Bicycle Chosen as Best Invention

[chlamor]

Last Updated: Thursday, 5 May, 2005, 07:10 GMT 08:10 UK

Bicycle chosen as best invention

Listeners to BBC Radio 4's You and Yours programme were invited to vote in an online poll looking at the most significant innovations since 1800.

It was an easy victory for the bicycle which won more than half of the vote.

The transistor came second with 8% of the vote, and the electro-magnetic induction ring - the means to harness electricity - came third.

TOP 10 INVENTIONS
Bicycle - 59%
Transistor - 8%
Electro-magnetic induction ring - 8%
Computer - 6%
Germ theory of infection - 5%
Radio - 5%
Internet - 4%
Internal combustion engine - 3%
Nuclear power - 1%
Communications satellite - 1%
The survey also asked participants which innovation they would most like to disinvent.

GM foods came top of this poll with 26% of the vote, followed by nuclear power with 19%.

By contrast, the technology most would like to see invented was an Aids vaccine.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4513929.stm

[jedr]

1. Ice cream!

Never has anything brought more joy to more people. that's my vote.

[chlamor]

2. Vanilla-Home Made

and Red Wine

[megatherium]

3. predates 1800.

Otherwise I'm with you on that one.

Actually, if I had to vote for something mentioned in the article, I would have voted for the germ theory of disease. That has saved an incredible number of lives.

[jedr]

4. I think ice cream made in the late 1700's

was made by hand....the machine to make ice cream was invented in the early 1800's ...could be wrong, but too lazy to google it.

[megatherium]

5. you might be right--

I was remembering that people made it in colonial America. Or so I was told on warm summer afternoons as a kid in Virginia, when we made our own icecream. (What a wonderful memory!)

[Kenneth ken]

29. yeah, but no

I'd have to classify germ theory of disease as a discovery rather than an invention. But I would count it as more significant than the bicycle.

:hi:

[Rockerdem]

6. Modern flush toilet first. Second place not even close to it.

[jedr]

7. John Crapper is the "man".....LOL....n/t

[Vitruvius]

10. That's SIR John Crapper -- he was knighted for his invention --

and deserved it.

[chlamor]

11. Modern Flush Toilet is Bad News-Don't Waste that Waste

Toilets are a surprisingly important subject for maintaining ‘life as we know it.’  Most of us don't even connect toilets and sustainability.  The reasons are not immediately obvious; and have essentially escaped Humanity, especially Western Humanity "forever." Individuals have realized the importance, but not cultures.  Therefore, the cultures have disappeared.  The links below are revealing and very interesting.  They have certainly changed my world view.

<snip>

Toilets vs Cultures:

Regarding toilets, separating-composting is the way to go.  This is against all mainstream conventional Western practice, rules and belief.  And, dear readers, I hope I haven't lost you right here.  The cultural blocks against even discussing this are strong in many people. 

<snip>

It is a great simplification, but basically true, that the Chinese civilization’s long continuity is due to returning the "night soil" to their fields; and, in the West, the relatively rapid succession of civilizations is due to not returning the "humanure" to the fields where the food is grown.  This is not without problems in the propagation of diseases and parasites; since in traditional Chinese peasant agriculture much of this resource cycling is direct… raw humanure to the fields, paddies and ponds.  Composting, properly done, would essentially eliminate that problem.  Improved agricultural techniques going beyond  organics to sustainable, permanent agriculture (permaculture) would provide the rest of the solution.

<snip>

In simple terms, human society, especially in the industrial West, now mines mineral phosphorus, transforms it to fertilizers, and transports it to agricultural uses (where much of it is wasted), using fossil fuels.  Then, the food, with the critical phosphorus in it, is eaten and deposited in our drinking water, where it becomes a pollutant.  We then try to remove the phosphorus, nitrogen and potassium in waste treatment plants using still more energy and getting the water almost as clean as the average domestic “gray water” discharge.  All this is accomplished with the use of (polluting) fossil fuels. This constitutes a linear "flow" of phosphorus in Systems Ecology terminology. It is no longer recycled as in nature. The rise of "modern" industrial style farming and the growth of cities has transformed the usage of phosphorus from a natural "cycle" to a "flow." making us vulnerable to depletion of the phosphorus mines, loss of "cheap" energy supplies, pollution, and political instability.  The energy usage entailed in sustaining the flow (wastage) of phosphorus is more than 100 times what would be required to recycle it optimally!!!!  

Recycling of phosphorus is necessary for 'life as we know it’ to remain on earth.  Well-developed, natural ecosystems recycle it extremely well, over 90%, as a rule.  Virtually all of the world’s commercial guano sources are depleted.  Mineral phosphates cannot substitute for natural manures in soil health or micronutrients for plant (and therefore, our) nutrition.  And, in the long term, the phosphate mines will be depleted.  That end is in sight, but decades out; and highly unpredictable since it is very sensitive to cost of transportation (petroleum prices). 

http://www.energybulletin.net/2233.html

[AngryAmish]

31. That is the dumbest thing I ever heard

No, I will not save my poo, thankyouverymuch. Shall we create a low caste, like the Dalits, to carry our poo also? Or will you come to my house to get my poo?

[chlamor]

32. do it yourself

no surprise to hear such humanistic hubris when it comes to our biological dispensation. eeyyoohh it's sooo nassty.

Topsoil and civilization

[AngryAmish]

35. I will not.

If you want my poo so bad, come and get it.

[AngryAmish]

34. This is even more insane than I thought

The basic premise of the article is that since the Chinese fertilize their fields with human poo and we do not do this in the West, the Chinese have been able to have a 4000 year long civilization while the West has not been able to sustain long term civilizations.

This is both historically wrong and racist. Historically wrong because Chinese history is replete with invasions, internal revolts and dynastic changes. Western civilization is indeed younger and for most of the time less advanced than Chinese civilization, but there has been a Western civilization for over 2500 years now.

It is racist because the writer buys into to "noble savage" myth and would condemn them to continued close contact with human feces (yuck and dangerous) through subsidence farming - one of the most deadly and unhealthful occupations conceivable.

[HuckleB]

38. Perhaps.

But in terms of replenishing our land for farming, at least in the US, we haven't done such a good job in many areas.

[chlamor]

62. Humanure

phosphorous.

Need it.

You need to delve deeply into what racism is. But let's not do that in this thread. Power relations, capitalism & slavery.

Wasting waste is wasteful.

[pedestrian]

68. Why not?

Given some planning, this would not be difficult or unsanitary.

Suppose all homes were built with the lavatories located against the outer wall facing the street, and with a locked lid or small door between the lavatory reservoir and the outside. Every few weeks or so a sewage truck could come around, unlock the lid, suck the waste into the tank, and move the waste to a central plant. Or the renovation workers could remove a sewage tank, replace it with a clean one, and take the tanks to the plant.

The human waste could be fermented and methane gas drawn off. This process generates both heat (which could be used for central heating) and methane gas (which is a good fuel and can also (I think) easily be processed into methanol). The processed waste would be an excellent fertilizer that could go back to farmers.

This has already been done with manure collected from farms. The fermenting process, when properly engineered, kills harmful microbes and in other ways improves the manure as a fertilizer. Given suitable infrastructure, I see no reason why human waste, including kitchen waste, could not be collected and processed in the same way. Sewage collection would just be part of the general renovation system.

The Pedestrian

[all.of.me]

12. really?! i'd prefer an outhouse.

[pedestrian]

69. Hi-tech dry toilets

can be placed indoors without causing any odor problems (or at least no more than a flush toilet). Usually when dry and flush toilets are compared, people imagine dry toilets as being crude, old-fashioned and very smelly containers for the poo. With biotechnology from the post-war period it is perfectly possible to make sanitary, dry, indoor toilets and to collect the waste in hygienic ways.

The fact that we dilute the poo with tons of water, add lots of detergents and chlorine, and finally (when this watery mixture has been trasported out of our private homes) with waste from factories makes it very difficult to find sensible uses for the sewage. If we want to recycle our waste (and we really should!) we need to separate the various kinds of waste a lot closer to the source.

No matter what we think of chlamor's argument about Chinese civilization, the points about how energy-consuming our sewage processing is are very valid. The manure-and-cleaning agents-and heavy metals mixture that arrives at our sewage processing plants can't be used for anything, and is not safe to deposit anywhere. Getting the fertilizer anywhere near safe to use after it has gone through the communal plumbing is expensive and consumes lots of chemicals and energy (I'm not sure it's even possible - especially for food production). Even just making it safe enough to dump somewhere requires a lot of resources. Dry toilets really should be given another chance.

The Pedestrian

[all.of.me]

72. absolutely!

a friend of mine had a composting toilet and beautiful gardens. 'nuf said.

i'd love to put one in my second bathroom where there is this ancient, water guzzling fixture.

i've had plenty of outhouses, too. (so many, in fact, that i still throw my (pee) paper in the garbage. it's a very old habit.) i like going outside first thing in the morning, being in touch with the weather.

welcome to du!

[Xithras]

8. The answer should have been portland cement.

Unglamorous, I know, but every modern building, bridge, and sidewalk owes it's existence to the invention of Portland Cement in 1824, which permitted the development of reinforced concrete 25 years later.

If not for Portland Cement, we would still be stuck living in cities with wooden sidewalks and buildings limited to 4 or 5 stories.

But how often do we think about concrete as an invention? It ranks right up there with the light bulb and computer in importance, but very few people every give it a second glance.

[alfredo]

16. Didn't the Romans use cement as a building material?

Roman concrete

http://www.romanconcrete.com/docs/spillway/spillway.htm

[AtTheEndOfTheDay]

41. Portland cement, Roman cement, not the same stuff.

Roman cement is more trouble to produce and use. Roman cement is what cemented their empire though. The technological key to their success.

[alfredo]

45. You notice on that page that a dam

has been built with concrete very similar to Roman Cement.

will Portland Cement outlast Roman Cement? Does Portland Cement get harder over time like Roman Cement?

[happyslug]

54. To my knowledge yes, both get harder as their cool

And depending on how much concrete is being used determines how long it will take to "Cool".

This was a problem on Hoover Dam:
http://www.usbr.gov/history/hoover.htm
http://www.usbr.gov/lc/hooverdam/History/essays/concrete.html

"Following the diverion of the river, the floor of the canyon was dredged down to bedrock. Only then could the pouring of the concrete begin. A major problem with a structure as large as the Hoover Dam was the cooling of the concrete. Engineers calculated that the massive amount of concrete would take over one hundred years to cool; when cool the dam would crack, rendering it useless. To avoid this, the dam was poured in rows and columns of blocks. Refrigerated water was pumped through the blocks in pipes, and the pipes were then shot full of concrete, rendering the dam a true monolith--entirely one piece. The dam itself was completed two years ahead of schedule, in 1935. Power generation began in 1936 and turbines continued to be added until 1961, when the last one went on line (Bureau of Reclamation, 53-54)."
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~1930s/DISPLAY/hoover/construction.html

An article advocating that 35 Degree temperture between the core and the surface of Concrete can be exceeded (and that most state DOTs do NOT permit such wide temperture variations):
http://www.ctlgroup.com/dynamic_pdfs/18WB006ConcretePerspectiveArticle.pdf

For more on Concrete:
http://www.concrete.org/general/home.asp

[HuckleB]

9. I love the bicycle!

It is difficult to think of a sweeter invention.

I think I may just go for a ride!

[lostnfound]

66. Me too..and it will surve its purposes even after the fall.

I've often thought it was one of the most elegant and powerful inventions, in its simplicity and functionality.

Great choice.

[Robworld]

13. To bad there trying to make the bicycle illegal in NYC

http://www.dumdumgoestothecircus.com/

[BiggJawn]

14. Oh, HELL yes!

Radio and Portland Cement were great inventions, too, but the bicycle took long-distance travel away from the Rich and gave it to Everyman.

[alfredo]

17. It helped liberate women. It gave them freedom of movement.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

33. And it was the motivation for more sensible clothes for women

No more corsets or hoop skirts or bustles.

[alfredo]

39. The Bloomer.

[entanglement]

75. I'm going to tell a feminist I know

that it was the bicycle that liberated women, not people like her :+ :dunce:

[amazona]

47. long distance travel? on a bicycle?

Maybe if you're a trustafarian. I'll stick with the airplane and most folks who actually have jobs to get back to will do the same, thank you very much.

The conservation movement is a breeding ground of communists
and other subversives. We intend to clean them out,
even if it means rounding up every birdwatcher in the country.
--John Mitchell, US Attorney General 1969-72

[BiggJawn]

58. Whatever...

What would you have done 100 years ago, before the airplane was invented?

Hate to be the bearer of arcane facts, but there WAS a time in this country when bicycles weren't sneered at as "toys" for kids to amuse themselves with until their 16th birthday present of a SUV or as last-ditch transport for drunks with too many DWI convictions.

In some parts of the world, bikes are still used for daily transportation. Europe, the Third World, China (at least until recently, when they had their "affluence explosion" and banned bikes from Beijing)

And what do you think I mean by "long distance" 1500 miles? 3,000 miles? No, not even I would propose that for a routine thing.
How about if I define "long distanace' as being that which you would think twice about walking? Would I walk 5 miles to get to the store? No. Would I walk 15 miles to work? HELL no. Would I ride a bike those distances? Sure.

And so it was 100 years ago. People who were too poor to afford a horse were no longer limited to travelling only as far as they could walk.

An incredible invention.

[HuckleB]

59. Historical context?

Hmm. There's a big difference in the area one would/could cover in one's lifetime pre- and post- bicycle. Them airplanes were a century or more away, especially for those without bulging cash flows.

[devilgrrl]

15. Hey! What about the Thermos?

You put cold liquid in, it keeps it cold.

You put hot liquid in, it keeps it hot.

Well, how does it know?

:eyes:

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

18. In a time of record gas prices I find my bike indispensable.

I'm a lot healthier for riding too.

[tabasco]

19. Definitely the most popular among thieves.

I've had three disappear in my life. But maybe they just wanted to be free and ran away.

[Bandit]

20. Can't believe gun crazed Americans didn't vote guns

Or maybe land mines.:shrug:

[chlamor]

21. Bicycles as liberation-Cycling for electricity, for joy

As per the following that caused much discussion last December, in the recent and most excellent newsletter that Bikes Not Bombs (BNB) publishes, there is a whole page dedicated to one group Maya Pedal in Gautemala, that is devoted to "Pedaling for Electricity, Food, (and) Other Non Transportation" applications. BNB supplies recycled bikes to Maya Pedal and in working with BNB, Mass Bike and the Boston Bike Festival people on our May 6 Boston NBG Day I came across this exciting stuff:

If you go to http://mayapedal.com , you will see that they make a:

Bicycle Mill/Corn Degrainer, Bicycle Blender, Bicycle Water Pump, Microconcrete Vibrator (Roofing Tiles), Bicycle Coffee Depulper, Bicycle Metal Sharpen, Bicycle Washing Machines, Bicycle Electricity Generator, Soil plow/till/hoe, Bicycle Nut-Sheller, Bicycle Wood Saw

[phusion]

22. hah..

No surprise this is the BBC:

" The survey also asked participants which innovation they would most like to disinvent.

GM foods came top of this poll with 26% of the vote, followed by nuclear power with 19%."

I don't even think most Americans know what GM foods are!

[Gregorian]

23. As much as I love bikes... Come on!- the refrigerator

It's got to be in the top ten. I'll take it over a radio any day.

I am so glad the bike got the attention it deserves.

I would disinvent backup horns.

[tinrobot]

24. Ummmm... the Ronco Pocket Fisherman?

I mean really... if you want to talk about great inventions.

Ronco, baby.

[olddad56]

26. I'd chose the Chia Pet over the Pocket Fisherman.

[olddad56]

25. when was oral sex invented?

[KansDem]

40. Probably right after Eve...

But I could be wrong.

[amazona]

49. I thought Cleopatra liked to take credit

But even if it was Eve or Lilith herself, it's all well before 1800.

The conservation movement is a breeding ground of communists
and other subversives. We intend to clean them out,
even if it means rounding up every birdwatcher in the country.
--John Mitchell, US Attorney General 1969-72

[lebkuchen]

27. It's difficult to drive in the NL w/o running into one

[oscar111]

28. air conditioning was the choice of engineers

in a similar poll of them.

[Mika]

30. I couldn't agree more

www.stopbolton.org

[Lydia Leftcoast]

36. What I would uninvent:

1. The leaf blower. Come on! What's wrong with good old-fashioned, QUIET rakes, brooms, and brushes? In my neighborhood in Portland, I used to hear leaf blowers that invaded my brain even though I had the windows closed and the stereo on.

2. The freeway. America's concentration on building ever-wider freeways instead of modernizing its intercity rail and public transit led to the fragmentation and abandonment of our cities and to endless urban sprawl.

[chlamor]

37. How about uninventing

the high pitched pernicious weed whip. I've heard that buzzing sound over jackhammers as I was attempting to escape into the mountains to leave the noise factory behind.

The outboard motor and all 2 stroke engines are a bane.

Great invention-The Dibble Drum

[Xenotime]

42. What about the important stuff..

Rather than inventing the Electo-magnetic induction ring why not take that same money and invent the cure for AIDS. Or, invent a way to eliminate our dependance on foregin oil. Or, invent a way to keep radical drunken individuals from holding the highest office in the land.

[LiberallyInclined]

60. ????

"Rather than inventing the Electo-magnetic induction ring why not take that same money and invent the cure for AIDS..."

huh?

back when the electro-magnetic induction ring was developed, AIDS wasn't an issue, so i guess that i don't understand your post...

[pedestrian]

71. Without the induction ring

we wouldn't know about the AIDS crisis anyway. Some scattered snail-mail reports, that's all. We basically could not generate electricity without it. Electric power plants, whether fueled by waterfalls, wind, coal or nuclear reactions work by getting steam or water to rotate a magnet inside an induction ring, generating electric power. Not sure I can imagine how or why a cure for AIDS would be developed in a world without electricity.

The Pedestrian

[northzax]

43. two words:

duct tape.

you all have it, you all use it. even on your precious bicycles.

[Mika]

61. Duct tape would NEVER touch my bicycles.

The goddamn duct tape glue residue is a pestilence to humankind.







www.stopbolton.org

[BiggJawn]

64. That Saluki is amazing for a "production" bike, isn't it?

Not only the greatest invention, but one of the most beautiful, too.

How ya been, Mika?

[Chicago Democrat]

44. refrigerator, Glass, Rubber, Metal, Zipper, Cotton Cloth

Saran Wrap

[amazona]

46. so it's a joke right?

With all the world and life-changing inventions from the automobile to the airplane to television to the birth control pill, they pick a freakin' toy? And let's be honest about what a bicycle is and what it does. Even pre-automobile, it wasn't a major form of transportation. Not fast enough, doesn't carry enough, doesn't keep off the weather. It is a toy. Sheesh. At least the horse reproduced itself.

All I can figure is that polls are entirely worthless or people are entirely insane or BOTH.

The transistor came in second. Come on, where did they do this poll, a nursing home? The younger crowd doesn't even know what a transistor is!

The conservation movement is a breeding ground of communists
and other subversives. We intend to clean them out,
even if it means rounding up every birdwatcher in the country.
--John Mitchell, US Attorney General 1969-72

[HuckleB]

51. Nope.

It's no toy. Nice try at dismissing it, but no dice. If it weren't for the automobile and its purveyors working to create communities that are spread out on a non-human scale, there'd be no way to argue that the bicycle isn't plenty fast enough. It is plenty fast enough, it's just that we're very good at using the land very poorly.

[ckramer]

48. I think women are the greatest invention by god if you can get some

haha!

[Name removed]

50. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[chlamor]

63. Factually

you are more of an identifiable protonperson in the automobile along with all your requisite ID. And that is about to get worse-SOON. You are being herded into the maw of capital-fascismo every heavily insured and ultra licensed mile you drive. Oops don't forget to use the credit card when gassing at the Citgo. Cameras at EVERY pump in the nation-To better serve YOU. But I'm nuts and like exercise and freedom of movement.

Oh wait did I forget to mention the micro-chips that go into post 2004 autos. SHHHH the satellite is listening. Back to the asylum now for the likes of me.

[theboss]

52. Is the average age of BBC 4 103 years old?

The bicycle is lovely for rides to the village green, I suppose.

But, I mean, the internal combustion engine and Penicillin are pretty freaking important.

[d_b]

53. I want the results of the Fox News version.

I'd guess that the electric chair would take first, with "cock-pump" not far behind.

[daleo]

55. O'Reilly says its a tie between the vibrater and loofah. n/t

[SlavesandBulldozers]

56. i was thinking the same thing

i can also see them sayin "well gotdamn, i dint know General Motors made food".

[NNN0LHI]

57. The first flush toilet invented by Tomas Crapper in 1884 gets my vote

I can't imagine running out to the outhouse in zero degree weather. I think doing that is where the saying "Holy shit!" was derived from.

Don

[pedestrian]

70. Try an indoor, dry toilet

based on technology from the 20th century! Practically odorless, as sanitary as any flush toilet, and with far fewer environmental problems (see above).

The Pedestrian

[JohnLocke]

65. No telegraph? (nt).

[happyslug]

67. No Percussion cap?

Without it, our armies would still be shooting at each other with muzzling loading muskets. The percussion cap lead to the blasting cap, which lead to widespread use of Dynamite and modern earth removal techniques.

As to the cap itself, lead to rifling, than breach-loading than repeating weapons than machine guns. None is possible without the Percussion cap.

Like other "Small" inventions, the effect is small at first, than accelerates. Thus people just do not see how the invention is affecting them. This is true of the Percussion cap in the 1800s and the Transistor after WWII. Most of the changes caused by the Percussion cap was made prior to WWI but we live with changes to this day.

The transistor has had the same affect but many of the changes are still ongoing. The difference is that the Cap hit much lower level of sophisticated society, than the transistor. Both have had great affect on society.

[Name removed]

73. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[happyslug]

76. But NOT effectively

The previous ignition systems were so unreliable that the Armies of the World stayed with Smooth bore muskets do to the ease to remove a ball from a misfired smooth-bore musket compared to a rifle barrel. In 1830 the British did an experiment between the Percussion cap and Flintlock. The Cap caused a misfire in 6 of the 6000 rounds fired (The cap was improved afterward to be hotter so even less misfired occurred by the time of the American Civil War) while the Flintlock had over 1000 misfires (Roughly 1 out of every 6). In the days of the Flintlock Rifle companies would have most of their rifles out of action within 5 minutes of entering combat (Do to the misfires and the time to pull out the bullet engaged to the rifling). On the other hand most smooth-bores would be out of action no more than 20 seconds, as the soldier only had to leave the bullet roll out of the smooth bore barrel (or in the alternative pull it out quickly).

This speed to fix a misfire was the main reason Rifles never replaced smooth-bore muskets until after the Percussion Cap was invented. Even George Washington who used more Riflemen than any other commander of his time period had a standing rule that no Rifle Company would engage the enemy without being backed up by a line Infantry Company armed with Smooth bore muskets (Through part of this order reflected the lack of Bayonet on the Rifles of American Riflemen of the Revolutionary era, but the main reason was the lack of firepower do to the high rate of misfires caused by the use of the Flintlock firing mechanisms).

My point was the widespread use of Rifles could NOT occur until an effective firing mechanism was introduced, and that was the Percussion Cap. The Percussion Cap (And the widespread use of Rifled Muskets during the Civil War) is the major difference between warfare of the Revolutionary period and Civil War period. Even Cannons were more reliable during the Civil War when used with the Percussion cap (via a lanyard) as opposed to the old technology of lighting the Cannon with an open flame. Once rifles become the dominate land warfare arm than the need for greater range lead to adoption of Smokeless powder in the 1880s which leads to the adoption of the Machine Gun in the 1890s (I know Gatling Guns were adopted in the 1860s, but I am referring to true Machine Guns which does NOT include the Gatling gun).

Just because Rifling was used prior to the Percussion Cap does not mean it was effective prior to that invention. The Gasoline engine had been invented around 1860 but had low usage till the invention of the Carburetor around 1900. Radios and televisions existed before the Transistor but it took the transistor to make them affordable and portable. The Wheel had been invented millennia before the Ball-Bearing, but the Ball Bearing permitted wheels to rotate independent of theirs axle, meaning that the power source pulling the wheeled vehicle only had to over come the wheel NOT the wheel and the Axle. Horses had been used for Millennia for hauling but the Horse collar permitted them to haul even heavy goods (prior to the Horse Collar, horses could only be used for riding or hauling light vehicles, the yokes used on oxen would choke a horse).

My point here is just because something is invented before something else, does NOT mean the later invention had no effect on the adoption in use of the earlier invention. Rifling had been wide used prior to the Percussion Cap, but no where near the use of Rifling AFTER the invention of the Cap. The Cap solved a problem in using rifles and once solved Rifles became more and more popular. Many fundamental inventions do just that, solve problems with earlier inventions so that the older invention is used more and more. Progress is NOT a continuum but a series of stops and starts. The Hobby Horse of the 1830s soon was given metal and than steel wheels and gears. Gears had been around for Millennia but with the invention of Cheap Steel (Via the Bessemer Process in 1869) permitted steel wheels and gears and thus the modern bicycle as opposed to the Hobby Horse and hand carts that had been around for Millennia.

Any fundamental invention does not do a lot by itself, it helps other invention reach their full potential. many times the inventions it helps had been around for decades (or longer). An example of this is in the case of the bicycle, cheap steel, without cheap steel bicycles were expensive and easy to break rich man toys. Another example the Percussion cap and the Rifle, and a third is the Computer the Transistor. Bicycles, Rifles and even the Computer existed Cheap Steel, the Percussion Cap and the Transistor but each needed their respected fundamental invention to become what they are today. before the fundamental invention that made them what they are today. The Percussion cap is up there with the Transistor, Cheap Steel, Portland Cement and other inventions that permit the widespread use of other inventions that our society depends on today.

[entanglement]

74. I agree the bicycle was a great invention

but I'm surprised to see it got 59%. There must be tonnes of serious cycling enthusiasts out there! :smoke: