Greatest invention/breakthrough ever

[The One and Only Mo]

Nu, what do you think? I got the choices from here http://listverse.com/2007/09/13/top-10-greatest-inventions/  and here is another site with some great inventions, too  http://corporate.britannica.com/press/inventions.html  Enjoy! and explain your votes. I want to see how many people will entertain this thread because I find it quite interesting.

[The One and Only Mo]

I chose the meds because w/out our health, who are we and what would we be able to do?

[Rubystars]

I say printing press because that's how people are able to communicate important ideas (like science). The other innovations wouldn't have been happening as easily without it.

[The One and Only Mo]

Oh man, I forgot Ketchup.

[muman613]

Computers are one of mans greatest and most complex inventions. The transistor and electronics are next because without them computers would not be possible, and of course without electricity computers are not functional...

Computers allow humanity to model the world and learn new things. Computers are vital to run many important processes in our lives.

It is one of the things I am proud about in my life that I have contributed my entire adult life to developing low-level software {operating systems} for modern computers. I worked at the forefront of digital video in the mid to late 80s and worked with the biggest names in the industry.

Maybe my opinion is biased, but I stand by it..

[NRAJ]

I went with harnessed electricity because much of the things on that list would we usless without it.I think light bulb was very important too.

[Ithaca-37]

The comments about the printing press are quite valid, but I'll go with antibiotics/ immunizations.  It's hard to imagine that only 150 years ago, there was no understanding of germs.  When Louis Pasteur first proposed that humans were dying because of tiny 'invaders' too small to see, Pasteur was ridiculed as a madman.  Doctors would pass illness from patient to patient because they would refuse to wash their hands or their instruments, etc, even if they just finished an autopsy.  Standards of public sanitation were horrific, because there was no grasp that filth = disease.  Families were large by necessity, because parents just accepted the fact that some of their kids would die from diphtheria and whooping cough.  It goes on and on.

Consider this:  The Second World War was said to be the first in all history where more soldiers died from battlefield wounds rather than by illness.

37

[Kahane-Was-Right BT]

I chose computers.  An unbelievable leap in technology that brought us to a new plane of development.  It opened up a new world of opportunity.

[Lisa]

I chose modern plumbing.  If not, we would have sewage all over the streets.

[Ulli]

I say printing press because that's how people are able to communicate important ideas (like science). The other innovations wouldn't have been happening as easily without it.

Yes, this is right.

[GoIsraelGo!]

I also chose printing press.

[The One and Only Mo]

The comments about the printing press are quite valid, but I'll go with antibiotics/ immunizations.  It's hard to imagine that only 150 years ago, there was no understanding of germs.  When Louis Pasteur first proposed that humans were dying because of tiny 'invaders' too small to see, Pasteur was ridiculed as a madman.  Doctors would pass illness from patient to patient because they would refuse to wash their hands or their instruments, etc, even if they just finished an autopsy.  Standards of public sanitation were horrific, because there was no grasp that filth = disease.  Families were large by necessity, because parents just accepted the fact that some of their kids would die from diphtheria and whooping cough.  It goes on and on.

Consider this:  The Second World War was said to be the first in all history where more soldiers died from battlefield wounds rather than by illness.

37

You didn't vote, lol.

[Irish Zionist]

Think about it, where would we be without Modern Plumbing

[Manch]

Ability to create and tame Fire and invention of a wheel

[patches]

I put Printing Press, but I agree. Creating/taming of fire is probably most important.

Although does the question imply it has to be a homo-sapien invention? They say neanderthals and possibly homo-erectus used fire, at least for warmth if not for cooking.

[syyuge]

All were great including fire. But my heart goes to printing press.

[muman613]

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Hashem for the following seven creations:

Time
Space
The Proton
The Electron
The Atom
The Molecule
The DNA Molecule

Without any of these creations nothing would exist as we know it...

Baruch Hashem!

[Lewinsky Stinks, Dr. Brennan Rocks]

What a racist you are, Mo! Listing all these amazing inventions and omitting the fact that black science created them! 

[angryChineseKahanist]

I noticed how they say that the wheel was invented by "aryans". Theres no such thing as aryans. The wheel was invented in many places because it was an obvious need.

[angryChineseKahanist]

And they forgot the genius peanut boy.

[Americanhero1]

And they forgot the genius peanut boy.

[angryChineseKahanist]

And they forgot the genius peanut boy.

Nonono! That peanut boy was half black. That makes him a genius.

[Americanhero1]

And they forgot the genius peanut boy.

Nonono! That peanut boy was half black. That makes him a genius.

Yeah look at his arms and legs they are black

[takebackourtemple]

All were great including fire. But my heart goes to printing press.

   Now we are getting into hashem's inventions which are far greater than anything man can invent. Keep in mind that without electricity, you wouldn't have the chemical reaction to produce the light from combustion(fire). I won't go too far into the subatomic. I do find it interesting that just by breathing we are performing the same chemical reaction as when you burn something. Only at a slower rate without the heat and the light. I guess combustion is not completely prohibited on shabbat.

[Muck DeFuslims]

That's really a very good list, Mo.

All of them are fantastic discoveries/inventions/breakthroughs.

Hard to classify any individual one as being the 'greatest'. Many are related and/or interdependent upon each other.

I'd vote for the harnessing of electricity. My reason for doing so would be that the harnessing of electric power, in my opinion, has had the greatest impact on the lives of people living in the civilized world today.

As Muman pointed out, transistors and computers aren't even possible without electricity.

We tend to take for granted the conveniences and essential services that are made possible only with the advent of electrical power.

Imagine no light bulbs. Imagine no refrigeration or air conditioning. No television, radio, movies.

If your power has ever gone out for a prolonged period, I'm sure you know how much we depend on electricity. It's hard to imagine living without it.

The harnessing of electrical power has had a profound impact on the development of modern civilization. And since electrical power is the backbone of information technologies, we've only scratched the surface of it's ultimate impact on humanity.

PS to muman613:

Your thanking Hashem for creation, although done tongue in cheek, really is the bottom line. Of course, anything and everything; space, time, our very existence, is only possible because of the creation of the universe.

I believe it was Nachmonidies that said there was only one physical creation. This initial creation was the size of a mustard grain and a 'substance without substance'. Fascinating, isn't it ? A substance without substance. Sounds like he was talking about a bit of pure energy somehow expanding and coalescing into protons, electrons, atoms and eventually all matter itself. Similar to how modern physics envisions the Big Bang. Nachmonidies also states that time 'grabs a hold' only after matter coalesces. An amazing insight, and one that should make any agnostic question where such knowledge could have come from.