In the last two centuries, new cultural discoveries have almost rewritten history. It’s been an stimulating time, full of adventure and surprises. Around each corner there are new responses to questions we had already imagined answered. And of these breakthroughs, none shines as brightly as the affect of ancient Chinese inventions on innovative life. As we explore ten of the greatest inventions and inventions of Ancient China, you may be amazed at their influence on recent technology.

1. Paper. Paper, as we recognise it, was produced in China around the year 105. After seeing earlier attempts made from silk, bamboo sticks and animal skins, Cai Lun came up with his own idea. After mixing mulberry bark, rags, wheat stalks and other stuff, a pulp formed. This pulp was pressed into sheets and dried, getting a crude form of paper. Paper was such an indispensable invention that the routine of making it was a jealously guarded secret. The mystery was safe until the seventh century when the art disseminate to India.

2. The Printing Press. Before Johann Gutenberg “invented” the printing press in the 1440′s, China devised a type of printing press among 206 B.C. and A.D. 45. It was made using stone tablets to construct a “rubbing” of widely known and esteemed Buddhist and Confucian texts. Next came block printing in the Sui Dynasty. In block printing, images and words were engraved on wooden boards, smeared with ink and pressed onto sheets of paper. Later, moveable type printing presses were introduced. According to the writers of Ancient Inventions, “By A.D. 1000, paged books in the innovative style had substituted scrolls – a good 450 years in front of Gutenberg.”

3. The First Book. Due to the early advent of the printing press, China likewise claims the original book. In 868, almost six hundred years before the Gutenberg Bible, the earliest known book was printed. By the end of the Tang dynasty, China had bookstores in almost each city.

4. Paper Money. While today you’d rather carry a lot of cash rather of coin, that hasn’t always been the case. The idea of paper currency was firstborn attempted under Emperor Han Wu-Ti (140-87 B.C.) after war had drained the treasury. He issued treasury notes, worth and in interchange for 400,000 copper coins. Instead of paper, the Emperor applied the skin of the white stag. But the creature was so rare that the idea soon lost appeal. In the early 800′s, the idea revived to deter highway robbers. In 812, the government was again printing money. By the year 1023, cash had an expiration date and was already plagued by inflation and counterfeiting. Nearly six hundred years later paper cash headed west, original printed in Sweden in 1601.

5. The Abacus. Well before Texas Instruments, the primary calculator was in the works. The abacus dates from around the year 200 B.C. It is a very modern tool with a simple design. Wood is crafted into a rectangular frame with rods running from base to top. About 2/3′s from the base, a divider crosses the frame, known as the counting bar. On each of the rods are beads. All of the beads above the counting bar equivalent five. Those underneath equivalent one. The rows of rods are read from right to left. The furthest bar to the right holds the one’s place, the next holds the ten’s place, then the hundred’s, and so on. While it is design may sound complex, there are numerous Chinese today so skilled that they may solve difficult math difficultnesses rapidly and without delay than an individual using a calculator!

6. The Decimal System. In the West, the decimal scheme appeared rather recently. Its firstborn believed instance was in a Spanish manuscript dated around 976. But, the basi true example goes back much further. In China, an inscription dated from the 13th century B.C., “547 days” was written as “five hundred plus four decades plus seven of days.” The Chinese likely produced the decimal scheme because their language depended on characters (like pictures) rather of an alphabet. Each number had it is own distinctive character. Without the decimal system, the Chinese would have had a terrible time memorizing all of these new characters. By using units of ones, tens, hundreds, etc., the Chinese saved time and trouble.

7. The Mechanical Clock. In the year 732, a Buddhist monk and mathematician invented the introductory mechanical clock. He named it “Water-Driven Spherical Bird’s-Eye-View Map of the Heavens.” Like earlier clocks, water gave it power, but machinery cased the movement. But, after a few years, corrosion and freezing temperatures took their toll. It wasn’t until 1090, when astronomer Su Sung designed his mechanical marvel “Cosmic Engine”, that a more dependable timepiece was made. Created for Emperor Ying Zong, this clock had a tower over 30 feet tall. It housed machinery that, among other things, caused wooden puppets to pop from one of five doors at regular intervals all around the day. (Much like the innovative idea of a Cuckoo clock.) The entire machine was powered by a giant waterwheel. This clock ran until 1126, when it was dismantled by the conquering Tartars and moved to Peking for another various years. The firstborn clock reference in Western history was in 1335, in the church of St. Gothard in Milan.

8. The Planetarium. A planetarium is a huge enclosed space that shows the stars and constellations on the inside. Orbitoscope was the name of the original projection planetarium. It was built in Basil in 1912 by Professor E. Hinderman. But, once again, China is the mother of this invention. The initial planetarium is attributed to the design of an early emperor. As one source states, an astronomer named Jamaluddin invented a planetarium for the duration of the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), along with a perpetual calendar and other important astronomical devices.

9. The Earthquake Sensor. The earliest earthquake sensor was likewise an interesting piece of art. It was a bronze cylinder regarding 8 feet around, with 8 dragons perched above 8 open-mouthed frogs. In the mouth of each dragon rested a bronze ball. When an earthquake struck, a pendulum inside the cylinder would swing. It knocked the ball from the mouth of the dragon and down into the frog’s mouth. That frog’s back was then facing the direction of the center of the quake. Chang Heng produced it in A.D. 132 (during the Han Dynasty), almost 600 years before the introductory western sensor was made in France. Later, in 1939, Imamura Akitsune recreated the invention and genuinely proved it effective.

10. The Helicopter Rotor & Propeller. While the Ancient Chinese didn’t actually manufacture the helicopter, they were involved in it is creation. In the 4th century A.D., they invented a toy called the “Bamboo Dragonfly”. You’ve in all probability seen them as prizes at local fairs or carnivals. It was a toy top, with a base like a pencil and a little helicopter-like blade at the end. The top was wrapped with a cord. When you pulled the cord, the blade would spun around and soar into the air. This toy was studied by Sir George Cayley in 1809 and played a role in the birth of progressed aviation. It wasn’t until the early 1900′s that the firstborn helicopter took flight.

It is from time to time a mind blowing thing to realize that what seemed to be innovative ideas or inventions are much older than we’d imagined. And it’s likely that there are more inventions to be discovered. More historical changes to be made. In the conclusion of The Greatest Inventions of the Past 2,000 Years, Jared Diamond summed it up well while referring to the altering view of history and it is inventors, “So, forget those stories with regards to talent inventors who sensed a need of society, solved it single-handedly, and thereby transformed the world. There has never been such a genius……..If Gutenberg hadn’t formulated the better alloys and inks applied in early printing, numerous other contemporary tinkerer with metals and oils would have done so……do give Gutenberg a heap of of the credit—but not too much.”

Questions:

1. Choose one of the inventions mentioned. Explain how dissimilar the world would be if it hadn’t been invented.

2. Why do you think there was such a big space of time amid the Eastern and Western dates of invention?

3. What are two other inventions that came from ancient China? Research and find out when the idea was introduced to Western culture.

Animal Genius

Animal Genius DS

Animal Genius Picture

Animal Genius Picture

Animal Genius Image

Animal Genius Photo

Most helpful customer reviews

85 of 89 people found the following review helpful.
My daughter loves it!
By Mom
Animal Genius was by far my 7 year old daughter’s favorite game on her Leapster. When they came out with the same game for her new Nintendo DS, I was a little hesitant to buy it, afraid that it might be the same exact game as the Leapster model. She’d played the Leapster version so much, I think she answered every single question she could, several times over. But, the DS version is different enough that she is, once again, engaged and learning alot about animals. I really like the fact that this game is educational and fun.

96 of 105 people found the following review helpful.
Way too easy.
By T. Golden
I bought this as a birthday present for my 14yr daughter who loves animals and trivia. When she played it, it was way too easy. This game is targeted more for younger kids, maybe 5 – 7yr. Hope this helps in your purchase.

47 of 49 people found the following review helpful.
Great game for children of any age
By G. Falvo
My 4 year old just got this game as a gift yesterday and he hasn’t put it down since! There is a lot to keep them busy without being overwhelming and it is one of the few fun educational games out there. The best part about it is that it talks to the children instead of making the children read. A lot of games say that they are age appropriate for everyone but very few 4 and 5 year olds can read full paragraphs about what they have to do to play the game! I would highly recommend this game to anyone with children.

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