2003

A Century of Innovation

In the book, A Century of Innovation: Twenty Engineering Achievements that Changed Our Lives, written by George Constable and Bob Somerville and published in 2003, the National Academy of Engineering picked the twenty greatest engineering achievements of the twentieth century. It shows the massive positive impact that engineers have had on modern society. Here is the NAE’s list:

Electrification

Automobile

Airplane

Water Supply and Distribution

Electronics

Radio and Television

Agricultural Mechanization

Computers

Telephone

Air Conditioning and Refrigeration

Highways

Spacecraft

Internet

Imaging

Household Appliances

Health Technologies

Petroleum and Petrochemical Technologies

Laser and Fiber Optics

Nuclear Technologies

High-performance Materials

When you look at the list, you realize how important the twentieth century was in terms of the advancement of modern society. Advancements like airplanes, automobiles, highways, spacecraft, oil refining, radio, TV, computers, electronics … they simply did not exist in any real form at the start of the twentieth century, and by the end of the century they are essential to modern life. It is safe to say that no other century in human history saw anything like this kind of advancement. And humanity is significantly better off for the work of the countless engineers who help bring these technologies forward.

SEE ALSO Air Conditioning (1902), Laser (1917), Radio Station (1920), Electrical Refrigeration (1927), Color Television (1939), ENIAC—The First Digital Computer (1946), Fiber Optic Communication (1970).

The computer was hailed as one of the greatest achievements of the twentieth century.