A Recent Book says THESE are the six innovations that Changed EVERYTHING we know about the Modern World

1. Glass - The first innovation, the development of glass and how it impacted society, starts with the natural pieces of glass found in the Libyan Desert, and goes on to how men eventually learned to make glass. This required the concurrent technology of furnace building and the segregation of the Venetian glassblowers to the island of Murano because of the fires that these furnaces tended to cause. These glassblowers arrived from Constantinople when it fell to the Turks and their segregation led to the cross fertilization of ideas and techniques. The concept of one innovation leading to another in a different field is discussed in terms of the development of the printing press, which made books readily available, which in turn resulted in many people realizing that they were farsighted and could therefore not read them. Previously, Johnson contends that this deficiency was not readily apparent because people did not require the ability to see small things close-up, although I personally find this a bit of a stretch since tasks like sewing would have also required this skill. Books resulted in the development of spectacles and spectacle makers who experimented with the lenses resulted in the invention of the microscope and telescope, which in turn altered our concept of the microscopic world and the cosmos. Glass also led to better mirrors, which in turn altered one's view of self.

2. Cold (as in refrigeration) - Here the story begins with Fredric Tudor's idea (obsession) to bring ice from the frozen lakes and ponds of New England to the tropics, and how this ultimately led to a very highly profitable business, but not before he first went broke trying to perfect this scheme. Ice eventually led to refrigeration and to changes in the living patterns in the US and now in much of the rest of the world because tropical climates were now made more habitable. Cold is also the story of frozen food and how this has changed eating habits.

3. Sound - This chapter discusses the importance of sound and how it led to the concepts of recording it. The different field discussed was how recordings led to the acceptance of Jazz music, and to ultrasound and how this has changed the ratio of male to female children in China.

4. Clean - This chapter deals with sanitation, chlorination of water, and how this has led the development of mega cities. It has also led to the development of advertising through the need to sell soap and to advertising of soap through soap operas on the radio.

5. Time - This chapter discusses how Galileo's observation of the swinging of a pendulum in a church led to clocks, and how accurate clocks transformed navigation and promoted trade. It also goes on to discuss how the development of railroads led to the need for better time keeping and eventually to time zones, atomic clocks and to the GPS system.

6. Light - This is about lighting, from candles to light bulbs to neon signs. One of the concurrent technologies that are discussed is the ability to remove Neon gas from the atmosphere and the need for signage in Las Vegas.