What is Mankind's Greatest Invention?

[Montegriffo]

Can't disagree with your sentiment at all Grumps. Just here to remind you that at the time the arms race and the space race were one and the same thing. Now if the Soviets and the USA had worked together and shaken hands in the sea of tranquility and thus ended the cold war, those far of aliens would have been truely impressed and might even considered us a safe enough place to visit on their hols in 1970.

I could say the same about most inventions... Fire - protection from the wolf/bear/bugs/everything trying to kill you.
Steel - better swords for killing
Iron, bronze, same same...

Conflict breeds invention - a Truth, if there ever was one. Sure, the root cause for the Landings were in the Cold War, but it was a pretty good alternative to just blowing up the world.

You are making a good argument for including war and conflict as mankinds greatest contributions to progress there. I mean WWII went from cloth covered wooden airplanes to jets and rockets in under 6 years. The advances in medicine, science, transport etc dwarfs anything your vanity project ever acheived.
As for an alternative to blowing each other up that is as misconceived as Noble thinking the invention of dynamite would end all wars. You are confirming my original point because we are really talking about delivery systems for our nuclear weapons after all.

[SuburbanFarmer]

Can't disagree with your sentiment at all Grumps. Just here to remind you that at the time the arms race and the space race were one and the same thing. Now if the Soviets and the USA had worked together and shaken hands in the sea of tranquility and thus ended the cold war, those far of aliens would have been truely impressed and might even considered us a safe enough place to visit on their hols in 1970.

I could say the same about most inventions... Fire - protection from the wolf/bear/bugs/everything trying to kill you.
Steel - better swords for killing
Iron, bronze, same same...

Conflict breeds invention - a Truth, if there ever was one. Sure, the root cause for the Landings were in the Cold War, but it was a pretty good alternative to just blowing up the world.

You are making a good argument for including war and conflict as mankinds greatest contributions to progress there. I mean WWII went from cloth covered wooden airplanes to jets and rockets in under 6 years. The advances in medicine, science, transport etc dwarfs anything your vanity project ever acheived.
As for an alternative to blowing each other up that is as misconceived as Noble thinking the invention of dynamite would end all wars. You are confirming my original point because we are really talking about delivery systems for our nuclear weapons after all.

No homie. While you're correct that that initial rockets to space were indeed ICBMs, they were no longer useful once we wanted to put something in orbit (think Sputnik era). The rocket to the moon (Saturn V) was many, many times more powerful than anything that would deliver a piddly warhead to the other side of our rock. In fact, the explosive power of all the fuel in that rocket would be comparable to a Hiroshima-sized explosion.

[Montegriffo]

I could say the same about most inventions... Fire - protection from the wolf/bear/bugs/everything trying to kill you.
Steel - better swords for killing
Iron, bronze, same same...

Conflict breeds invention - a Truth, if there ever was one. Sure, the root cause for the Landings were in the Cold War, but it was a pretty good alternative to just blowing up the world.

You are making a good argument for including war and conflict as mankinds greatest contributions to progress there. I mean WWII went from cloth covered wooden airplanes to jets and rockets in under 6 years. The advances in medicine, science, transport etc dwarfs anything your vanity project ever acheived.
As for an alternative to blowing each other up that is as misconceived as Noble thinking the invention of dynamite would end all wars. You are confirming my original point because we are really talking about delivery systems for our nuclear weapons after all.

No homie. While you're correct that that initial rockets to space were indeed ICBMs, they were no longer useful once we wanted to put something in orbit (think Sputnik era). The rocket to the moon (Saturn V) was many, many times more powerful than anything that would deliver a piddly warhead to the other side of our rock. In fact, the explosive power of all the fuel in that rocket would be comparable to a Hiroshima-sized explosion.

Oh the humanity!(not to mention the emissions)

[SuburbanFarmer]

No homie. While you're correct that that initial rockets to space were indeed ICBMs, they were no longer useful once we wanted to put something in orbit (think Sputnik era). The rocket to the moon (Saturn V) was many, many times more powerful than anything that would deliver a piddly warhead to the other side of our rock. In fact, the explosive power of all the fuel in that rocket would be comparable to a Hiroshima-sized explosion.

Oh the humanity!(not to mention the emissions)

Nope. Even if we launched 2 of those every single day, it wouldn't match a single city worth of this:



Not even close.

[Montegriffo]

That picture is the most depressing thing I've seen all week.
Including Nuke ressurecting the tiny minorities thread.

[SuburbanFarmer]

That picture is the most depressing thing I've seen all week.
Including Nuke ressurecting the tiny minorities thread.

My ride home every day is very similar. And yes, it's extremely depressing..

[Otern]

In fact, the explosive power of all the fuel in that rocket would be comparable to a Hiroshima-sized explosion.

No. Not even close.

[Montegriffo]

I saw a picture in China of a two day long gridlock on a 50 lane highway on TV the other day.
Once the developing world starts to catch up with our "progress" things are really going to get bad quickly.

[adwinistrator]

Mankind's greatest invention is writing.

Oral traditions are great, but in terms of actually creating a way to store our knowledge for future generations, writing changed the whole game.

Technological development and science all come from the process of experimentation and recording of events. How long would it have taken our ancestors to chart the stars via oral tradition? Would navigation have ever happened without it?

Animal husbandry and irrigation are right at the top too, but with writing, they could record all the different variables, events, and outcomes. I have to imagine it elevated both of those technologies to a higher level, but more importantly, allowed our species development to continue far beyond what language alone could accurately preserve over time.

[SuburbanFarmer]

In fact, the explosive power of all the fuel in that rocket would be comparable to a Hiroshima-sized explosion.

No. Not even close.

mmmmm.... pretty close... You're right though, not "Hiroshima-sized".

http://www.thespacereview.com/article/591/1

If the Saturn 5 exploded, it could do so with the force of a small atomic bomb, the equivalent of half a kiloton, or about 1/26 the size of the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima. Naturally, this was a significant concern for Apollo program officials.