On 30 January 2012 04:02, Heather Madrone <[email protected]> wrote:
> On 1/29/12 5:39 AM January 29, 2012, John Sundman wrote: > >> Old joke: >> >> Radio interviewer: "And what would you say is man's greatest invention?" >> Man on street: "That's easy. The thermos." >> RI: "The thermos? Why do you say that?" >> MoS: "Well, what you put in it is hot, it stays hot. What you put in it >> is cold, it stays cold." >> RI: "What's so amazing about that?" >> MoS: "How do it know?" >> > > My grandmother (who is now 89) once told me that the greatest inventions > of the 20th century were jello and dishwashing detergent. This was towards > the end of the Apollo program, so I was mystified at her prosaic list. I > could kind of understand the magic of jello, but dishwashing detergent? > > When she was a girl, all they had was homemade lye soap. When you were > done washing the dishes, there was a ring of soap and dirt around the > dishpan, and you had to scrub away this filthy mess when you were done with > the dishes. > > She is also a big fan of other modern conveniences like indoor plumbing, > central heating, the refrigerator, and the automatic washer. As a girl, > they had to do their wash in two big boilers, over a fire in the front > yard, using wash-paddles to wring clothes out. Then the clothes were hung > to dry (they froze dry in the winter) and they had to be ironed to get the > stiffness and the last of the dampness out. > > As I have gotten older, I have come to appreciate the sheer marvel of a > number of prosaic inventions. The lowly screw, for example, that holds our > world together. Some years ago, I realized that I would never have thought > to wrap an inclined plane around a sharp cone and that the resulting item > would become a very secure fastener. I am simply not smart enough to have > invented the screw. > > This was a very humbling realization. > > So, in the contest of the greatest human invention of all time, I would > like to offer SANITATION. > > The realization that disease is spread by filth and germs came relatively > late to human beings. A huge amount of human suffering and death was caused > by contaminated water, contact with human waste, and the presence of vermin > disease vectors. Diseases of filth, such as typhus, have turned the tides > of wars and caused epidemics that laid waste to cities and even continents. > Hans Rosling (in this ted talk: http://www.ted.com/talks/hans_rosling_and_the_magic_washing_machine.html) feels that it's the Washing Machine, which is the greatest 'modern' invention, and he makes a fair point, which is based around how much more time it gave women at that time. Apologies if this has been posted earlier. cheers Dibyo
