Recorded history dates back around 5400 years. The ancient Egyptians first wrote down the events in stone tablets using the hieroglyphics. The Egyptians were fascinated by death and thought that the body had to be mummified and sent to the underworld with material belongings. Tombs were built to protect the belongings of the dead and the sphinx was built to protect the world against evil spirits and associated the pharaohs with the Sun God. The next step in the leap of history brings us to the 2nd millennium BC. This marked the transition to the bronze age. People started to work with metal and the efficiency of weapons increased exponentially. Human thought in this period was all about development.
The first alphabet (the proto Sinaitic script) was born. It was this era where the first thinkers started wondering about the cosmos, and thus, the nebra sky disk was born which was the first representation of the cosmos. The Indians created the diamond tipped drills, and new and improved techniques were developed for the smiting and smelting of iron, which will eventually pave the way into the iron age. As for wars, this era was uneventful except the expansion of the Indo-Europeans invaders who came from central Asia and swept westwards to northern Africa and Europe. The next era on our timeline is the 1st millennium BC, also known as the classical era. This was an era which cannot be bought under one umbrella of thought. Two conflicting mindsets; the first is of war and conquest and the other of scientific development dominated. Civil war in Egypt starts to spread and sets into motion the decline of one of the oldest civilizations known to mankind which is fully abolished till the 1st century BC, after the attacks of the romans.
The Buddha, born in 623 BC, spread the message of peace and tranquility, and founded Buddhism.
The Assyrian empire (new Mesopotamian empire) which played active roles in the conquest of Egypt and forcibly relocated the Israelites. It was around this time when the Roman Empire came into being and imposed rapid territorial expansion on its neighboring states specifically Italy. But on the other end of the thought spectrum, were the people who were starting to realize that the current world was barbaric, and hence, all the wars and chaos and tranquil mindset was born. The Buddha, born in 623 BC, spread the message of peace and tranquility, and founded Buddhism. People also started thinking about the world they lived in and made models to describe in. It was the harbinger to the dawn of science and many attempts were made to better understand the world.
Pythagoras developed the Pythagorean theorem to better define right angle triangles. The first model of atoms was proposed which stated that everything was made of tiny particles 4 to be precise, Air, water, earth and fire. Everything was made of these in different quantities. The Antikythera mechanism was made, which allowed for the precise measurement of the position of the cosmos and for the first time a spherical earth was proposed. This was an era of great development and many literatures were subject to change which included the Chinese, Sanskrit and Hebrew among many others. The next stop in our journey through the past takes us to the 1st millennium AD. The human mind in this era was fixated on discovery. Adventurers travelled the earth to find new lands, while thinkers thought of new inventions and finally the dawn of science was upon us. Hawaii was discovered along with other islands in the pacific such as Easter island. New Zealand was discovered along with settlements built in Iceland for the first time, and there were settlements in cook island.
On the scientific and mathematical side of things algebra was discovered and steel was made for the first time. Ptolemaic system was developed (geocentric system). Paper was also invented and the magnetic compass also came into being. One of the most influential inventions would be the invention of gunpowder which would forever change the way of warfare. Lastly, we enter the modern era the period from 1000 AD to 2000 AD. This part of history was the most eventful of all the times in the past. World population boomed from 310 million in the start of the millennium to about 6 billion until 2000.
During this time the human mind was all about discoveries and inventions. The greatest discoveries and inventions were birthed during this period and it changed the way primitive minds thought all together. Humans of this period thought about health, motion, chemistry, communication, and a whole millennium of the brightest minds paved the future, while the average man peered with awe. Galileo made the first telescope and discovered the moons of Jupiter. The cosmos was transformed when the heliocentric theory was proven and Newton and Kepler devised the laws of motion and planetary gravitation to explain how the world worked. A century of chemists came together and created the atomic theory and created the periodic table of elements. For the first time, humans took to the sky and after the indention of the submarine conquered the three elements of nature (land, sea and air). But that was not enough. The question remained that what was this cosmos where the stars resided. This question was answered when humans flew to space and landed on the moon.
Anesthesia, penicillin and vaccination was discovered. Nuclear power plants were made and mankind’s greatest invention also came into existence in this era. Another invention, named the internet, a network of computer, which connected the entire human race together. This wraps up the trip through time and it is a proof of humanity’s infinite potential for development. Hopefully this is motivation for the next greatest innovator.
The writer is a freelance columnist.