I learned about four inventions this week and they are chess, the arquebus, the printing press, and the mainspring. The first invention I learned about this week is chess. Chess teaches military strategy and math skills. In the 1700s, it became seen as a tool of self improvement. The second invention I learned about this week is the arquebus. Through time, its accuracy improved very much. It led to more refined firearms and strategies. The third invention I learned about this week is the printing press. Books could now be printed faster and cheaper. It could print 3,600 pages a day. Europe printed millions of books. The last invention I learned about this week is the mainspring. It tempered steel tightly wound into a coil. The mainspring made portable clocks possible.

This week I learned about three inventions and they are the spectacles, mechanical clocks, paper mills. I also learned about the scientist and inventor, Robert Grosseteste. The first invention I learned about are the spectacles. They can be used as eye protection for safety purposes. Eyeglasses, also known as spectacles, were used for hundreds of years before we fully understood the theory. The second invention I learned about are the mechanical clocks. The clock measures time and subdivides the days into smaller units. Pocket watches helped improve cultural time understanding. Lastly, I learned about a scientist and inventor named Robert Gossteste. He formed the basis for the scientific method and demolished Aristotle’s idea of an eternal universe. His ideas were important contributions to the development of scientific capital.

I learned about four different inventions this week, and they were the buttons, oil painting, cannons, and the spinning wheel. The button making guild was formed to use government force to satisfy the needs of the elite. Its impact on clothing styles made class differences more noticeable. The second invention I learned about was oil painting. Oil painting uses oil as a binder instead of water–based substance. Oil painting grew popular during the renaissance as Van Eyck’s style spread to Italy. The third invention I learned about was the cannon. Cannons is a big gun meant to launch projectiles using gunpowder in the 1250 AD. It led to the end of Constantinople and the spread of the renaissance. The last invention I learned about was the spinning wheel. The spinning wheel is a belt driven device that includes earlier technology to increase tread production rates. The spinning wheel raised the merchant class in society and also boosted their influence.

I learned four different inventions this week and they are the trebuchet, distilled spirits, vertical windmill, and the stern–mounted rudder. The first invention is the trebuchet. It destroys walls and stays beyond the reach of archers. Its use was reduced through the 1400s. The next invention I learned about is the distilled spirits. Liquors, or spirits, fermented beverages that have encountered distillation. Demand for rum required greater production of sugar cane. The third invention I learned about is the Vertical windmill. It turns wind energy into power. William Kamkwamba built it from junk and became famous. The last invention I learned about is the stern–mounted rudder. It allows big ships to be steered. The rudder let ships go faster than ever before.

This week I learned about universities, wine press, ribbed vault, and the chimney. First, I learned about universities. It taught how to follow orders and obey the system. The university system produced many great scholars that improved knowledge. Next, I learned about the wine press. The wine press mashes grapes and squeezes the juice out of them. It helped promote discovery of wine that didn’t spoil fast. Next, I learned about the ribbed vault. The ribbed vault allowed very tall ceilings and long buildings. Abbott sugar used the ribbed vault to create the Gothic style in 1135 AD. Lastly, I learned about the chimney. It started a greater distance between the upper and lower classes. It sealed the fireplace cracks and the cracks in the walls.  

My favorite person I learned about this week is Al-Razi. He was born in 854 AD and died in 925 AD. He moved to Baghdad to receive a higher education and became a doctor. He worked in the hospital and was the first person to discover smallpox was a different disease than measles. Smallpox is a disease that makes blisters all over your body. He attracted a circle of students. He was kind and helped poor people. He wrote a book of medical instructions for the public. He collected the medical knowledge of many different cultures and put it into a single collection. His books were translated into Latin and became famous in Europe. His works became popular in Europe and were contained into the basic subjects of the schools.

The collapse of the Roman Empire led to the creation of a wide variety of glass. It caused trade and knowledge to spread throughout Europe. Roman glass was high-quality but skills got worse in Northern Europe. When the Roman Empire collapsed, glass making slowly improved. It brought out more creativity to explore new ways for glass making, such as using new ingredients. The Romans recycled their old canton recipe and experimented with different sources of ash. They discovered new colored glass thousands of years later. They also discovered additives, such as salt elements, that produced different colors. Stained glass windows increased demand for colored glass. They installed new colored stained glass windows in churches. Roman glass making skills increased all over the Middle Ages. 

My favorite thing I have learned in history are the Arabic and Roman numerals. The Arabic numerals are 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. We use them to make multi-digit numbers like 23, 65, 89, 123 and beyond. We use Arabic numerals every day when we are multiplying, dividing, subtracting, and adding. Roman numerals are another way of writing numbers. The Roman numerals are I, V, X, L, and more. The letter “I” means one, “V” means five, “X” means ten, and “L” means 50. Roman numerals are sometimes used to number pages and chapters. Before Arabic numerals the Romans used Roman numerals to write numbers. Why Arabic and Roman numerals are my favorite is because both are used for math.

The effect of small inventions on a culture over time has helped build modern inventions. They also affected the attitudes of cultures towards work. A good example would be the gears. The gears caught on to many cultures. The Greeks, for example, did not like the idea of hard work or labor, but a few did tinker with tools such as gears. The Greeks measured time using the sun, moon, and stars before the clock was invented. Archimedes, an ancient Greek scientist and inventor, used gears to build gadgets. He built a planet tracking device. Another culture that influenced modern inventions are the Christians. They valued hard work and labor. They believe in serving God and using skills to help people. The Christian monks had knowledge of these inventions from Greek and Roman literature. They recognized the use of the cam and realized that it can be used as a labor saving device. One way they used it was to make beer. Overall, small inventions modernized the world with the help of many cultures.

The compass did not have the same effect in China than it did in Europe. Before the compass the Europeans had to use the stars to find their way. It would have been really hard to find their way on cloudy days. The compass was transmitted from China to Europe through muslims. It did not arrive in Europe until the 12th century. The Europeans used it to explore new landmarks. It helped them on cloudy days or cloudy nights. How the two civilizations are different is because the Europeans used the compass to explore and the Chinese used it for Feng shui. The Chinese were the first to make the compass. The Chinese believed in the Chi or universal life. He wants to take the easy way out of working and not work for five days a week.