The Greatest Inventions of the Past 2,000 Years (Hardcover)

by John Brockman (Editor) "The most important invention of the past two thousand years is the printing press..." (more)
Key Phrases: most important invention, greatest inventions, University of California, Howard Gardner, New York Times (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
What's the greatest human invention of the last two millennia? The Greatest Inventions of the Past 2,000 Years grew out of a Web-site project called Edge (www.edge.org), wherein the invited intelligentsia recorded their deep thoughts on a variety of topics. In 1998, editor John Brockman asked them to choose the creation that most shaped our world since year 1. For this book, Brockman picked a hundred of the most compelling entries from intellectual celebrities like Stewart Brand, Richard Dawkins, Steven Pinker, and Murray Gell-Mann.

The printing press received a number of votes, as did the computer and television. Other entries were more eclectic: organized science, the contraceptive pill, the gun, or even hay. Chairs and stairs. Anesthesia. Cities. Each invention is justified by a short essay, some of which read like... well, Web-site prose. Also, a glaring sexism flaws the book--Brockman chose fewer than 10 women's submissions. Nevertheless, Greatest Inventions is a worthy addition to your millennial reading list, and lots of fun besides. --Therese Littleton

From Publishers Weekly
Physicist Freeman Dyson says it's hay; biologist Brian C. Goodwin nominates the printing press; and virtual reality pioneer Jaron Lanier suggests that it's the human ego. Whether or not readers agree with any of the more than 100 contributors to this nifty volume about the greatest invention of the past two millennia, anyone who cracks open the book's covers is in for an intellectual treat. Brockman, perhaps best known as an agent for science writers but also as the author or editor of several books (Digerati, etc.), here presents, with additions and changes, writings on that subject posted on his Web site, Edge (www.edge.org), by a host of inspired minds (though perhaps not, as the jacket crows, "today's leading thinkers"; there's a paucity of artists and religious professionals represented, for example). The contributions, which run from a couple of sentences to several pages, are grouped into "How We Live" and "How We Think." Though there appears to be some chronological ordering within each section, the essays are also arranged to illuminate one another. Some are obvious--three thinkers in a row nominate calculus--while others are startling for their unexpectedness (social commentator Douglas Rushkoff suggests the eraser, which lets us "fix" our mistakes) or their ingenuity (theoretical psychologist Nicholas Humphrey names reading glasses, which "have effectively doubled the working life of anyone who reads or does fine work--and have prevented the world from being ruled by people under forty." Together, the essays challenge and delight, offering flash after flash of insight. Brockman's own suggestion is our "Distributed Networked Intelligence"--"the collective, externalized mind," of which this at once amiable and arresting book is a notable manifestation. (Jan.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (January 12, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 068485998X
• ISBN-13: 978-0684859989
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,348,218 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Diverse ideas from smart minds, December 28, 1999

By A Customer

This book is a fascinating collection of ideas from some of the best scientific thinkers alive today. The range of inventions is extreme. Cliff Pickover, author of "Surfing Through Hyperspace," selected paper as the most important invention. Physics professor Freeman Dyson, author of "The Sun, the Genome, and the Internet" selected "hay" as the most important invention. There are many surprises in this book and much to be learned.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Worst book of the past 2,000 years, February 16, 2000

By	David Mausner (Oak Park, IL USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This compilation offers no useful insights about invention. The editor solicited comments from the contributors by e-mail. They evidently replied quickly, and made no serious attempt to consider the effect of technology on civilization, nor the effect of their own words on readers.

Many of the famous contributors make weak arguments based on blatantly false readings of history and astounding ignorance of science.

It is difficult to accept, for example, that the Thermos Bottle is one of the greatest accomplishments of this era. One sage justifies this choice on the basis of an old joke; to ice the cake, a nobel-prize-winning physicist simply concurs with, essentially, "me too".

The editor demanded no thoughtfulness of his correspondents, and mostly received none.

I purchased this volume hoping to learn the origins of inventions, inventors, and inventiveness. Luckily, hope is eternal.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A good source of possible reading material, June 16, 2000

By A Customer

I wouldn't rate this book too high just as others have noted. What I found interesting was the list of books written by the contributors. This list looks interesting and I will follow up on some of them. I am sure that their writings will be more informed than their opinions on the greatest inventions.