10 inventions that changed the world

If you think that the world's greatest

inventions came from the fevered minds of

solitary geniuses, think again. As you scan

this list of the 10 inventions that changed the

world, note how many of them perfected

workable designs.

invention – изобретение

fever – лихорадка

mind – разум

solitary – одинокий

note – замечать, обращать

внимание

perfect - совершенствовать

workable – работоспособный,

выполнимый, использующийся

When you imagine inventors, you probably

picture a lone genius in a laboratory

concocting brilliant devices, experimenting

and redesigning until some concept or

contraption works perfectly. At that point, the

new invention is unveiled to the world, a

stunning piece of new technology that

instantly changes everything.

inventor - изобретатель

lone - одинокий

concoct – состряпать, придумать

redesign – реконструкция, переделка

until – до, (здесь в зн. пока не)

contraption – хитроумное изобретение

at that point – на том этапе, в тот

момент

unveil - раскрывать

stun - шокировать

instantly – немедленно, тот час

Well, you've got part of it right. There's

certainly a lot of redesigning and

experimenting when it comes to inventions,

but it takes a lot longer than you think. It also

takes far more people than that lone genius.

part – часть

certainly – конечно,

непременно

long - долгий

also - также

far more – гораздо больше

As you'll see when you read about these 10

world-changing inventions, no invention is

created in a vacuum. Every single one was

built on previous inventions created by other

inventors years, decades or even centuries

before.

create – создавать, творить

single – каждый, единственный

build (built) - строить

previous - предыдущий

decade - десятилетие

even - даже

century - век

Every invention has problems, and it might

not be until some other inventor comes along

that they get solved. To confuse things

further, it usually isn't the original inventor

who gets all the credit, but rather the inventor

who made the one crucial improvement that

makes us all want one.

may (might) – мочь, иметь возможность

along – вместе, вдоль, попутно

get (got) - получать

solve – решать, разрешать

confuse – путать, сбивать с толку

further – дальше, затем, далее

credit - честь

rather - скорее

crucial – решающий, ключевой

improvement – улучшение

START THE

COUNTDOWN

10.THE PLOW

Compared to some of the gleaming electronic

inventions that fill our lives today, the plow

doesn't seem very exciting. It's a simple

cutting tool used to carve a furrow into the

soil, churning it up to expose nutrients and

prepare it for planting. Yet the plow is

probably the one invention that made all

others possible.

compare - сравнивать

gleaming - блестящий

fill - наполнять

excite - волновать

cut - резать

tool - инструмент

carve - резать

furrow - борозда

soil - почва

churn up - разворотить

expose – подвергать

(действию)

nutrient – питательное

вещество

prepare - готовить

plant - сажать

yet - ещё

probably - вероятно

possible - возможный

No one knows who invented the plow, or

exactly when it came to be. It probably

developed independently in a number of

regions, and there is evidence of its use in

prehistoric eras. Prior to the plow, humans

were subsistence farmers or

hunter/gatherers.

invent - изобретать

exactly - точно

come (came, come) - приходить

develop – разрабатывать

independently – независимо, самостоятельно

evidence – доказательство, факт

era – эра, эпоха, период

prior – прежний, до

subsistence – существование, пропитание

hunter - охотник

gatherer - собиратель

Their lives were devoted solely to finding

enough food to survive from one season to

the next. Growing food added some

stability to life, but doing it by hand was

labor intensive and took a long time. The

plow changed all that.

devote - посвящать

solely - исключительно

find (found) - находить

enough - достаточно

survive - выживать

grow – расти, выращивать

add – прибавлять, добавлять

labor - труд

Plows made the work easier and faster.

Improvements in the plow's design made

farming so efficient that people could

harvest far more food than they needed to

survive. They could trade the surplus for

goods or services.

efficient – эффективный, действенный

harvest – собирать урожай, пожинать плоды

trade - обменивать

surplus – избыток, излишек

service - услуга

And if you could get food by trading, then you

could devote your day-to-day existence to

something other than growing food, such as

producing the goods and services that were

suddenly in demand.

existence – существование

produce – производить, продукт

suddenly – внезапно, вдруг

demand – требовать, спрашивать;

спрос

The ability to trade and store materials drove

the invention of written language, number

systems, fortifications and militaries. As

populations gathered to engage in these

activities, cities grew. It's not a stretch to say

that the plow is responsible for the creation of

human civilization.

ability – способность

store – запас, склад

drive (drove, driven) – везти,

вести

write (wrote, written) - писать

fortification - укрепление

military – войска, военная сила

population - население

gather – собирать, собираться

engage – участвовать, вступать

stretch - растягивать

responsible – ответственный,

надёжный

9. WHEEL

The wheel is another invention so ancient

that we have no way of knowing who first

developed it. The oldest wheel and axle

mechanism we've found was near Ljubljana,

Slovenia, and dates to roughly 3100 B.C.

ancient - древний

axle – ось

find (found) - находить

near - рядом

date - датироваться

roughly - грубо

The wheel made the transportation of goods

much faster and more efficient, especially

when affixed to horse-drawn chariots and

carts. However, if it had been used only for

transportation, the wheel wouldn't have been

as much of a world-changer as it was. In fact,

a lack of quality roads limited its usefulness in

this regard for thousands of years.

affix - прикреплять

horse-drawn – запряжённый лошадьми

chariot - колесница

cart - телега

however - однако

lack - недостаток

quality - качество

road - дорога

usefulness - польза

regard - рассматривать

thousand – тысяча

A wheel can be used for a lot of things other

than sticking them on a cart to carry grain,

though. Tens of thousands of other inventions

require wheels to function, from water wheels

that power mills to gears and cogs that

allowed even ancient cultures to create

complex machines.

stick – втыкать, прицеплять

grain - зерно

though - хотя

require – требовать, нуждаться

mill - мельница

gear - механизм

cog – зубец (колеса)

allow – позволять, разрешать

ancient - древний

Cranks and pulleys need wheels to work. A

huge amount of modern technology still

depends on the wheel, like centrifuges used

in chemistry and medical research, electric

motors and combustion engines, jet engines,

power plants and countless others.

crank - рукоятка

pulley – ролик, шкив

huge - огромный

amount - количество

depend - зависеть

research - исследование

combustion - сгорание

engine - двигатель

jet – реактивный самолёт

countless - бесчисленный

8. PRINTING PRESS

Like many of the inventions on this list, the

man we believe invented the printing press

(Johann Gutenberg in the 1430s) actually

improved on pre-existing technologies and

made them useful and efficient enough to

become popular.

actually – на самом деле

improve - улучшать

pre-existing – уже существовавшие

useful - полезный

efficient - эффективный

enough - достаточно

The world already had paper and block

printing - the Chinese had them as early as

the 11th century - but the complexity of their

language limited popularity. Marco Polo

brought the idea to Europe in 1295.

complexity - сложность

bring (brought) - приносить

Gutenberg combined the idea of block

printing with a screw press (used for olive oil

and wine production). He also developed

metal printing blocks that were far more

durable and easier to make than the hand-

carved wooden letters in use previously.

Finally, his advances in ink and paper

production helped revolutionize the whole

process of mass printing.

screw - винт

develop - разрабатывать

durable – прочный, надёжный

hand-carved – ручная резка

wooden - деревянный

previously - ранее

advance - продвижение

revolutionize – полностью изменять

The printing press allowed enormous

quantities of information to be recorded and

spread throughout the world. Books had

previously been items only the extremely rich

could afford, but mass production brought the

price down tremendously.

enormous – обширный, огромный

quantity - количество

record - записывать

spread - распространять

throughout - повсюду

item - предмет

extremely – чрезвычайно, крайне

rich – состоятельный, богатый

afford – позволять себе

tremendously – чрезвычайно, крайне

The printing press is probably responsible for

many other inventions, but in a more subtle

way than the wheel. The diffusion of

knowledge it created gave billions of humans

the education they needed to create their own

inventions in the centuries since.

responsible - ответственный

subtle – хитроумный, искусный

diffusion - распространение

give (gave, given) - давать

education - образование

7. REFRIGERATION

Refrigerators cool things down by taking

advantage of the way substances absorb and

unload heat as their pressure points and

phases of matter change (usually from gas to

liquid and back).

advantage - преимущество, выгода

substance - вещество

absorb – впитывать

unload - разгружать

heat – тепло, жара

pressure - давление

matter – вещество, материал

liquid - жидкость

It's difficult to pinpoint a single inventor of the

refrigerator, because the concept was widely

known and gradually improved over the course

of about 200 years.

pinpoint – точно определять, указывать

widely - широко

gradually - постепенно

Some credit Oliver Evans' 1805 unproduced

design of a vapor-compression unit, while

others point to Carl von Linde's 1876 design

as the actual precursor of the modern

refrigerator in your kitchen. Dozens of

inventors, including Albert Einstein, would

refine or improve refrigerator designs over the

decades.

vapor-compression – пара-сжатие (компрессор)

precursor - предшественник

including - включая

refine – усовершенствовать, улучшать

decade - десятилетие

In the early 20th century, harvested natural ice was still common, but large industries such as breweries were beginning to use ice-making machines. Harvested ice for industrial use was rare by World War I. However, it wasn't until the development of safer refrigerant chemicals in the 1920s that home refrigerators became the norm.

harvest – собирать урожай

brewery - пивоварня

rare - редкий

safe - безопасный

The ability to keep food cold for prolonged

periods (and even during shipping, once

refrigerated trucks were developed)

drastically changed the food production

industry and the eating habits of people

around the world.

ability - способность

prolong - продлевать

during – во время

ship – перевозить

drastically – радикально,

решительно, резко

habit - привычка

Now, we have easy access to fresh meats

and dairy products even in the hottest

summer months, and we're no longer tied to

the expense of harvesting and shipping

natural ice - which never could have kept

pace with the world's growing population in

any case.

access - доступ

tie - связывать

expense – расход, трата

pace – темп, скорость

6. COMMUNICATIONS

Maybe it's cheating to lump the telegraph,

telephone, radio and television into one

'invention,' but the development of

communication technology has been a

continuum of increased utility and flexibility

since Samuel Morse invented the electric

telegraph in 1836 (building on the prior work

of others, of course).

cheat - обманывать

lump - смешивать

continuum - диапазон

increase - повышение

utility - польза

flexibility - гибкость

prior – прежний, веский

The telephone simply refined the idea by

allowing actual voice communications to be

sent over copper wires, instead of just beeps

that spelled out the plain text in Morse code.

These communication methods were point-to-

point, and required an extensive

infrastructure of wires to function.

refine – усовершенствовать, улучшать

allow - позволять

copper - медный

wire – провод, проволока

instead of - вместо

beep – сигнал, гудок

require – требовать, нуждаться

Transmitting signals wirelessly using

electromagnetic waves was a concept

worked on by many inventors around the

world, but Guglielmo Marconi and Nikola

Tesla popularized it in the early 20th century.

Eventually, sound could be transmitted

wirelessly, while engineers gradually

perfected the transmission of images.

wave - волна

eventually – в конце концов, в итоге

Radio and television were new landmarks in

communications because they allowed a

single broadcaster to send messages to

thousands or even millions of recipients as

long as they were equipped with receivers.

landmark - ориентир, веха

broadcaster - диктор

recipient – получатель, адресат

equip – оборудовать, снаряжать

receiver – телефонная трубка,

радиоприёмник

These developments in communications

technology effectively shrank the world. In the

span of about 120 years, we went from a

world where it might take weeks to hear news

from across the country to one where we can

watch events occurring on the other side of

the globe as they happen.

shrank - сжимать

span – промежуток времени

occur - происходить

The advent of mass communications put

more information within our grasp and altered

how we interact with each other.

advent – появление, прибытие

within – в пределах

grasp – понимание, охватить

alter - изменять

interact - взаимодействовать

5. STEAM ENGINE

Prior to the invention of the steam engine, most products were made by hand. Water wheels and draft animals provided the only 'industrial' power available, which clearly had its limits. The Industrial Revolution, which is perhaps the greatest change over the shortest period of time in the history of civilization, was carried forward by the steam engine.

draft – набросок, черновик

provide - предоставлять

available – доступный

perhaps – возможно, может быть

short (shorter, shortest) - короткий

carry forward – (продвигать дело)

The concept of using steam to power

machines had been around for thousands of

years, but Thomas Newcomen's creation in

1712 was the first to harness that power for

useful work (pumping water out of mines, for

the most part).

harness - использовать

mine - шахта

In 1769, James Watt modified a Newcomen

engine by adding a separate condenser,

which vastly increased the steam engine's

power and made it a far more practical way to

do work.

add – добавлять, прибавлять

separate – разделять, самостоятельный

condenser - конденсатор

vastly - значительно

He also developed a way for the engine to

produce rotary motion, which may be just as

important as the efficiency gains. Thus, Watt

is often considered the inventor of the steam

engine.

rotary - вращательный

efficiency – эффективность,

действенность

gain – механизм

thus – таким образом

consider - считаться,

рассматриваться

Newcomen's and Watt's engines actually

used the vacuum of condensing steam to

drive the pistons, not the pressure of steam

expansion. This made the engines bulky. It

was the high-pressure steam engine

developed by Richard Trevithick and others

that allowed for steam engines small enough

to power a train.

condensed - сжатый

piston - поршень

expansion – пространство,

расширение

bulky – огромный, большой

Not only did steam engines power factories

that made the rapid production of goods

possible, they powered the trains and

steamships that carried those goods across

the globe.

factory - завод

rapid – быстрый, скорый

steamship - пароход

those - те

across - через

globe – земной шар

While the steam engine has been eclipsed by electric and internal combustion engines in the areas of transport and factory power, they're still incredibly important. Most power plants in the world actually generate electricity using steam turbines, whether the steam is heated by burning coal, natural gas or a nuclear reactor.

eclipse – затмевать, потускнение

internal - внутренний

combustion - сгорание

area - область

incredibly – очень, невероятно

generate - производить

whether – ли, либо

heat – тепло, нагревание

nuclear - ядерный

4. AUTOMOBILE

If the steam engine mobilized industry, the

automobile mobilized people. While ideas for

personal vehicles had been around for years,

Karl Benz's 1885 Motorwagen, powered by

an internal combustion engine of his own

design, is widely considered the first

automobile.

while – пока, несмотря на, в

то время как, когда

vehicle - транспорт

Henry Ford's improvements in the production

process - and effective marketing - brought

the price and the desire for owning an auto

into the reach of most Americans. Europe

soon followed.

desire - желание

own – свой, иметь

soon - скоро

The automobile's effect on commerce, society

and culture is hard to overestimate. Most of

us can jump in our car and go wherever we

want whenever we want, effectively

expanding the size of any community to the

distance we're willing to drive to shop or visit

friends.

commerce - торговля

overestimate - переоценивать

wherever – куда, везде

expand – расширять, увеличивать

Our cities are largely designed and built

around automobile access, with paved roads

and parking lots taking up huge amounts of

space and a big chunk of our governments'

budgets. The auto industry has fueled

enormous economic growth worldwide, but

it's also generated a lot of pollution.

pave – мостить, выкладывать

chunk – часть, кусок

fuel – горючее (здесь: питать)

enormous – громадный, гигантский

growth – рост, развитие

worldwide – всемирный, мировой,

во всем мире

pollution - загрязнение

3. LIGHTBULB

If there's a common theme to this list, it's that

no major invention came from a single stroke

of genius from a single inventor. Every

invention is built by incrementally improving

earlier designs, and the person usually

associated with an invention is the first

person to make it commercially viable.

major – главный, крупный

incrementally - постепенно, шаг

за шагом

viable – пригодный,

жизнеспособный

Such is the case with the light bulb. We immediately think of Thomas Edison as the electric light bulb's inventor, but dozens of people were working on similar ideas in the 1870s, when Edison developed his incandescent bulb. Joseph Swan did similar work in Britain at the time, and eventually the two merged their ideas into a single company, Ediswan.

case - случай

immediately - немедленно

dozen - дюжина

similar – подобный, похожий

incandescent - блестящий

eventually – в итоге, в конце

концов

merge - соединять

The bulb itself works by transmitting electricity

through a wire with high resistance known as

a filament. The waste energy created by the

resistance is expelled as heat and light. The

glass bulb encases the filament in a vacuum

or in inert gas, preventing combustion.

itself – самостоятельно

transmit – передавать, посылать

through – сквозь, через

wire - проволока

resistance - сопротивление

filament – нить накаливания,

волокно

waste – потеря, трата

expel – исключать,

выгонять, выделять

heat – жар, тепло

encase - заключать

prevent - предотвращать

combustion - сгорание

You might think the light bulb changed the

world by allowing people to work at night or in

dark places (it did, to some extent), but we

already had relatively cheap and efficient gas

lamps and other light sources at the time.

extent – степень, мера

relatively – относительно,

сравнительно

cheap - дешёвый

efficient - эффективный

source - источник

It was actually the infrastructure that was built

to provide electricity to every home and

business that changed the world. Today, our

world is filled with powered devices than we

can plug in pretty much anywhere. We have

the light bulb to thank for it.

provide - предоставлять

fill - наполнять

device – устройство, средство

plug - подключить

anywhere – куда-либо, куда угодно

2. COMPUTER

A computer is a machine that takes

information in, is able to manipulate it in some

way, and outputs new information. There is

no single inventor of the modern computer,

although the ideas of British mathematician

Alan Turing are considered eminently

influential in the field of computing.

be able – быть способным

output – результат, выводить

although - хотя

consider - рассматривать

eminently - больше всего,

исключительно

influential – влиятельный, важный

field – поле, область

compute - вычисление

Mechanical computing devices were in

existence in the 1800s (there were even rare

devices that could be considered computers

in ancient eras), but electronic computers

were invented in the 20th century.

existence - существование

even - даже

rare - редкий

ancient - древний

Computers are able to make complicated

mathematical calculations at an incredible

rate of speed. When they operate under the

instructions of skilled programmers,

computers can accomplish amazing feats.

complicate - усложнять

incredible – невероятный, потрясающий

rate - уровень

skill – техника, умение

accomplish – достигать

amazing - поразительный

feat – мастерство, подвиг

Some high-performance military aircraft

wouldn't be able to fly without constant

computerized adjustments to flight control

surfaces.

military - военный

aircraft - самолёт

constant - постоянный

adjustment - регулировка

flight - полёт

surface - поверхность

Computers performed the sequencing of the

human genome, let us put spacecraft into

orbit, control medical testing equipment, and

create the complex visual imagery used in

films and video games.

sequence - последовательность

human – человек, человеческий

spacecraft – космический корабль

equipment - оборудование

imagery – образность, изображение

If we only examine these grandiose uses of computers, we overlook how much we rely on them from day to day. Computers let us store vast amounts of information and retrieve a given piece of it almost instantly. Many of the things we take for granted in the world wouldn't function without computers, from cars to power plants to phones.

examine – рассматривать, исследовать

overlook – заметить, обозревать

rely – полагаться, надеяться

store – склад, хранилище

vast – обширный, громадный

amount – количество, величина

retrieve

almost - почти

grant - предоставлять

1. INTERNET

The Internet, a network of computers covering the entire planet, allows people to access almost any information located anywhere in the world at any time. Its effects on business, communication, economy, entertainment and even politics are profound. The Internet may not have changed the world as much as the plow, but it's probably on par with the steam engine or automobile.

entire – весь, целый, полный

locate – размещать, находиться

entertainment - развлечение

DARPA (Defense Advanced Research

Projects Agency), the research and

development arm of the U.S. military, created

ARPANET in the late 1960s. This network of

computer-to-computer connections was

intended for military and academic research.

defense – защита, оборона

advanced – продвинутый

intend - намереваться

research - исследование

Other computer networks began to cross the globe in the next few years, and by the late 1970s computer scientists had created a single protocol, TCP/IP, that would allow computers on any network to communicate with computers on other networks. This was, essentially, the birth of the Internet, but it took 10 or so years for various other networks in the world to adopt the new protocol, making the Internet truly global.

by the late – к концу

communicate – сообщать, взаимодействовать

essentially – фактически, по существу

birth - рождение

various – различный, разный

adopt - принимать

truly – точно, верное, поистине

The Internet is such a powerful invention that

we've probably only begun to see the effects

it will have on the world. The ability to diffuse

and recombine information with such

efficiency could accelerate the rate at which

further world-changing inventions are

created.

probably - возможно

diffuse - распространять

recombine - воссоединяться

accelerate – ускорять

further – дальше

At the same time, some fear that our ability to

communicate, work, play and do business via

the Internet breaks down our ties to local

communities and causes us to become

socially isolated. Like any invention, the good

or ill it accomplishes will come from how we

choose to use it.fear - страх

ability - способность

via - через

tie – связь

cause - причина, дело

isolate – изолировать, отделять

accomplish – совершать, выполнять

choose - выбирать

Thank you for attention!

The presentation performed

by Tatiana Evmenchikova

All information is there

http://www.geniusstuff.com/blog/list/10-

inventions-changed-world/