Greatest Invention of All Time
Greatest Invention of All Time
Throughout history mankind has documented and recorded a wealth of information concerning events and deeds that have affected mankind in one way or another. Inventions and discoveries of all types have been applauded and heralded as important to the well being of man. Of course in the VERY early times it was the discovery of fire that forever changed man’s quest for comfort, be it warmth or food. Next came the use of tools albeit crude rough drafts of things to come, they none the less figured out that a club or a rock used in the given manner made the task at hand easier.
Exalted as the greatest invention of all is the wheel! After all the wheel changed life in many different areas. Aside from the normally thought of method of transportation, the wheel significally reduced the effort required to move any load for whatever purpose it needed to be moved. It also lead to further developments including gears, conveyors, and dozens of rotating machines. Objects, people, tools, and just about everything imaginable was enhanced via the wheel.
Now skip forward a few thousand years and the general populous has embraced the wheel with amazing vigor! Most noticeable is by way of the automobile. We LOVE our cars! We are so caught up with these personal transportation machines that there are over 700 different makes available world wide to suit whatever tastes you have. As if that weren’t enough, an entire industry has sprung up that manufactures aftermarket pieces and parts to further enhance or customize the car to personalize it more. Street rodding and customizing grew from that need to be different, to go faster, to individualize the metal dream boat to our own tastes. We can change colors, wheels, grilles, add spoilers,
Ground effect packages, bumpers, exhaust systems, and on and on and on
For really serious individualists, there are shops that can reshape anything on your car to whatever shape you think would make it look better. They can beat and bang panels into new proportions with almost magical skills.
Of course there are also those of us that prefer to modify the ole buggy ourselves into what ever floats our own personal boat. We will work diligently and tirelessly at our chosen task of remaking whatever part we decided needed redoing. We cut, weld , hammer, bend, twist, hammer some more, and then hammer again until we are satisfied with the results. That brings me back to where I started, the greatest invention of all time.
You see, I disagree with the boys that picked the wheel as our greatest triumph! Oh, I’ll concede that the wheel was an important discovery and that it has greatly improved life as we know it. BUT…… how do you suppose those cavemen made that first wheel? What was used to create such a marvel? After the wheel was perfected(?), what was used to make something to use it with?
Well kiddo, it was a hammer!!!! That’s right a hammer. Now it probably wasn’t one even similar to those in the work shops of today, but make no mistake it WAS a hammer.
Most likely the first hammer was a stone of some sort used by hand to beat the #*@* out of something. Later a brave and ambitious person attached it to a stick for handle and found that performed better. The rest is history!! We have been beating things into one shape or another for centuries. And it all started with that one man shaping a rock with a rock! Pounding that rock against the other until it began to form the desired shape.
Today there aren’t many places where a hammer can’t be found. They come, just like wheels, in all shapes and sizes. And yes even colors. We have claw hammers, tack hammers, body hammers, dead blow hammers, rubber hammers, sledge hammers, big hammers, little hammers, power hammers, electric hammers, drill hammers, and on and on. We build things with our hammers. We knock things down with our hammers. We shape things with our hammers. We even make hammers with our hammers. There isn’t a house, a car, a piece of furniture, a machine, or anything that didn’t get to its shape or purpose without the use of a hammer at some point in its creation.
Today’s hammers are most often a forgotten tool thrown into a tool box or closet just waiting for its next assignment. We don’t give it much thought. But when the occasion arises, that trusty ole hammer is ready and willing to assist us again in pounding the daylights out of whatever falls prey to our needs or desires. It even serves us, at times,
in a therapeutic manner. After several attempts at achieving a stated task has failed, folks have been known to beat the poor hammer mercilessly against whatever happens to be handy at the time. Or in rare instances, a hammer has been thrown madly any direction, thereby rendering instant relief to the frustrated user. Today we call that ‘multi-tasking’.
So in retrospect I think it’s safe to say that those in our past made a grave misjudgment by granting the honor of our greatest achievement to an item that was not possible without the use of our beloved hammer! While the hammer has been responsible for many a swore finger, bruised hand, broken window, bent part and so on, these things are just a fact of life. When compared to the legacy of the wheel…..well let’s just say we’re safe with the hammer. So in the future how about giving that trusted tool a little more respect. Maybe even a special place of prominence within the tool box. Say how about a whole museum full of nothing but hammers of all sizes and shapes . Or perhaps a holiday just for hammer owners, or how about…………. Naw!! Just remember, the hammer MAKES things when used correctly, and that the wheel came second!!!!!!!!!!
See You On The Street
Ron Goben
Throughout history mankind has documented and recorded a wealth of information concerning events and deeds that have affected mankind in one way or another. Inventions and discoveries of all types have been applauded and heralded as important to the well being of man. Of course in the VERY early times it was the discovery of fire that forever changed man’s quest for comfort, be it warmth or food. Next came the use of tools albeit crude rough drafts of things to come, they none the less figured out that a club or a rock used in the given manner made the task at hand easier.
Exalted as the greatest invention of all is the wheel! After all the wheel changed life in many different areas. Aside from the normally thought of method of transportation, the wheel significally reduced the effort required to move any load for whatever purpose it needed to be moved. It also lead to further developments including gears, conveyors, and dozens of rotating machines. Objects, people, tools, and just about everything imaginable was enhanced via the wheel.
Now skip forward a few thousand years and the general populous has embraced the wheel with amazing vigor! Most noticeable is by way of the automobile. We LOVE our cars! We are so caught up with these personal transportation machines that there are over 700 different makes available world wide to suit whatever tastes you have. As if that weren’t enough, an entire industry has sprung up that manufactures aftermarket pieces and parts to further enhance or customize the car to personalize it more. Street rodding and customizing grew from that need to be different, to go faster, to individualize the metal dream boat to our own tastes. We can change colors, wheels, grilles, add spoilers,
Ground effect packages, bumpers, exhaust systems, and on and on and on
For really serious individualists, there are shops that can reshape anything on your car to whatever shape you think would make it look better. They can beat and bang panels into new proportions with almost magical skills.
Of course there are also those of us that prefer to modify the ole buggy ourselves into what ever floats our own personal boat. We will work diligently and tirelessly at our chosen task of remaking whatever part we decided needed redoing. We cut, weld , hammer, bend, twist, hammer some more, and then hammer again until we are satisfied with the results. That brings me back to where I started, the greatest invention of all time.
You see, I disagree with the boys that picked the wheel as our greatest triumph! Oh, I’ll concede that the wheel was an important discovery and that it has greatly improved life as we know it. BUT…… how do you suppose those cavemen made that first wheel? What was used to create such a marvel? After the wheel was perfected(?), what was used to make something to use it with?
Well kiddo, it was a hammer!!!! That’s right a hammer. Now it probably wasn’t one even similar to those in the work shops of today, but make no mistake it WAS a hammer.
Most likely the first hammer was a stone of some sort used by hand to beat the #*@* out of something. Later a brave and ambitious person attached it to a stick for handle and found that performed better. The rest is history!! We have been beating things into one shape or another for centuries. And it all started with that one man shaping a rock with a rock! Pounding that rock against the other until it began to form the desired shape.
Today there aren’t many places where a hammer can’t be found. They come, just like wheels, in all shapes and sizes. And yes even colors. We have claw hammers, tack hammers, body hammers, dead blow hammers, rubber hammers, sledge hammers, big hammers, little hammers, power hammers, electric hammers, drill hammers, and on and on. We build things with our hammers. We knock things down with our hammers. We shape things with our hammers. We even make hammers with our hammers. There isn’t a house, a car, a piece of furniture, a machine, or anything that didn’t get to its shape or purpose without the use of a hammer at some point in its creation.
Today’s hammers are most often a forgotten tool thrown into a tool box or closet just waiting for its next assignment. We don’t give it much thought. But when the occasion arises, that trusty ole hammer is ready and willing to assist us again in pounding the daylights out of whatever falls prey to our needs or desires. It even serves us, at times,
in a therapeutic manner. After several attempts at achieving a stated task has failed, folks have been known to beat the poor hammer mercilessly against whatever happens to be handy at the time. Or in rare instances, a hammer has been thrown madly any direction, thereby rendering instant relief to the frustrated user. Today we call that ‘multi-tasking’.
So in retrospect I think it’s safe to say that those in our past made a grave misjudgment by granting the honor of our greatest achievement to an item that was not possible without the use of our beloved hammer! While the hammer has been responsible for many a swore finger, bruised hand, broken window, bent part and so on, these things are just a fact of life. When compared to the legacy of the wheel…..well let’s just say we’re safe with the hammer. So in the future how about giving that trusted tool a little more respect. Maybe even a special place of prominence within the tool box. Say how about a whole museum full of nothing but hammers of all sizes and shapes . Or perhaps a holiday just for hammer owners, or how about…………. Naw!! Just remember, the hammer MAKES things when used correctly, and that the wheel came second!!!!!!!!!!
See You On The Street
Ron Goben
posted by Ron Goben at 9:29 AM
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