My first thoughts landed on the wheel. Transportation, water wheels, motors and engines have all benefited from this simple design. Or what about communication technology? Telephones, televisions, radio, telegraph, internet all make pretty impressive inventions and are used daily by the young and the old, and communication is now instant. Or maybe the lightbulb? and not just the lightbulb but the infrastructure that is needed and used now to provide electricity for power. Mr Social thought the automobile was the greatest invention whereas Mr Cheeky was backing R2-D2.
Our history programme however put forward a very good argument for why the printing press is the invention that changed the world the most. Over in Germany, Johannes Gutenberg, used his skills as a goldsmith to create the first ever moveable printing press. Previously books, literature, instructions were all either wrote, carved, or sewn by hand. His invention brought books to the masses. Information could be recorded and passed on. A person's works and achievements could be recorded for other people to learn from and add to.
Here is a list of resources that you can use to discover more about Gutenberg's printing press.
We decided to do some potato printing. I gave the children some potatoes that had been sliced in half and showed them how to carve their image on to the potato and had them cut around it. We stuck to fairly simple shapes and with some ready made paint and brushes they were good to go. Here are a few snaps from their printing endeavours.
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