Question

Explain how specific inventions and innovations changed daily life and society in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Give two examples.

Answer 1

Technological inventions and innovations are the results of a temporary process of accumulation of knowledge that enhances the abilities of society in order to solve social, economic, and daily problems.

At the end of the 19th-century and the beginning of the 20th-century the world economy, especially in industrial countries, was going through the industrial revolution. Many inventions of this era transformed daily life providing new solutions to several activities in different fields, like communications, transport, commerce, among many others. Example of these innovations are:

1) Telephone: it was invented by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876. It consisted of a device that transformed sound into electrical signals that were transmitted through a cable and then transformed into sound again. Since it allowed almost immediate communication, this invention revolutionized the world of telecommunications.

2) Car: the first car was developed in 1885 by Karl Benz, it was equipped with a small four-stroke engine. With time, this innovation entered the market and became very popular at the beginning of the 20th-century. It revolutionized the world of transportation.