The history of technology is the story of the invention of tools and techniques, and is similar in many ways to the history of humanity. Until recently, technology was a term that was uncommon in English, and it was used either to describe the study of the useful arts or to allude to technical education, as in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (chartered in 1861). The term “technology” rose to prominence in the 20th century in connection with the Second Industrial Revolution.
The origins of technology can be traced back to the discovery of how to control fire, which provided a source of warmth and a way to cook food that increased the variety and availability of nutrients. The invention of the wheel helped humans in traveling in and controlling their environment. Recent technological developments, including the printing press, the telephone, and the Internet, have lessened physical barriers to communication and allowed humans to interact freely on a global scale.
Technology has many effects. It has helped develop more advanced economies (including today’s global economy) and has allowed the rise of a leisure class. Many technological processes produce unwanted by-products known as pollution and deplete natural resources, to the detriment of Earth’s environment. Innovations have always influenced the values of a society and raised new questions in the ethics of technology. Examples include the rise of the notion of efficiency in terms of human productivity and the challenges of bioethics.