| This encyclopedia of invention and discovery is a historical one, dividing the inventions and scientific discoveries of the human race into six periods and reviewing them in the context of their impact on broader society. Organizing significant inventions in such a way, rather than in a single listing, requires some thought as to the periodization, and this introduction provides an explanation and rationale for the organization of the work.
Lewis Mumford, in his classic study Technics and Civilization (New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1934), defined ancient inventions such as fire and clothing as eotechnology. These ancient arts, he pointed out, were part of the legacy of the human race, much of it developed in prehistoric times. The era of the Industrial Revolution, from the late 18th and through the 19th century, he called the era of paleotechnology. He used the term neotechnology to define the more modern era in which science and technology advance together, each feeding the other with developments, which he saw beginning in the 19th century and continuing into the 20th century up to the date of the writing and publication of his work in the early 1930s.
We found Mumford’s classification thought-provoking, and we have adopted a periodization that builds on his thinking but that uses more familiar terms to designate the eras. In this encyclopedia we have divided the ages of scientific discovery and technological invention into six periods, or eras. |
