Inventions That Have Been Used For Centuries

By Carey Bourdier


While our technological advances over the last millennium have been quite impressive, there are certain tools that have been used for hundreds of years and are still needed today. So, while we can use robots to build cars and our computers allow us to send a letter across the globe in mere seconds, these ancient tools still come in quite handy today.

If you enjoy gardening or work in construction, a wheelbarrow can certainly provide you with an easy way to transport dirt, debris, rocks or other items from place to place. While the materials used to create wheelbarrows have changed through the years, the actual design is still fairly similar to the days when the Ancient Greeks and Chinese used wheelbarrows for many different tasks.

For millions of years, man has used tools, and in the earliest of times, strong stones were used as hammers. Today, just about every house in the world possesses some type of hammer, typically a claw hammer that can be used to apply force or to remove nails. Evidence of hammers that look quite a bit like these every day hammers have been found to be as many as 10,000 years old,and that's just in the United States.

There are people whose whole life revolves around metrology, otherwise known as the science of measurement. Among the many tools used by these scientists, as well as surveyors and aerospace engineers, is the theodolite. This tool is helpful because it allows the user to measure angles in both planes, which obviously has many applications. This device is not something new, however, and the theodolites we see today are quite similar to those constructed in the late 18th century. The earliest theodolites were constructed in the early 16th century.

While there are many cool devices on ships and boats today, such as depth finders and RADAR, the old standbys are still on many sea-faring vessels. Many different types of telescopes are still used, even on naval warships. Navigational sextants also are still used to measure the angle that exists between two visible objects. The first sextant was created in the mid 1700s, but Sir Isaac Newton was the first to dream up a similar type of device. Today's sextants look quite similar to those that have been used for the last several hundred years.

One tool that has been around for more than a century is an inclinometer. This tool also is sometimes called a clinometers or a tilt meter, and it measures the angles of a slope or the angle of tilt of an object. This has practical applications in many different industries. When you design a ski slope, for instance, it is imperative that the slope and grade are determined accurately. When you design airplanes, an inclinometer provides crucial information. Even installing solar panels requires the use of clinometers to ensure that the sun is hitting the panels at exactly the right angle.




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