# The greatest breakthroughs since the wheel, according to The Atlantic

In 2013, The Atlantic asked historians, scientists and engineers to pick the 50 greatest innovations since the wheel. These are the top 30. Which one changed the world most?

- 6 votes · 30 items
- Apr 23, 2019 · torcedor_gaucho
- https://even.best/en/l/2199/the-greatest-breakthroughs-since-the-wheel-according-to-the-atlantic

## Top 30

1. **The printing press** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Gutenberg and movable type, around 1440.
2. **Optical lenses** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Glasses, microscopes and telescopes.
3. **Paper** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Invented in China almost two thousand years ago.
4. **The steam engine** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — The engine of the Industrial Revolution.
5. **Nuclear fission** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Discovered in 1939: power and the bomb.
6. **The sextant** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — For working out your position at sea by the stars, since 1757.
7. **Electricity** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — The power behind almost every other modern invention.
8. **Penicillin** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — The first antibiotic, discovered by Fleming in 1928.
9. **Semiconductor electronics** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — The transistor and the chip, the basis of the digital age.
10. **The internal combustion engine** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Cars, planes and farm machinery.
11. **Vaccination** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Since Jenner's smallpox vaccine in 1796.
12. **The internet** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Born in the 1960s as a military and academic network.
13. **Nitrogen fixation** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — The Haber-Bosch process, which feeds half the world with fertiliser.
14. **Sanitation systems** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Sewers and clean water: millions of lives saved.
15. **Refrigeration** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Food that keeps and cities in hot places.
16. **Gunpowder** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Invented in China and decisive in every war since.
17. **The airplane** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — The Wright brothers' flight in 1903.
18. **The personal computer** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — A computer in every home from the 1970s on.
19. **The compass** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — It made open-sea navigation possible.
20. **The automobile** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — It changed cities and the way we live.
21. **Industrial steelmaking** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Cheap steel for rails, bridges and skyscrapers.
22. **The pill** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Approved in 1960, it transformed women's lives.
23. **The green revolution** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Seeds and methods that multiplied harvests in the 20th century.
24. **The telephone** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Bell's patent in 1876.
25. **Alphabetization** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — A simple way to organise information.
26. **The telegraph** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — The first instant long-distance messages.
27. **The mechanized clock** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — It measured time and organised work.
28. **Radio** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — News and music on the air since the early 20th century.
29. **Photography** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — The image fixed for the first time in the 19th century.
30. **The moldboard plow** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — The plough that turns the soil and opened new farmland.

How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.