To arrive at the edge of the world's knowledge, seek out the most complex and sophisticated minds, put them in a room together, and have them ask each other the questions they are asking themselves.
Published on Edge.org (http://www.edge.org)

Home >

1999 : WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT INVENTION IN THE PAST TWO THOUSAND YEA [1]

In the News [ 6 ] [2]
  |  
Contributors [ 108 ] [3]   |   View All Responses [ 108 ] [4]

[ print ] [5]

[6]
Vilayanur Ramachandran [6]
Neuroscientist; Professor & Director, Center for Brain and Cognition, UC, San Diego; Author, The Tell-Tale Brain
professor of neurosciences and psychology and Director of the Brain Perception Laboratory

My personal favourite is the place value notation system combined with the use of a symbol 0 for Zero to denote a nonexistent number marks the birth of modern mathematics. I think this is the greatest invention but I am being a little jingoistic — it was invented in India in the 4th or 5th century BC , systematised by Aryabhatta in the 4th Century AD by the Indian Astronomer and then transmitted to the west via the Arabs. And Maths of course is essential for all science.

Links:
[1] http://www.edge.org/annual-question/what-is-the-most-important-invention-in-the-past-two-thousand-years
[2] http://www.edge.org/inthenews/what-is-the-most-important-invention-in-the-past-two-thousand-years
[3] http://www.edge.org/contributors/what-is-the-most-important-invention-in-the-past-two-thousand-years
[4] http://www.edge.org/responses/what-is-the-most-important-invention-in-the-past-two-thousand-years
[5] http://www.edge.org/print/response-detail/10671
[6] http://www.edge.org/memberbio/vilayanur_ramachandran