Things that make other things!

November 26, 2010 1:09 PM

What are some other basic inventions/discoveries that became widely applied foundations for other inventions/discoveries?

For example,

The wheel: a basic round thing that sped up travel/made moving big things possible. Now they're on everything from medical equipment to luggage & computer mice.

The (gas or otherwise) engine: first for trains, then cars; now everything from Segways to generators, disk drives, pumps, etc.

The laser: not sure why it came about other than an exploration of generating radiation (I think); now it's in cd players, medical devices, spectroscopy, welding, barcode scanners, etc.

posted by yoga to Technology (19 answers total)

I guess electricity could be considered a candidate, also.
posted by yoga at 1:15 PM on November 26, 2010

Everything listed in Wikipedia's Timeline of historic inventions.
posted by mnemonic at 1:16 PM on November 26, 2010

You need to get hip to James Burke's series Connections (amazon link) From what I understand, the follow-on Connections2 and Connections3 series weren't as good.
posted by adamrice at 1:20 PM on November 26, 2010

The transistor, which of course became the foundation for everything digital.
posted by Diplodocus at 1:23 PM on November 26, 2010

From that list I'd pick:

clocks
cameras
cloth
ball bearing
battery

Maybe the question is, what basic inventions have been embedded in more complex inventions - or that more complex inventions couldn't exist without?
posted by yoga at 1:26 PM on November 26, 2010

If you have Netflix I HIGHLY suggest getting Connections and its sequels. That's pretty much EXACTLY what it's about. How different ideas bounce off each other, and what they lead to. Like the perfume atomizer leading to the carburetor.
posted by Caravantea at 1:27 PM on November 26, 2010

I hadn't heard about Connections, guys, thanks!
posted by yoga at 1:28 PM on November 26, 2010

What you have to understand is that nearly every major technological advance operates the way you say, sooner or later. That's just the way the edifice works. It all fits together and cross-links.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 1:35 PM on November 26, 2010

"Standing on the shoulders of giants":

Dwarfs standing on the shoulders of giants (Latin: nanos gigantium humeris insidentes) is a Western metaphor meaning "One who develops future intellectual pursuits by understanding the research and works created by notable thinkers of the past"...

"Bernard of Chartres used to say that we are like dwarfs on the shoulders of giants, so that we can see more than they, and things at a greater distance, not by virtue of any sharpness of sight on our part, or any physical distinction, but because we are carried high and raised up by their giant size."

posted by asymptotic at 1:51 PM on November 26, 2010

and i suck at posting links. this is the link to the "Standing on the shoulders of giants" i wanted.
posted by asymptotic at 1:52 PM on November 26, 2010

The Geissler Tube basically led to cathode ray tubes (TVs) which itself led to cyclotrons and particle accelerators, which most folks have no idea what they are used for despite having one in their older TVs, being scanned by them via MRIs and other medical applications (radio frequency linear accelerators), and using computers with ICs created by them. Some are even in use for treating cancer (radiation treatment on steroids basically), and then there's that whole "uncovering unknown physics" thing Fermilab, CERN (LHC), and company are doing.
posted by jwells at 1:59 PM on November 26, 2010

@jwells: Much as I love high energy physics, I'd like to point out that MRI doesn't involve particle accelerators.
posted by themel at 4:02 PM on November 26, 2010

@jwells: Much as I love high energy physics, I'd like to point out that MRI doesn't involve particle accelerators.

Also, electric motors and gas engines are completely different from both a conceptual and practical standpoint. Their similarities basically end at the fact that they both perform the same job.
posted by schmod at 4:26 PM on November 26, 2010

the electric cord
posted by ouke at 4:30 PM on November 26, 2010

I think it has more to do with the technology involved. Fermilab was using a new way for linear accelerators to work that involves using radio waves to accelerate the particles, and that somehow fed into how MRIs work. According to Fermilab, at least. It's possible there was other stuff as well but my tour was pretty rushed.
posted by jwells at 6:01 PM on November 26, 2010

James Burke's the day the universe changed is a good series too, and some of the episodes probably address the kind of thing you're asking about. I like it better than Connections . Don't let the first episode put you off. The second episode---point of view, on the development of perspective, among other things---is great, as are many of the others.
posted by leahwrenn at 6:47 PM on November 26, 2010

Viagra was initially (and still might be) used to treat hypertension.
posted by tomtheblackbear at 9:38 PM on November 26, 2010

Rubies? Do you have a link? hal_c_on?
posted by yoga at 7:52 AM on November 27, 2010

Words.
Writing.
Printing.
Electricity.
Wireless.
Binary numeral system.
Satellites.
Internet.
The Web.
posted by bru at 10:04 AM on November 27, 2010