requisite knowledge or archive the requisite skill to obtain the greatest returns.” (Early Agriculture in the Atlantic Provinces, Howard Trueman). However, there was a disconnect from ecological balance, and a movement towards one of monetized production. The book Agriculture describes, "...animal husbandry, one aspect of agriculture, has been subdivided into three branches: 1) stock farming, which is the production of the larger domestic animals for sale or use; 2) dairy husbandry, which is the production of milk or milk products; and 3) poultry farming, which is the production of ducks, geese, turkeys and chickens or eggs...." (Agriculture, William P. Brooks).

Ideas

As cities grew, so did the need for space and the communication of ideas to shape the extension of society. Johannes Gutenberg is known for inventing mechanical movable type printing which catalyzed the printing revolution in Europe and dramatically altered human consciousness. The invention of the Gutenberg Press is widely considered to be the birth of "mass media" ("The Gutenberg Galaxy: The Making of a Typographic Man, Marshall McCluhan, World Heritage Encyclopedia). The printing press is what propelled the spread of ideas during the Renaissance, the Reformation, the Age of Enlightenment, and the Scientific Revolution.

Titles of the First Books from the Earliest Presses Established in Different Cities, Towns and Monasteries in Europe Before the End of the Fifteenth Century, With Brief Notes Upon Their Printers. Illustrated with Reproductions of Early Types and First Engravings of the Printing Press, is a book that raises the question as to whether Johannes Gutenberg was actually the first person to invent the movable type print. The author, Rush C. Hawkins, boldly claims that Johannes Gutenberg stole the movable type technology from Laurens Janszoon Coster, a man under which he was (according to Dutch legend) apprenticing. There is limited evidence of Coster’s claim in early printed books. Some of Johannes Gutenberg’s first patrons were influential monks in monasteries, as monks typically hand copied influential books such as different versions of the Bible. The first book printed on the Gutenberg Press was The Gutenberg Bible, in Germany in 1450 ("Gutenberg Bible," World Heritage Encyclopedia). The Cambridge Press, 1638-1692: A History of the First Printing Press by Robert F. Roden, discusses how political elites and churches in Spain and England used the printing press to circulate their religious ideals to the “New World.” The Spanish printed the Doctrina Cristiana, and the English used the Cambridge Press to produce the Bible Psalms to teach their religious ideologies to the colonists and indigenous people of the New World (The Cambridge Press, 1638-1692, Robert F. Roden).

Government

Telephone and Internet technology has brought us closer together. In the book, Telephone Apparatus, An Introduction to the Development and Theory, the author George Drefees reviews the scientific principles behind this technology. The principles of physics, chemistry, mathematics and electrical engineering are used to examine the telephone as an electrical transmission system with 3 parts: 1) an apparatus to make and receive calls, 2) an apparatus for transmitting speech, 3) circuits for connecting the apparatus (Telephone Apparatus, An Introduction to the Development and Theory, Shepardson George Drefees).

According to the U.S. Foreign Assistance in Asia, Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific of the Committee on International Relations, 1996.) Donald A. Deieso, chairman of the IECIC, stated that his member firms work in over 160 countries conducting feasibility studies, designing and constructing infrastructures such as water and sewage systems, power plants, roads, bridges, ports, airports and telecommunication networks. Foreign assistance monies are used for overseas infrastructure investment, which builds the United State's and other developing country's economies. Infrastructure provides the basic foundation for market-driven economies so that newly developing countries become consumer markets for U.S. goods and services (U.S. Foreign Assistance in Asia, Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific of the Committee on International Relations, 1996, U.S GPO).

During the height of the Cold War, there was fear that a nuclear war might compromise the U.S. communications system. A scientist named J.C.R. Licklider proposed a solution: a “galactic network” of computers that could talk to one another (“J.C.R. Licklider”, World Heritage Encyclopedia). This became the Internet: a web based communication system that enabled government personnel to communicate if land based communications were compromised. However, this system also introduced new challenges. According to Conflict and the Computer: Information Warfare and Related Ethical Issues, cyber warfare is a type of infrastructural warfare through hacking and compromising of computer networks that coordinate governmental operations (Conflict and the Computer: Information Warfare and Related Ethical Issues, Sam Nitzberg).

Works Cited

"Adam Smith." World Heritage Encyclopedia. WorldLibrary.org. Web. 2014.

"Age of Enlightenment." World Heritage Ecyclopedia. WorldLibrary.org. Web. 2014.

"Bible, The." World Heritage Encyclopedia. WorldLibrary.org. Web. 2014.

Brooks, William P., Ph.D. Agriculture. Volume 1. Springfield: The Home Correspondence School Press, 1911.

"Free Trade." World Heritage Encyclopedia. WorldLibrary.org. Web. 2014.

"Gutenberg Bible, The." World Heritage Encyclopedia. WorldLibrary.org. Web. 2014.

"Gutenberg Galaxy, The." World Heritage Encyclopedia. WorldLibrary.org. Web. 2014.

Hawkins, Rush C. Titles of the First Books from the Earliest Presses Established in Different Cities, Towns, And Monasteries in Europe. New York: J.W. Bouton, 1884.

"Industrial Revolution." World Heritage Encyclopedia. WorldLibrary.org. Web. 2014.

"Johannes Gutenberg." World Heritage Encyclopedia. WorldLibrary.org. Web. 2014.

Khan, Sal. "Humanity on Earth : Development of Agriculture and Writing." Khan Academy, 2012. Video.

"Lewis and Clark Expedition." World Heritage Encyclopedia. WorldLibrary.org. Web. 2014.

"Marco Polo." World Heritage Encyclopedia. WorldLibrary.org. Web. 2014.

"Neil Armstrong." World Heritage Encyclopedia. WorldLibrary.org. Web. 2014.

"New World." World Heritage Library. WorldLibrary.org. Web. 2014.

Nitzberg, Sam. Conflict and the Computer. Telos Information Protection Solutions. Web. 1998.

"Printing Press." World Heritage Encyclopedia. WorldLibrary.org. Web. 2014.

"Reformation." World Heritage Encyclopedia. WorldLibrary.org. Web. 2014.

"Renaissance." World Heritage Encyclopedia. WorldLibrary.org. Web. 2014.

"Richard Francis Burton." World Heritage Encyclopedia. WorldLibrary.org. Web. 2014.

Roden, Robert F. The Cambridge Press, 1638-1692: A History of the First Printing Press. New York: Dodd, Mead and Company, 1905.

"Scientific Revolution." World Heritage Encyclopedia. WorldLibrary.org. Web. 2014.

Shepardson, George Drefees. Telephone Apparatus, An Introduction to the Development and Theory. New York: D. Appleton & Company, 1864.

Smith, Adam. N.p. The Wealth of Nations. London: Methuen & Company, Ltd., March 9, 1776.

Trueman, Howard. Early Agriculture in the Atlantic Provinces. Moncton: Times Printing Company, 1907.

United States. U.S. Foreign Assistance in Asia, Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific of the Committee on International Relations Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific. House of Representatives. 104th Cong., 2nd session. Washington: GPO, July 23, 1996.

Technology Collections

The history of technological development has had a profound influence on our conditions and perspectives of the world. Human Innovation: A Technology Exhibit demonstrates how technology has enlarged settlements, spread ideas, and interconnected government operations.

Examine other ways that technology has impacted humanity in these collections:

Top books on Technology

The Industrial Revolution and Free Trade (by Edited By Burton W. Folsom, Jr.)
The Cambridge Press, 1638-1692: A Histor... (by Robert F. Roden)
Telephone Apparatus, An Introduction to ... (by Shepardson, George Defrees)
U.S. Foreign Assistance in Asia : Hearin... (by United States. Congress. House. Committee On Inter...)
Titles of the First Books from the Earli... (by Hawkins, Rush Christopher)
Conflict and the Computer : Information ... (by Nitzberg, Sam)
Early Agriculture in the Atlantic Provin... (by Trueman, Howard)
Agriculture (by Brooks, William Penn)

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