Essays

In this new age of development we take simple things like a telephone, a refrigerator, or a car for granted. We live in a world of luxuries and comforts compared to the average person in the 19^th century.

Let's say you were born prior to 1945. Just stop and consider the changes you might have witnessed. You were before television, before penicillin, frozen foods, Xerox copiers, contact lenses, and the Pill. You were before radar, credit cards, split atoms, ball point pens, dishwashers, air conditioners, and before man walked on the Moon. You never heard of F.M. radio, tape decks, electric typewriters, artificial hearts, yoghurt and blokes with earrings! Pizzas, Instant Coffee and McDonalds weren't heard of.

Today's world is growing ever dependent on technology. The telephone for example is something we all take for granted. Every house is expected to have one and if we find there is no phone, we seem to think that it is abnormal. The question, however is, why is the telephone the cornerstone of modern life?

The telephone allows us nearly instant connections – between friends, families, Businesses, and nations – enables communications that enhance our lives, industries, and economies. Truly, the telephone has brought the human family together. With remarkable innovations, engineers have brought us from copper wire to fibre optics, from switchboards to satellites, and then the Internet. The Internet has become a vital instrument of social change. The Internet is changing business practices, educational pursuits, and personal communications, by providing global access to news, commerce, and vast stores of information. The Internet brings us together and adds convenience and efficiency to our lives.

The radio and television were the major agents of social change in the 20111 century, opening windows to other lives, to remote areas of the world, and to history in the making. From the wireless telegraph to today's advanced satellite systems, engineers have developed remarkable technologies that inform and entertain millions every day.

Not only has human ingenuity brought us tools to communicate with, it also has provided us with transport. From horse-drawn carts to cars, steam engines to electric trains and canoes to the luxury liners of today. Today you can go from Europe to America in 4 hours on the Concorde. In 1900, the same trip took 7 to 10 days by boat. However, the motorcar is one of man's finest creations. The automobile may be the ultimate symbol of personal freedom. It's also the world's major transporter of people and goods, and a strong source of economic growth and stability.

Have you ever thought how water has changed your life? How often does society take water for granted? Today, a simple turn of the tap provides clean water — a precious resource. Engineering advances in managing this resource have come leaps and bounds and introduced water treatment, supply, and distribution systems. This has changed life profoundly in the 20th century, virtually eliminating waterborne diseases in developed nations, and providing clean and abundant water for communities, farms, and industries.

Yet all this technology cannot help us from the pollution and destruction we cause to our planet. Computers can only standby as global warming takes effect, forests get cut down and the sea polluted. Ironically humans are able to create such, such great things but are unable to save our world.