10. Camera
The ‘camera obscura’ is believed to have originated in the 17th century, probably in Italy. This dark box (暗箱子) principle is the ancestor of today’s cameras and the principle of creating photographic images.
9. electric battery
First battery, voltaic pile demonstration Italian physicist Alessandro Volta demonstrates to French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte the battery voltaic pile he had invented. Batteries date back to 2000 BC in the Parthian Empire. It consisted of a clay urn filled with a vinegar solution and an iron rod surrounded by a copper cylinder was inserted. It is believed that it was probably used for plating silver. The inventor of the first electric battery was Alessandro Volta. He laid the foundations of electrochemistry.
8. Telephone
The world’s first phone call was a liar, Bell made the first call from New York to Chicago in 1892.
Alexander Graham Bell This is the drawing that Alexander Graham Bell first patented for a telephone in 1876. The first telephone was called an ‘electro-voice machine’, and this invention truly revolutionized global business and communications. Several inventors did pioneering work on electronic voice transmission, later filing intellectual property lawsuits. On August 2, 1922, when Bell died, American telephone service was suspended for a minute in his honor.
7. Clock
World Standard Time Clock Hanging on Shepherd’s Gate at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich The clock that tells the time is one of the oldest human inventions, and for thousands of years devices operating in multiple physical processes have been used. Nowadays, in the digital age, many things in the world are watches, but the watch is not the time.
6. Car
The Benz Patent-Motorwagen German inventor, first built in 1885 and patented for automobiles, German inventor Karl Benz laid the groundwork for today’s automobile age, but he is not the only one to develop the horseless carriage. Cars didn’t become widespread until the early 20th century. Ford, General Motors and Chrysler have revolutionized automotive standards and mass production technologies.
5. Vaccines
Children receiving typhoid vaccine Vaccines These days, a world war is being waged because of the coronavirus vaccine. Vaccines are biological agents that provide active adaptive immunity against certain infectious diseases. Vaccines are made from agents that resemble disease-causing microorganisms or from either microorganisms, toxins, or surface proteins.
In 1955, American preventive medicine scientist Jonas Salk rejoices with two bottles of the culture broth used to grow an inactive vaccine called Saak Vaccine, a preventive vaccine against polio, in 1955. Vaccines began to be used by Edward Jenner, who discovered the vaccinia law, by borrowing the Latin word Vacca, which means cow, and Louis Pasteur named it Vaccine and used it under this name. The vaccine must stimulate the body’s immune system to recognize and destroy the substance as a threat, and further recognize and destroy any microorganisms associated with the substance that may arise in the future.
Two pathologists in protective suits are cracking eggs in preparation for the manufacture of a ‘measles vaccine’. Vaccines Vaccines have helped eradicate smallpox worldwide and prevent or limit diseases such as polio, measles and tetanus. A ‘vaccine’ was once called ‘waxin’ in Korea.
A woman receiving the rubella rubella and rubella vaccine in Brazil Now the world is competing for a vaccine against the pandemic coronavirus. In the meantime, vaccines that have been proven effective in saving mankind from disease include influenza vaccine, HPV vaccine, and chickenpox vaccine.
4. Personal computer
Today, computers are a symbol of the modern world. The engineer who laid the foundation for this remarkable invention of the personal computer was Charles Babbage, a professor of mathematics at the University of Cambridge, England. In the early 19th century, the ‘Father of Computers’ conceptualized and invented the first mechanical computer. The invention principle of the modern computer was proposed by Alan Turing in his 1936 paper.
3. Airplane
Flying machines have been dreamed of since the time of Da Vinci, but on December 17, 1903 Wilbur and Orville Wright created the first powered, sustained and controlled airplane. The two started out as gliders and laid the foundation for this modern aeronautical engineering. A new business boomed as many people were trained to fly airplanes. Without the invention of the aircraft, it would not have been able to fly thousands of miles in a shorter amount of time.
2. Light bulb
Medium sized Edison 27mm, E27 230V incandescent light bulb. Vacuum glass sphere There is a resistance wire called a filament inside the glass sphere, and when an electric current flows, it emits heat and emits light at a high temperature of 2,000℃ or more.
The first incandescent light bulbs completely changed the world of civilized ecosystems by allowing us to be active at night. Twenty-four people played a key role in inventing the incandescent light, but Thomas Edison created and patented a fully functional lighting system in 1879 that included a carbon filament light bulb, a generator and wiring. That company is General Electric GE, which continues to this day.
1. Printing Machine
The printing press
The world’s first printing press Johannes Gutenberg in Germany invented the printing press around 1440. The key was a manual mold, a technology that was portable and made it possible to print in large quantities. Unlike Korea’s Jikji 直指, which came out 78 years earlier, it was the first system machine that applied a mechanical process to paper.
Martin Luther’s ’95 Theses’ printed in Nuremberg, 1517, now in the Berlin State Library One of the developments in printing is Martin Luther’s ‘Ninety-five Theses’. On October 31, 1517, Luther lit the Reformation by affixing the 95 Theses, a two-page summary of the Vatican’s false beliefs, on the front door of the University Church in Wittenberg.
The development of printing opened the eyes of mankind to a new civilization. This portable printing press created the first rapid and widespread knowledge powerhouse in history, leading to a multifaceted and revolutionary dissemination of knowledge that promoted freedom, equality, science and practicality. By 1500 only 20 million copies were printed in Western Europe.
But there is also the first printed book, ‘Jikji’, faster than Gutenberg.
Jikji 直指, Jikji or Jikji Simcheyojeol 直指心体要節 is undoubtedly the oldest type of metal type printing technology that has developed mankind around the world. Hopefully, while we are wandering around, UNESCO in September 2001 confirmed that ‘Jikji is the oldest type of metal type in the world’ and designated it as a World Record and Cultural Heritage Memory of the World Programme.
Teaching to realize the essence of Zen 禪 Jikji 直指 Jikji is Korea’s Treasure No. 1132 and is the oldest among the metal type printed books in the world. It was registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site along with the ‘Seungjeongwon Ilgi 承政院日記’, which recorded the king’s names every day during the Joseon Dynasty.
Most of the Jikji 直指 weaved into two volumes, the top and bottom, have been lost or disappeared, and today only the last one of the second volume of the Superintendent (初印本) miraculously survives and is stored in the French National Library, Bibliothèque Nationale de France.
Jikji was to teach the great teachings of the Buddha to a specific person, and the printed Gutenberg Bible, which was born 78 years later, was used to spread the Bible to many people, so the motif was different. It was invented, but unfortunately it was not used.
Is it because of the spirit of Jikji, the world’s first metal movable type? Surprisingly, I was surprised to find out that all of the world’s top manufacturing companies that bring and apply the ten inventions that changed the history of mankind into reality today are all Korean companies. Computers, batteries, home appliances business, semiconductors, televisions, smartphones that replace phones, and even tires on cartwheels. It’s really impressive to know that Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, SK, and Hyundai Motors are the leading manufacturers of the world’s top 10 inventions. Let’s wait and see the corona vaccine, because it will work for mankind.10 Inventions That Changed the World
