Editing Technology (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of technology|3 = Timeline of historic inventions}}

===Prehistoric===
{{main|Prehistoric technology}}
[[File:Faustkeil Nachbau, 2020 PD a-7.jpg|thumb|A person holding a [[hand axe]]|alt=refer to caption]]
Tools were initially developed by [[hominids]] through observation and [[trial and error]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Schiffer |first=M. B. |title=The Archaeology of Science |chapter=Discovery Processes: Trial Models |year=2013 |chapter-url=https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-00077-0_13 |series=Manuals in Archaeological Method, Theory and Technique |volume=9 |pages=185–198 |place=Heidelberg |publisher=Springer International Publishing |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-00077-0_13 |isbn=978-3319000770 |access-date=11 September 2022 |archive-date=4 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221004184259/https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-00077-0_13 |url-status=live }}</ref> Around 2 [[Year#Abbreviations yr and ya|Mya]] (million years ago), they learned to make the first stone tools by hammering flakes off a pebble, forming a sharp [[hand axe]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |author=The British Museum |title=Our earliest technology? |url=https://smarthistory.org/our-earliest-technology/#:~:text=Made%20nearly%20two%20million%20years,deposits%20in%20Olduvai%20Gorge,%20Tanzania. |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220902015829/https://smarthistory.org/our-earliest-technology/#:~:text=Made%20nearly%20two%20million%20years,deposits%20in%20Olduvai%20Gorge,%20Tanzania. |archive-date=2 September 2022 |access-date=2 September 2022 |website=smarthistory.org}}</ref> This practice was refined 75 kya (thousand years ago) into [[pressure flaking]], enabling much finer work.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Minogue |first=K. |date=28 October 2010 |title=Stone Age Toolmakers Surprisingly Sophisticated |url=https://www.science.org/content/article/stone-age-toolmakers-surprisingly-sophisticated |url-status=live |access-date=10 September 2022 |website=science.org |archive-date=10 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220910174555/https://www.science.org/content/article/stone-age-toolmakers-surprisingly-sophisticated }}</ref>

The [[discovery of fire]] was described by [[Charles Darwin]] as "possibly the greatest ever made by man".<ref>{{cite book | last=Crump | first=Thomas | title=A Brief History of Science | year=2001 | publisher=[[Constable & Robinson]] | isbn=978-1841192352 | page=9}}</ref> Archaeological, dietary, and social evidence point to "continuous [human] fire-use" at least 1.5 Mya.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Gowlett |first1=J. A. J. |last2=Wrangham |first2=R. W. |date=1 March 2013 |title=Earliest fire in Africa: towards the convergence of archaeological evidence and the cooking hypothesis |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/0067270X.2012.756754 |journal=Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa |volume=48 |issue=1 |pages=5–30 |doi=10.1080/0067270X.2012.756754 |s2cid=163033909 |issn=0067-270X|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Fire, fueled with wood and [[charcoal]], allowed early humans to cook their food to increase its digestibility, improving its nutrient value and broadening the number of foods that could be eaten.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Stahl | first= Ann B. | author-link= Ann B. Stahl | year=1984 | title=Hominid dietary selection before fire | journal=[[Current Anthropology]] | volume=25 | pages= 151–68 | doi=10.1086/203106 | issue=2 | jstor=2742818| s2cid= 84337150 }}</ref> The ''[[Control of fire by early humans#The cooking hypothesis|cooking hypothesis]]'' proposes that the ability to cook promoted an increase in hominid [[brain size]], though some researchers find the evidence inconclusive.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Wrangham |first=R. |date=1 August 2017 |title=Control of Fire in the Paleolithic: Evaluating the Cooking Hypothesis |url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/692113 |journal=Current Anthropology |volume=58 |issue=S16 |pages=S303–S313 |doi=10.1086/692113 |s2cid=148798286 |issn=0011-3204 |access-date=10 September 2022 |archive-date=10 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220910190830/https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/692113 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref> Archaeological evidence of [[hearth]]s was dated to 790 kya; researchers believe this is likely to have intensified human [[socialization]] and may have contributed to the emergence of [[language]].<ref name=worldcat1124046527>{{Cite book |last= |first= |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/1124046527 |title=Lucy to Language: the Benchmark Papers |year=2014 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0199652594 |editor-last=Dunbar |editor-first=R. I. M. |oclc=1124046527 |editor-last2=Gamble |editor-first2=C. |editor-last3=Gowlett |editor-first3=J. A. J. |access-date=10 September 2022 |archive-date=14 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200814044201/http://worldcat.org/oclc/1124046527 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=20030715nytimes-science>{{Cite news |last=Wade |first=Nicholas |date=15 July 2003 |title=Early Voices: The Leap to Language |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/15/science/early-voices-the-leap-to-language.html |url-status=live |access-date=7 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312091336/http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/15/science/early-voices-the-leap-to-language.html |archive-date=12 March 2017 }}</ref>

Other technological advances made during the Paleolithic era include clothing and shelter.<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal |last1=Shaar |first1=Ron |last2=Matmon |first2=Ari |last3=Horwitz |first3=Liora K. |last4=Ebert |first4=Yael |last5=Chazan |first5=Michael |last6=Arnold |first6=M. |last7=Aumaître |first7=G. |last8=Bourlès |first8=D. |last9=Keddadouche |first9=K. |date=1 May 2021 |title=Magnetostratigraphy and cosmogenic dating of Wonderwerk Cave: New constraints for the chronology of the South African Earlier Stone Age |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277379121001141 |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |volume=259 |page=106907 |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2021.106907 |bibcode=2021QSRv..25906907S |s2cid=234833092 |issn=0277-3791 |archive-date=16 January 2024 |access-date=10 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240116020317/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277379121001141 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref> No consensus exists on the approximate time of adoption of either technology, but archaeologists have found archaeological evidence of clothing 90-120 kya<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hallett |first1=Emily Y. |last2=Marean |first2=Curtis W. |last3=Steele |first3=Teresa E. |last4=Álvarez-Fernández |first4=Esteban |last5=Jacobs |first5=Zenobia |author5-link=Zenobia Jacobs |last6=Cerasoni |first6=Jacopo Niccolò |last7=Aldeias |first7=Vera |last8=Scerri |first8=Eleanor M. L. |last9=Olszewski |first9=Deborah I. |last10=Hajraoui |first10=Mohamed Abdeljalil El |last11=Dibble |first11=Harold L. |date=24 September 2021 |title=A worked bone assemblage from 120,000–90,000 year old deposits at Contrebandiers Cave, Atlantic Coast, Morocco |journal=iScience  |volume=24 |issue=9 |page=102988 |doi=10.1016/j.isci.2021.102988 |issn=2589-0042 |pmc=8478944 |pmid=34622180|bibcode=2021iSci...24j2988H }}</ref> and shelter 450 kya.<ref name=":4" /> As the Paleolithic era progressed, dwellings became more sophisticated and more elaborate; as early as 380 kya, humans were constructing temporary wood huts.<ref>{{cite web |author=O'Neil, Dennis |title=Evolution of Modern Humans: Archaic Homo sapiens Culture |url=http://anthro.palomar.edu/homo2/mod_homo_3.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070404130017/http://anthro.palomar.edu/homo2/mod_homo_3.htm |archive-date=4 April 2007 |access-date=31 March 2007 |publisher=[[Palomar College]] }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Villa |first=Paola |title=Terra Amata and the Middle Pleistocene archaeological record of southern France |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |year=1983 |isbn=978-0520096622 |location=[[Berkeley, California|Berkeley]] |page=303}}</ref> Clothing, adapted from the fur and hides of hunted animals, helped humanity expand into colder regions; humans began to [[Early human migrations|migrate]] out of Africa around 200 kya, initially moving to [[Eurasia]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Cordaux |first=Richard |author2=Stoneking, Mark |year=2003 |title=South Asia, the Andamanese, and the Genetic Evidence for an 'Early' Human Dispersal out of Africa |url=http://site.voila.fr/rcordaux/pdfs/04.pdf |url-status=live |journal=[[American Journal of Human Genetics]] |volume=72 |issue=6 |pages=1586–1590; author reply 1590–93 |doi=10.1086/375407 |pmc=1180321 |pmid=12817589 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091001022940/http://site.voila.fr/rcordaux/pdfs/04.pdf |archive-date=1 October 2009 |access-date=22 May 2007 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title='Oldest remains' outside Africa reset human migration clock |url=https://phys.org/news/2019-07-oldest-africa-reset-human-migration.html |access-date=10 September 2022 |website=phys.org  |archive-date=11 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190711124429/https://phys.org/news/2019-07-oldest-africa-reset-human-migration.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1=Harvati | first1=Katerina | author-link=Katerina Harvati | last2=Röding | first2=Carolin | last3=Bosman | first3=Abel M. | last4=Karakostis | first4=Fotios A. | last5=Grün | first5=Rainer | last6=Stringer | first6=Chris | last7=Karkanas | first7=Panagiotis | last8=Thompson | first8=Nicholas C. | last9=Koutoulidis | first9=Vassilis | last10=Moulopoulos | first10=Lia A. | last11=Gorgoulis | first11=Vassilis G. | last12=Kouloukoussa | first12=Mirsini | title=Apidima Cave fossils provide earliest evidence of Homo sapiens in Eurasia | journal=Nature | publisher=Springer Science and Business Media LLC | volume=571 | issue=7766 | year=2019 | issn=0028-0836 | doi=10.1038/s41586-019-1376-z | pages=500–504 | pmid=31292546 | hdl=10072/397334 | s2cid=195873640 | url=https://zenodo.org/record/6646855 | access-date=17 September 2022 | archive-date=1 August 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220801132212/https://zenodo.org/record/6646855 | url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Neolithic ===
{{Main|2 = Neolithic Revolution}}
[[File:Néolithique 0001.jpg|thumb|An array of Neolithic artifacts, including bracelets, axe heads, chisels, and polishing tools|alt=Photo of Neolithic tools on display]]

The [[Neolithic Revolution]] (or ''First Agricultural Revolution'') brought about an acceleration of technological innovation, and a consequent increase in social complexity.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2D8OBwAAQBAJ&dq=neolithic+revolution+social+organization&pg=PA3 |title=Life in Neolithic Farming Communities: Social Organization, Identity, and Differentiation |publisher=Springer New York |year=2002 |isbn=9780306471667 |editor-last=Kuijt |editor-first=i. |series=Fundamental Issues in Archaeology |access-date=13 September 2022 |archive-date=4 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221004184244/https://books.google.com/books?id=2D8OBwAAQBAJ&dq=neolithic+revolution+social+organization&pg=PA3 |url-status=live }}</ref> The invention of the polished [[Hand axe|stone axe]] was a major advance that allowed large-scale [[forest clearance]] and farming.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Coghlan |first=H. H. |date=1943 |title=The Evolution of the Axe from Prehistoric to Roman Times |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2844356 |journal=The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland |volume=73 |issue=1/2 |pages=27–56 |doi=10.2307/2844356 |jstor=2844356 |issn=0307-3114 |access-date=26 September 2022 |archive-date=26 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220926011626/https://www.jstor.org/stable/2844356 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref> This use of polished stone axes increased greatly in the Neolithic but was originally used in the preceding [[Mesolithic]] in some areas such as Ireland.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Driscoll|first1=Killian|title=The early prehistory in the west of Ireland: Investigations into the social archaeology of the Mesolithic, west of the Shannon, Ireland|date=2006|url=http://lithicsireland.ie/mlitt_mesolithic_west_ireland_chap_2.html|access-date=11 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170904110326/http://lithicsireland.ie/mlitt_mesolithic_west_ireland_chap_2.html|archive-date=4 September 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> Agriculture fed larger populations, and the transition to [[sedentism]] allowed for the simultaneous raising of more children, as infants no longer needed to be carried around by [[nomad]]s. Additionally, children could contribute labor to the raising of crops more readily than they could participate in [[hunter-gatherer]] activities.<ref name=20060104sciencedaily>{{Cite news|url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/01/060103114116.htm|title=The First Baby Boom: Skeletal Evidence Shows Abrupt Worldwide Increase In Birth Rate During Neolithic Period|last=University of Chicago Press Journals|date=4 January 2006|work=ScienceDaily|access-date=7 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161108133752/https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/01/060103114116.htm|archive-date=8 November 2016|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Child Transport, Family Size, and Increase in Human Population During the Neolithic|journal=[[Current Anthropology]]|author=Sussman, Robert W. |author2=Hall, Roberta L. |volume=13|issue=2| pages=258–267|date=April 1972|doi=10.1086/201274 |jstor=2740977|s2cid=143449170}}</ref>

With this increase in population and availability of labor came an increase in [[labor specialization]].<ref>{{cite book|access-date=17 May 2008|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=isGyuX9motEC&q=labor+neolithic+population&pg=PA163|title=Cultural Anthropology: An Applied Perspective|publisher=[[The Thomson Corporation]]|author=Ferraro, Gary P.|year=2006|isbn=978-0495030393|archive-date=31 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210331145412/https://books.google.com/books?id=isGyuX9motEC&q=labor+neolithic+population&pg=PA163|url-status=live}}</ref> What triggered the progression from early Neolithic villages to the first cities, such as [[Uruk]], and the first civilizations, such as [[Sumer]], is not specifically known; however, the emergence of increasingly [[hierarchical]] social structures and specialized labor, of trade and war among adjacent cultures, and the need for collective action to overcome environmental challenges such as [[irrigation]], are all thought to have played a role.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8pKKwlEcpwYC&q=labor+surplus+neolithic+population&pg=PA7|access-date=17 May 2008|title=The Essentials of Ancient History|publisher=Research & Education Association|author=Patterson, Gordon M.|year=1992|isbn=978-0878917044|archive-date=31 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210331145419/https://books.google.com/books?id=8pKKwlEcpwYC&q=labor+surplus+neolithic+population&pg=PA7|url-status=live}}</ref>

The invention of [[History of writing|writing]] led to the spread of cultural knowledge and became the basis for history, [[libraries]], schools, and [[scientific]] research.<ref>{{cite book |last=Goody |first=J. |date=1986 |title=The Logic of Writing and the Organization of Society |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]}}</ref>

Continuing improvements led to the [[Metallurgical furnace|furnace]] and [[bellows]] and provided, for the first time, the ability to [[smelting|smelt]] and [[forging|forge]] gold, copper, silver, and lead{{spaced ndash}}native metals found in relatively pure form in nature.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=A Short History of Metals |journal=Nature |volume=203 |issue=4943 |page=337 |last=Cramb |first=Alan W |bibcode=1964Natur.203Q.337T |year=1964 |doi=10.1038/203337a0 |s2cid=382712 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The advantages of copper tools over stone, bone and wooden tools were quickly apparent to early humans, and native copper was probably used from near the beginning of [[Neolithic]] times (about 10 kya).<ref>{{cite EB1911|wstitle= Ceramics |volume= 05 | pages = 703–760; see page 708 |last1= Hall |first1= Harry Reginald Holland |author-link= Harry Reginald Holland Hall |quote= The art of making a pottery consisting of a siliceous sandy body coated with a vitreous copper glaze seems to have been known unexpectedly early, possibly even as early as the period immediately preceding the Ist Dynasty (4000 B.C.).}}</ref> Native copper does not naturally occur in large amounts, but copper ores are quite common and some of them produce metal easily when burned in wood or charcoal fires. Eventually, the working of metals led to the discovery of [[alloys]] such as [[bronze]] and [[brass]] (about 4,000 BCE). The first use of iron alloys such as steel dates to around 1,800 BCE.<ref>{{Cite journal |first=Hideo |last=Akanuma |title=The significance of the composition of excavated iron fragments taken from Stratum III at the site of Kaman-Kalehöyük, Turkey |journal=Anatolian Archaeological Studies |volume=14 |publisher=Japanese Institute of Anatolian Archaeology |place=Tokyo}}</ref><ref name=hindu001200903261>{{Cite news|url=http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200903261611.htm |title=Ironware piece unearthed from Turkey found to be oldest steel |date=26 March 2009 |work=The Hindu |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090329111924/http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200903261611.htm |archive-date=29 March 2009 |url-status=dead |access-date=8 November 2016 }}</ref>

=== Ancient ===
{{Main|Ancient technology}}
{{Ancient technology}}
[[File:Wheel Iran.jpg|thumb|upright|The wheel was invented {{Circa|4,000 BCE}}.|alt=Photo of an early wooden wheel]]
[[File:Ljubljana Marshes Wheel with axle (oldest wooden wheel yet discovered).jpg|thumb|upright|Ljubljana Marshes Wheel with axle (oldest wooden wheel yet discovered as of 2024)|alt=Photo of Wooden Wheel with axle (oldest wooden wheel yet discovered)]]
After harnessing fire, humans discovered other forms of energy. The earliest known use of wind power is the [[sailing ship]]; the earliest record of a ship under sail is that of a Nile boat dating to around 7,000 BCE.<ref>{{Cite journal|author1-first=Donatella |author1-last=Usai | author2-first=Sandro |author2-last=Salvatori |title=The oldest representation of a Nile boat|journal=Antiquity|volume=81}}</ref> From prehistoric times, Egyptians likely used the power of the annual [[flooding of the Nile]] to irrigate their lands, gradually learning to regulate much of it through purposely built irrigation channels and "catch" basins.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Postel |first=Sandra |author-link=Sandra Postel |url=http://www.waterhistory.org/histories/nile/t1.html |title=Pillar of Sand: Can the Irrigation Miracle Last? |date=1999 |publisher=W.W. Norton & Company |isbn=978-0393319378 |chapter=Egypt's Nile Valley Basin Irrigation |access-date=25 September 2022 |archive-date=19 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201119022630/http://www.waterhistory.org/histories/nile/t1.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The ancient [[Sumer]]ians in [[Mesopotamia]] used a complex system of canals and levees to divert water from the [[Tigris]] and [[Euphrates]] rivers for irrigation.<ref>{{cite book|last=Crawford|first=Harriet|author-link=Harriet Crawford|date=2013|title=The Sumerian World|location=New York & London|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0203096604|pages=34–43|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qSOYAAAAQBAJ&q=Sumerian+irrigation&pg=PA35|access-date=12 November 2020|archive-date=5 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201205005423/https://books.google.com/books?id=qSOYAAAAQBAJ&q=Sumerian+irrigation&pg=PA35|url-status=live}}</ref>

Archaeologists estimate that the wheel was invented independently and concurrently in Mesopotamia (in present-day [[Iraq]]), the Northern Caucasus ([[Maykop culture]]), and Central Europe.<ref>{{Cite book|title=A Companion to the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East|last=Potts|first=D.T.|year=2012|page=285}}</ref> Time estimates range from 5,500 to 3,000 BCE with most experts putting it closer to 4,000 BCE.<ref>{{Cite book|title=New Light on the Most Ancient East|last=Childe|first=V. Gordon|year=1928|page=110}}</ref> The oldest artifacts with drawings depicting wheeled carts date from about 3,500 BCE.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Horse, the Wheel, and Language: How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World|last=Anthony|first=David A.|publisher=Princeton University Press|year=2007|isbn=978-0691058870|location=Princeton|page=67}}</ref> More recently, the oldest-known wooden wheel in the world as of 2024 was found in the [[Ljubljana Marsh]] of [[Slovenia]]; Austrian experts have established that the wheel is between 5,100 and 5,350 years old.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ukom.gov.si/en/media_room/background_information/culture/worlds_oldest_wheel_found_in_slovenia/|title=World's Oldest Wheel Found in Slovenia|last=Gasser|first=Aleksander|date=March 2003|publisher=Republic of Slovenia Government Communication Office|access-date=8 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160826021129/http://www.ukom.gov.si/en/media_room/background_information/culture/worlds_oldest_wheel_found_in_slovenia/|archive-date=26 August 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The invention of the wheel revolutionized trade and war. It did not take long to discover that wheeled wagons could be used to carry heavy loads. The ancient Sumerians used a [[potter's wheel]] and may have invented it.<ref name="Kramer1963">{{cite book|last=Kramer|first=Samuel Noah|year=1971|orig-date=1963|title=The Sumerians: Their History, Culture, and Character|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IuxIdug8DBUC|publisher=University of Chicago Press|location=Chicago|isbn=978-0226452388|page=290|access-date=26 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808201642/http://books.google.com/books/about/The_Sumerians.html?id=IuxIdug8DBUC|archive-date=8 August 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> A stone pottery wheel found in the city-state of [[Ur]] dates to around 3,429 BCE,<ref name="Moorey1994">{{cite book|last=Moorey|first=Peter Roger Stuart|date=1999|orig-year=1994|title=Ancient Mesopotamian Materials and Industries: The Archaeological Evidence|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P_Ixuott4doC|location=Winona Lake, Indiana|publisher=Eisenbrauns|isbn=978-1575060422|page=146|access-date=26 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171017215042/https://books.google.com/books/about/Ancient_Mesopotamian_Materials_and_Indus.html?id=P_Ixuott4doC|archive-date=17 October 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> and even older fragments of wheel-thrown pottery have been found in the same area.<ref name="Moorey1994" /> Fast (rotary) potters' wheels enabled early [[mass production]] of pottery, but it was the use of the wheel as a transformer of energy (through [[water wheel]]s, windmills, and even treadmills) that revolutionized the application of nonhuman power sources. The first two-wheeled carts were derived from [[travois]]<ref name="Lay1992">{{cite book|last=Lay|first=M G |title=Ways of the World|publisher=Primavera Press|year=1992|location=Sydney|page=28|isbn=978-1875368051}}</ref> and were first used in Mesopotamia and [[Iran]] in around 3,000 BCE.<ref name="Lay1992" />

The oldest known constructed roadways are the stone-paved streets of the city-state of Ur, dating to {{Circa|4,000 BCE}},<ref name="Gregersen2012">{{cite book|last1=Gregersen|first1=Erik|title=The Complete History of Wheeled Transportation: From Cars and Trucks to Buses and Bikes|date=2012|publisher=Britannica Educational Publishing|location=New York |isbn=978-1615307012|page=130|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ldSbAAAAQBAJ&q=paved+road+in+Ur&pg=PA130|access-date=12 November 2020|archive-date=31 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210331145500/https://books.google.com/books?id=ldSbAAAAQBAJ&q=paved+road+in+Ur&pg=PA130|url-status=live}}</ref> and timber roads leading through the swamps of [[Glastonbury]], England, dating to around the same period.<ref name="Gregersen2012" /> The first long-distance road, which came into use around 3,500 BCE,<ref name="Gregersen2012" /> spanned 2,400&nbsp;km from the [[Persian Gulf]] to the [[Mediterranean Sea]],<ref name="Gregersen2012" /> but was not paved and was only partially maintained.<ref name="Gregersen2012" /> In around 2,000 BCE, the [[Minoans]] on the Greek island of [[Crete]] built a 50&nbsp;km road leading from the palace of [[Gortyn]] on the south side of the island, through the mountains, to the palace of [[Knossos]] on the north side of the island.<ref name="Gregersen2012" /> Unlike the earlier road, the Minoan road was completely paved.<ref name="Gregersen2012" />[[File:Pont du Gard BLS.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Photograph of the [[Pont du Gard]] in France, one of the most famous [[Roman aqueduct|ancient Roman aqueducts]]<ref name="Aicher1995" />|alt=refer to caption]]
Ancient Minoan private homes had [[Tap water|running water]].<ref name="Eslamian2014">{{cite book|last1=Eslamian|first1=Saeid|title=Handbook of Engineering Hydrology: Environmental Hydrology and Water Management|date=2014|publisher=CRC Press|location=Boca Raton, Florida|isbn=978-1466552500|pages=171–175|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=USXcBQAAQBAJ&q=Minoan+flush+toilet&pg=PA174|access-date=12 November 2020|archive-date=10 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201210095408/https://books.google.com/books?id=USXcBQAAQBAJ&q=Minoan+flush+toilet&pg=PA174|url-status=live}}</ref> A bathtub virtually identical to modern ones was unearthed at the Palace of Knossos.<ref name="Eslamian2014" /><ref name="Lechner2012">{{cite book|last1=Lechner|first1=Norbert|title=Plumbing, Electricity, Acoustics: Sustainable Design Methods for Architecture|date=2012|publisher=John Wiley & Sons, Inc.|location=Hoboken, NJ|isbn=978-1118014752|page=106|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0loW1G-Q5f4C&q=Minoan+flush+toilet&pg=PA106|access-date=12 November 2020|archive-date=31 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210331145421/https://books.google.com/books?id=0loW1G-Q5f4C&q=Minoan+flush+toilet&pg=PA106|url-status=live}}</ref> Several Minoan private homes also had toilets, which could be flushed by pouring water down the drain.<ref name="Eslamian2014" /> The ancient Romans had many public flush toilets,<ref name="Lechner2012" /> which emptied into an extensive [[sewage system]].<ref name="Lechner2012" /> The primary sewer in Rome was the [[Cloaca Maxima]];<ref name="Lechner2012" /> construction began on it in the sixth century BCE and it is still in use today.<ref name="Lechner2012" />

The ancient Romans also had a complex system of [[aqueduct (bridge)|aqueducts]],<ref name="Aicher1995">{{cite book|last1=Aicher|first1=Peter J.|title=Guide to the Aqueducts of Ancient Rome|date=1995|publisher=Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, Inc.|location=Wauconda, IL|isbn=978-0865162822|page=6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IEa04PmWXq0C&q=Pont+du+Gard|access-date=12 November 2020|archive-date=5 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201205010425/https://books.google.com/books?id=IEa04PmWXq0C&q=Pont+du+Gard|url-status=live}}</ref> which were used to transport water across long distances.<ref name="Aicher1995" /> The first [[Roman aqueduct]] was built in 312 BCE.<ref name="Aicher1995" /> The eleventh and final ancient Roman aqueduct was built in 226 CE.<ref name="Aicher1995" /> Put together, the Roman aqueducts extended over 450&nbsp;km,<ref name="Aicher1995" /> but less than 70&nbsp;km of this was above ground and supported by arches.<ref name="Aicher1995" />

=== Pre-modern ===
{{Main|Medieval technology|Renaissance technology}}

Innovations continued through the [[Middle Ages]] with the introduction of silk production (in Asia and later Europe), the [[horse collar]], and [[horseshoe]]s. [[Simple machine]]s (such as the [[lever]], the [[screw]], and the [[pulley]]) were combined into more complicated tools, such as the [[wheelbarrow]], [[windmill]]s, and [[clock]]s.<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781315588605 |title=Innovation and Creativity in Late Medieval and Early Modern European Cities |date=2019 |publisher=Routledge |doi=10.4324/9781315588605 |isbn=978-1317116530 |s2cid=148764971 |editor-last=Davids |editor-first=K. |editor-last2=De Munck |editor-first2=B. |access-date=11 September 2022 |archive-date=4 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221004184255/https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9781315588605/innovation-creativity-late-medieval-early-modern-european-cities-karel-davids-bert-de-munck |url-status=live }}</ref> A system of universities developed and spread scientific ideas and practices, including [[University of Oxford|Oxford]] and [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge]].<ref>{{Cite book |last= |first= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HnQNVPbnrDgC |title=Universities and Schooling in Medieval Society |last2= |first2= |last3= |first3= |date=2000 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-9004113510 |editor-last=Courtenay |editor-first=W. J. |editor-last2=Miethke |editor-first2=J. |editor-last3=Priest |editor-first3=D. B. |access-date=11 September 2022 |archive-date=4 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221004184252/https://books.google.com/books?id=HnQNVPbnrDgC |url-status=live }}</ref>

The [[Renaissance technology|Renaissance]] era produced many innovations, including the introduction of the [[movable type]] [[printing press]] to Europe, which facilitated the communication of knowledge. Technology became increasingly influenced by science, beginning a cycle of mutual advancement.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Deming |first=D. |url= |title=Science and Technology in World History, Volume 3: The Black Death, the Renaissance, the Reformation and the Scientific Revolution |year=2014 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0786490868}}</ref>

=== Modern ===
{{Main|Industrial Revolution|Second Industrial Revolution|Information Age}}
[[File:1885Benz.jpg|thumb|The [[automobile]], here the original [[Benz Patent-Motorwagen]], revolutionized personal transportation.]]

Starting in the United Kingdom in the 18th century, the discovery of [[steam power]] set off the [[Industrial Revolution]], which saw wide-ranging technological discoveries, particularly in the areas of [[British Agricultural Revolution|agriculture]], manufacturing, mining, [[metallurgy]], and transport, and the widespread application of the [[factory system]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Stearns |first=P. N. |url= |title=The Industrial Revolution in World History |publisher=Routledge |year=2020 |isbn=978-0813347295 }}</ref> This was followed a century later by the [[Second Industrial Revolution]] which led to rapid scientific discovery, standardization, and mass production. New technologies were developed, including [[Sewage treatment|sewage systems]], electricity, [[light bulbs]], [[electric motor]]s, railroads, [[automobiles]], and airplanes. These technological advances led to significant developments in medicine, [[chemistry]], [[physics]], and engineering.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mokyr |first=J. |title=The Second Industrial Revolution, 1870–1914 |year=2000 |url=https://faculty.wcas.northwestern.edu/jmokyr/castronovo.pdf |access-date=10 September 2022 |archive-date=10 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220910210450/https://faculty.wcas.northwestern.edu/jmokyr/castronovo.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> They were accompanied by consequential social change, with the introduction of skyscrapers accompanied by rapid urbanization.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Black |first=B. C. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NPJjEAAAQBAJ |title=To Have and Have Not: Energy in World History |year= 2022 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1538105047 |access-date=11 September 2022 |archive-date=4 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221004184800/https://books.google.com/books?id=NPJjEAAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> Communication improved with the invention of the [[telegraph]], the telephone, the radio, and television.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Albion |first=Robert G. |date=1 January 1933 |title=The Communication Revolution, 1760–1933 |url=https://doi.org/10.1179/tns.1933.002 |journal=Transactions of the Newcomen Society |volume=14 |issue=1 |pages=13–25 |doi=10.1179/tns.1933.002 |issn=0372-0187 |access-date=26 September 2022 |archive-date=4 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221004184825/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1179/tns.1933.002 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

The 20th century brought a host of innovations. In physics, the discovery of [[nuclear fission]] in the [[Atomic Age]] led to both [[nuclear weapons]] and [[nuclear power]]. [[Analog computer]]s were invented and asserted dominance in processing complex data. While the invention of [[vacuum tube]]s allowed for digital computing with [[computer]]s like the [[ENIAC]], their sheer size precluded widespread use until innovations in [[quantum physics]] allowed for the invention of the [[transistor]] in 1947, which significantly compacted computers and led the digital transition. Information technology, particularly [[optical fiber]] and [[optical amplifier]]s, allowed for simple and fast long-distance communication, which ushered in the [[Information Age]] and the birth of the [[Internet]]. The [[Space Age]] began with the launch of [[Sputnik 1]] in 1957, and later the launch of [[Human spaceflight|crewed missions]] to the moon in the 1960s. Organized efforts to [[search for extraterrestrial intelligence]] have used [[radio telescope]]s to detect signs of technology use, or ''[[technosignature]]s'', given off by alien civilizations. In medicine, new technologies were developed for diagnosis ([[CT scan|CT]], [[Positron emission tomography|PET]], and [[MRI]] scanning), treatment (like the [[dialysis machine]], [[defibrillator]], [[pacemaker]], and a wide array of new [[pharmaceutical drug]]s), and research (like [[interferon]] cloning and [[DNA microarray]]s).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Agar |first=J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e2TrhBB_4fYC |title=Science in the 20th Century and Beyond |year=2012 |publisher=Polity |isbn=978-0745634692|access-date=11 September 2022 |archive-date=4 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221004184804/https://books.google.com/books?id=e2TrhBB_4fYC |url-status=live }}</ref>

Complex manufacturing and construction techniques and organizations are needed to make and maintain more modern technologies, and entire [[Industry (economics)|industries]] have arisen to develop succeeding generations of increasingly more complex tools. Modern technology increasingly relies on training and education&nbsp;– their designers, builders, maintainers, and users often require sophisticated general and specific training.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Goldin |first1=C. |author1-link=Claudia Goldin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yGlCFqnakCoC |title=The Race between Education and Technology |last2=Katz |first2=L. F. |author2-link=Lawrence F. Katz |year=2010 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0674037731 |access-date=11 September 2022 |archive-date=4 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221004184804/https://books.google.com/books?id=yGlCFqnakCoC |url-status=live }}</ref> Moreover, these technologies have become so complex that entire fields have developed to support them, including engineering, medicine, and [[computer science]]; and other fields have become more complex, such as construction, transportation, and architecture.