Major technological achievements of the twentieth century
Electricity
The greatest of the Twentieth century has to be Electricity. The accomplishment of this electricity phenomenon was a product of a series of great engineering innovations. These included the turbine generator and the use of alternating current (AC). Of greater importance was the understanding of the techniques of obtaining electrical power from such resources as fossil fuels, water, sunlight, and nuclear ( National Academy of Engineering & National Academies Press U.S.).. In addition, the construction and refinement of great transmission systems was vital to underlining the significance of electricity to human life in the 20th century and many centuries to follow.
Impact of electricity to lives
The impact of electricity to the lives and operations of people the world over cannot be overemphasized. The wide distribution of electrical power around the world brought light to people in terms of lighting. The unhealthy traditional forms of lighting were replaced the clean form of lighting that was electricity. Of greater impact, however, the massive power that coming of electricity brought in the almost every pursuit as well as enterprise in the modern society. Basically, electricity redefined the way we do our lighting, heating, food preservation, transport and communications, food production, medical treatments among others. There is no doubt that electrification has responsible for innumerable developments which have gone a long way to making our lives safer, healthier, and convenient. Today, it is electrical power that is behind the running of most if not all electric appliances in most of our homes as well as offices (National Academy of Engineering & National Academies Press U.S.). These range from the smallest electrical appliances like mobile phones to mammoth computer that man power grids and telecommunications systems along with complex machines that produce the bulk of consumer goods. By and large, the impact of electricity is the single greatest among all technological discoveries that came to fruition in the twentieth century.
Automobile
Automobile was a technological phenomenon that came about in the 1900. The automotive industry mushroomed from humble beginnings of a few thousand Tin Lizzies to the modern, aerodynamic, and multipurpose vehicles of present day. This was chronicle engineering at its most resourceful. There have been a series of great innovations that have resulted the modern vehicle as know it. These include such innovation as electric starter, the synchronized transmission, windshield wipers, heat and air conditioning, interchangeable parts, power steering, independent front suspension, among other model designs of style and luxury.
Impact of Automobile to people
The impact of automobile in the lives of people on the globe is massive. Consider that before the invention of vehicles, the average person is estimated traveled some 1200 miles in an entire lifetime mostly on foot. Furthermore, this walking was limited in the sense that it often entailed trips within one’s own village or town. Automobile has enabled us to travel to far afield in incredibly short periods of time. For instance, it is estimated that the average American adult covers some 10,000 miles a year in an automobile alone (R.I.C. Publications). The automobile was by no doubt, the major transporter of people and their goods around the world. The automobile industry has in effect become a major source of economic growth and stability. This explains why there are about half a billion cars in the world today.
Computers
Arguably, the invention of the computer is the one technological accomplishment of the twentieth century that has changed the world for good. The computer is the engineered device that has most captured the attention of the average person. Innovations in stored data, the increasingly competitive race for superior materials to make computers faster and reliable, together with the realization that the computer was indeed more than just a calculator informed the rapid progress of computers especially in the dying years of the twentieth century. The installation of the graphically controlled software made computers easy to use (National Academy of Engineering & National Academies Press U.S.).
Impact of Computers to human life
The impact of the computer in all spheres of human life is self telling. The computer graduated fast from a cumbersome machine used mainly for computations of numbers to a more portable, and user-friendly device. It is used in every major industry namely manufacturing, research, communication, administration, medicine, entertainment, security, education among a host of other sectors. All these functionalities of varied sectors are further profited by another great phenomenon of the last century, the Internet. The Internet which uses the computer as its carrier has brought about globalization by opening new worlds to users (R.I.C. Publications). Thanks to these two great technological achievements of the twentieth century, today the average person has the unimagined privilege of accessing unprecedented amounts of information and knowledge besides communicating freely in the larger world forum. The computer revolution has in effect moved from the initial one of numbers and bytes to the present day revolution in which people from all geographical, social and political spheres share information and learn from each other just at a click. Generally, the computer has advanced the modern society to extremes that were unimaginable not long ago (R.I.C. Publications).
Other Technological Achievements of 20th Century
Other great technological achievements of the 20th century that cannot escape mention in this paper include: Airplane, Water Supply and Distribution methods, Electronics (e.g. radio, television), Agricultural mechanization, Telephone, Air conditioning and refrigeration, Highways, Spacecraft, Imaging, Household appliances (e.g. stoves, heaters, fans, vacuum cleaners, dryers, dishwashers, microwaves), Health technologies (e.g. surgery machines, medical implants, intensive care monitors, bioimaging, drugs), Petroleum and petrochemical technologies, Laser and Fiber optics, Nuclear technologies, and High-performance materials (e.g. heavy building blocks of iron and steel) ( National Academy of Engineering & National Academies Press U.S.).
Population Growth and Environmental Resources
That population growth has a negative bearing on the environmental resources and the general human welfare, is indeed as old as civilization. This is evidenced from the early writings of Heroditus in the 5th century before Christ when it is noted that population of the Lydian had outdone production resulting to prolonged famine lasting eighteen years. However, the impacts of population pressure and technology on the environment first came to be noticed in the era of the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century in Europe (Lorey 2003). There was population boom at this time thanks to the improved technology that produced things needed by human in mass numbers. As a result more and more forests had to be cleared out to make space for home establishments as well as industries. Technology that largely used coal was found to pollute the environment greatly as vegetation as well as roof tops of houses took up the intoxicating coal color.
Modern day implications of population growth
The advancement of technology in the 20th and 21st centuries has been inspired by the human population boom. As of late 2011, the world was estimated be hosting a record 7 billion people. All these people require the services of technology either directly or indirectly so as to carry on with their well survival. This has placed real pressure on the environment (Lorey 2003).
Pressure on the environment from increased human population together with technology has continued over the years to reach the present day where we face the danger of global warming because of the depletion of the ozone layer and a destroyed earth surface (United Nations Environment Programme).
Conclusion
In my considered opinion, the outburst of world population does not portend well for the general welfare of both the human generation and the environment in which they inhabit. Indeed its implications are political, economic, philosophical as well as legal. I believe it is fast approaching a time when governments with very high populations will have to enforce population control methods so as to harmonize the strained resources with the people using them. Am afraid governments will have to make it mandatory for their citizenry to use such methods as contraception, medical abortions, infanticide, emigration, decreasing immigration, sterilization, and euthanasia in addition to abstinence to curb the spiraling population growth.
Finally, given that environmental protection is influenced by factors such as environmental legislation, education and ethics, I believe that full environmental protection will only be achieved if societies develop each of the areas which will as one inform and propel the environmental decisions. The same technology that has contributed massively to the destruction of the environment together with the population outburst can be used to device ways in which corrective functional measures can be taken. Similarly, there can be international agreements pertaining to conversation of environment, use of technology, and population control.
References
Lorey, E. David. 2003. Global environmental challenges of the twenty-first century: resources, consumption, and sustainable solution. Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield.
National Academy of Engineering & National Academies Press (U.S.). 2004. Emerging technologies and ethical issues in engineering: papers from a workshop, October 14-15, 2003. Washington, D.C., National Academies Press.
R.I.C. Publications. (nd). Change in the 20th century. Japan: R.I.C. Publications.
United Nations Environment Programme. 1998. Protecting Our Planet, Securing Our Future. Geneva, UNEP/Earthprint.
