• Question: what do you think is the best scientific invention ever ?

    Asked by michaelessien to Gioia, Iain, Jo, Leo, Mariam on 14 Jun 2010 in Categories: . This question was also asked by hannahandkatiexxx, issiphee1, worldwidedave.
    • Photo: Iain Moal

      Iain Moal answered on 14 Jun 2010:

      Ooooh. Thats a very difficult question. I would have to say the computer, because everything from life support machines to aeroplanes to washing machines need computers

    • Photo: Joanna Watson

      Joanna Watson answered on 14 Jun 2010:

      I think that electricity is the best scientific discovery and therefore that electricity generators and storage are the best inventions.

      Being able to use electricity has made all kinds of other things possible, like fridges which keep food cold and reduce our risk of food poisoning, or keep vaccines cold so that we can prevent lots of horrible diseases like measles and tuberculosis.

      Plus, without electricity there would be no TV or computers so we wouldn’t be able to watch our favourite TV programmes or play computer games – and I wouldn’t be able to answer your question on the internet!

    • Photo: Leo Garcia

      Leo Garcia answered on 14 Jun 2010:

      That’s an amazing question! Very tough to answer… I suppose there’s the best scientific invention which is best because it has, say, saved the most lives. And then there’s the best invention because I think it’s the most fun!

      For the first one – I’d say… X-ray imaging. It has saved countless millions of lives and allowed people to see inside the body, without even touching it, for the first time in history.

      For the second one – I’d say computers. Computers are SUCH an important scientific tool (and entertainment tool) and it has allowed us to progress well beyond the calculating capabilities of the human mind.

    • Photo: Mariam Orme

      Mariam Orme answered on 14 Jun 2010:

      There are quite a lot of things out there that I think we’d find it very hard to live without. Like the wheel, that was a pretty important invention. And I don’t know about you, but I’d find it hard to live without the internet, which is an amazing invention – I can’t begin to understand how it works, but it’s great!

    • Photo: Gioia Cherubini

      Gioia Cherubini answered on 14 Jun 2010:

      Hi michaelessien,

      you know, I wouldn’t call a lot of things in science inventions, but a discovery/ understanding of something that has always been there. In that sense, I find really hard to define the best discovery in science. That could be Darwin theory of Natural Selection (or evolution) or Mendel’s pioneering work on genetics or Watson and Crick discovery of the DNA structure. Without all these discoveries I wouldn’t be able to do any work! If we are talking of Science invention, then something that made our life easier in the lab, is the invention of the PCR, a technique that allows you to amplify even just a DNA molecule.

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