Know It All Great Inventions: The 50 Greatest Inventions, Each Explained in Under a Minute

Prepare to see a few millennia worth of light bulb moments. Know It All Great Inventions traces 50 of mankinds greatest inventions, from the wheel to in-home air conditioning, and tells their stories.

Universal change is often the ultimate result of one individual’s lightbulb moment—an invention that triggers a ripple effect across countries, continents, or even out into space. Know-It-All Great Inventions looks at fifty of these great ideas that really did change the world.

This title covers a wide range, from early days (the wheel) through materials (the invention of steel and plastic) to communications (the alphabet, printing press, and Worldwide Web) and the conveniences of—relatively—modern daily life (refrigeration, indoor plumbing, and central heating).

It is a sharp reminder that almost every aspect of life in the second decade of the 21st century is the result of someone’s bright idea, one that they actually made work. Along the way you’ll learn the stories behind each and every invention, revealing and intriguing in equal measures.


The Know It All series takes a revolutionary approach to learning about the subjects you really feel you should understand but have never gotten around to studying. Each book selects a popular topic and dissects it into the 50 most significant ideas at its heart. Each idea, no matter how complex, is explained in 300 words and one picture, all digestible in under a minute.

Other titles in this series include: Know It All Anthropology, Know It All Chemistry, Know It All Classical Music, Know It All Energy, Know It All Fashion,  Know It All Jazz, Know It All Medicine, Know It All Shakespeare, Know It All Whiskey, Know It All Wine, Space In 30 Seconds, Sports in 30 Seconds.
 

David Boyle is an author and economist who specializes in new ideas in money, business, and culture. He has authored a number of books about history, social change, and the future. His major publications include The New Economics: A Bigger Picture (2009), and Broke: Who Killed the Middle Classes (2013). He is a fellow of the New Economics Foundation, and co-director of the thinktank New Weather.