The world holds 139.2 million square miles of water, about 71% of Earth's the surface, according to the United States Geological Survey (Perlman). Boats enabled humans to explore vast areas of the world, making boats one of the most important inventions of all time. However, the wheel has assisted billions of people around the world in communicating, connecting, and commuting. Despite this, the boat is arguably more important than the wheel to historic and modern societies because it forever changed defense, exploration, and travel. In regards to defense, the invention of the boat greatly boosted the military efforts of countries and civilizations around the world. Without boats and ships, the Age of Exploration would not have occurred, and …show more content…
The invention of the wheel resulted in many advances in transport, trade, and war, as well as improvements in multiple aspects of people's everyday lives. For example, many people in ancient Egypt would use the wheel on chariots or for pottery, which is one instance in which the wheel can be utilized for something other than transportation ("Wheel" Ancient). Despite this, the wheel's power and strength is limited, and its ability to transport large amounts of people or goods is very restricted, usually to that of a semi-truck or eighteen-wheeled truck. However, large cargo ships, cruise liners, and oil tankers are able to carry and easily ship vast amounts of their cargo to every corner of the world (Kentley). This uncomplicated and efficient way to ship to every continent has massively increased countries' capacities to import and export goods, as well as to grow their economies through these ways. Because of some of the wheel’s negative properties, ships are the more significant invention to many cultures around the world, from the time it was made to present
When the country was founded, the geography was a bigger obstacle than it is today. Before the Industrial Revolution, the primary way to move anything was on water. Rivers and Oceans were the original roads and the fastest and least expensive way to move goods. Most of the population "[was] located either at tidewater or along broad, navigable streams that could not be used to produce much water power" (Nye 44). These geographic features made it possible to move items to areas further away from the coast. Moving things one of the three modes of land transport, "by foot, on a horse, or in a wheeled vehicle" (Cowan 94) were too expensive and difficult with no developed roads. People began to look for ways to make this travel more affordable by creating waterways like the Eire canal to connect places. However, most were unsuccessful and the idea passed. Steam engines also made river travel more feasible. It was not difficult to take a barge full of goods down river; however, it would take months to pole the boat back upriver and usually was not even attempted.
On August 29th, 2005, Hurricane Katrina, the most expensive hurricane in American history, made landfall in Louisiana with winds of one hundred and twenty-seven miles per hour (“Hurricane Katrina Statistics Fast Facts”). The sheer magnitude of the amount of lives and property lost was enormous, and it was triggered simply by warm ocean waters near the Bahamas ("How Hurricane Katrina Formed"). Nature was indifferent to whether the raging winds and rain would die off in the ocean or wipe out cities; it only follows the rules of physics. A multitude of American authors has attempted to give accounts and interpretations of their encounters with the disinterested machine that is nature. Two authors, Stephen Crane and Henry David Thoreau, had rather contrasting and conflicting interpretations of their own interactions with nature. Crane’s work, “The Open Boat,” is story based on his experience as a survivor
As the need of human transportation and various forms of cargo began to rise in the United States of America, a group of railroads with terminal connections along the way began to form across the land mass of this country, ending with the result of one of the most influential innovations in American history, allowing trade to flow easily from location to location, and a fast form of transportation, named the Transcontinental Railroad.
The Vikings in their time were the best shipbuilders and sailors in the world. Their ships were very strong as they were made out of a very long-lasting type of wood, which was oak wood. They thought of many creative ways to make their ships more durable, such as dipping sheep?s wool in tar and then filling in the ships gaps to make it waterproof. The Vikings had long voyages, passing many parts of Europe and simultaneously speeding at least glimpses of their amazing technology skills to the people who saw there ships. For example many people from Ireland and Brittan must have seen their ships as they travelled from their homeland Scandinavia to France in the year 798. But their amazing technology skills would have not been spread throughout the world with out the help of navigation.
Initially, back then many would travel on foot or with horses, it would usually take a lot of time taking crops or productions to trade. However, as the industry began to develop, railroads were created, the government began creating more railroads with the use of donations. The railroads began to take up more land as the new transportation system aided many. The use of railroads assisted in creating an enormous domestic market for American raw materials and manufactured goods. Railroads were beneficial in cities and they also played a leading role in the great cityward movement of the last decay of the century. The railroads could carry food and people and ensure them a livelihood by providing both raw
In the 1800s many innovations took place in America; however it was advances in transportation that changed America the most. At the start of the 19th century, there were no railroads or canals, making travel very difficult and long. Trading was also tough because there was no easy route to get to popular trading ports. Starting in 1812, the country was in a very good place and was in the process of rapidly improving. During this time, the steam engine also made an appearance in America. It helped with the invention of the steamboat, as well as the invention of locomotives. Advances in transportation during the 1800s completely transformed commerce, economic structure, the population density and had many other positive effects on America.
The Erie canal was enormous, fifteen miles to be exact, it also had an enormous impact on our country, being that the word millionaire was invented. Trade exploded and different religions started to sprout along the canal. The Erie canal changed the U.S. in many ways including, but not limited to, increase trade, an economic boom, would help spread a religious movement.
“A ship in the harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.” A wise quote from John A. Shedd. A boat is secure inside the harbor, but it is useless. Inside a harbor, a boat can’t traverse oceans, set wars in motion, or discover new lands. Figuratively, we, the people, are the ships, and our safe haven is our comfort zone. Without reaching out of your comfort zone, you can’t conquer your world. You can’t make a difference. You need take a risk. Leave your safe haven and explore.
This passage defines the character of the narrators’ father as an intelligent man who wants a better life for his children, as well as establishes the narrators’ mothers’ stubbornness and strong opposition to change as key elements of the plot.
"Why Was the Wheel so Important to Mesopotamia?." Ask. N.p.. Web. 20 Nov 2013. .
Since the development of the steam engine people had been interested in creating self-powered vehicles, this manifested during the industrial revolution as the train. However, as time went on people became interested in creating a vehicle that wasn’t confined to tracks. The earliest attempts were moderately successful but served little practical purpose. Automobiles first began to truly spread with the invention of the electric motor which created cheaper, more powerful, and safer automobiles. Still the automobile still had numerous problems and were mainly in the hands of the rich. It was the development of the internal combustion engine and the assembly line that was truly able to create a practical vehicle that could be used by all and propelled the automobile into the heart of American culture and made it one of the most significant inventions of the post-industrial revolution era, resulting in a complete revolution of society.
Before the industrial revolution, transportation played a huge role in daily life. The only way to make money was to trade goods, but the only method of transportation was the wagon and horse. It took ages to transport from one place to another. Improved technology brought railroads and canals. These made transportation cheaper and 100 times more efficient. This not only made more money but brought jobs when trying to build the railroads. The canals were overcrowded so the government made laws to improve them (“Industrial Revolution” 1). Overall the in...
No Bricks and No Temples: Coping with Crisis in “The Open Boat” Stephen Crane’s story “The Open Boat” concerns four people who are trying to reach land after surviving a shipwreck off the Florida coast. During the course of the story, they face dangers that are real physical threats, but they also have to deal with trying to make sense of their situation. The characters in this story cope with their struggles in two ways: individually, they each imagine that Nature, or Fate, or God, is behind their experiences, which allows them to blame some outside force for their struggle, and together, they form a bond of friendship that helps them keep their spirits up. . In “Becoming Interpreters: The Importance of Tone in ‘The Open Boat,’” Gregory Schirmer states that “‘The Open Boat has at its center two quite different views of man: as a helpless and insignificant being adrift in a universe that is wholly indifferent to him and his ambitions, and on the other hand, as part of a brotherhood that binds man to man in the face of that indifferent universe” (222).
If the continents were a body than the water that courses within it are much like veins within a body. The first body of water that usually comes to one’s mind is the ocean; being the largest it carries great significance. However, rivers often shadowed by oceans reputation are still an essential part of the world. Not only do rivers make
Karl Benz invented the first automobile in 1866; it has changed the world in how we commute every day. From riding in carriages to now cutting our time travel whether it is riding a bus or our on car. It has become more of a necessity in today's world to have a car because its something that we choose to have in our daily life that it is a choice that is high on the priority list to own. As to wealthier people the type of car you drive puts in a different class. Where some get the choice of car that they want others have a certain budget on what to look for. The way an automobile symbolizes today, changed in society, and how a car has become a collection.