# What invention or scientific discovery was most significantly ahead of it's time **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 24, 2015, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-invention-or-scientific-discovery-was-most-significantly-ahead-of-its-time/732399 "2015-09-24T14:27:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Nelson\_Pike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Nelson\_Pike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nelson_Pike)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2015, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-invention-or-scientific-discovery-was-most-significantly-ahead-of-its-time/732399/41 "2015-09-26T01:59:22Z")
> [@dataguy](#): > > I don’t think we’re on quite the same wavelength here. > I’m not crediting Gabor with inventing lasers, but inventing a practical application for lasers. I’d agree with you if there were evidence that Einstein anticipated this application of laser technology. OP asks for “invention or scientific discovery.” Einstein’s theoretical insight certainly qualifies as a discovery; I am not sure OP means as well to include the connotation you ask for. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2015, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-invention-or-scientific-discovery-was-most-significantly-ahead-of-its-time/732399/42 "2015-09-26T03:42:19Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Umm, not really since for most of that 1600 years they were casually burning wood and coal for heat and cooking. And you exaggerate the amount of water rise. I’m flattered that you think everything I post should be analyzed with scientific rigor. My comment was figurative and somewhat tongue-in-cheek to make a nevertheless valid point – that in fact if the industrialization of the latter part of the 18th century had actually started 1600 years earlier and we still had not managed to catch on to its environmental consequences, we’d be in truly serious trouble. But a few details, if I may. Burning wood isn’t necessarily a big issue as it returns to the atmosphere carbon that was only recently sequestered. Burning coal and oil is the real issue because it releases carbon sequestered in very distant geological periods. And if we assume that this hypothesized steam engine actually gave rise to an industrial revolution as the 18th century one did, then massive amounts of that carbon would have been released in the process of manufacturing and transportation. Nor is the sea level rise characterization – figurative though it was – necessarily all that far off in magnitude. Sea levels were as much as 660 feet higher in the early Cretaceous and as much as 820 feet higher in the later period, well within the elevation of present-day Indiana at 600 to 1000 feet, although to be fair not all of that was due to temperature rise. And for that and other reasons, about half of the present-day continental US was then under water, and during the peak of the Cretaceous marine transgression, one-third of the earth’s present land mass was under water. More realistically, perhaps, [some estimates of CO2 related sea level rise](http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/01/130102104945.htm) put the equilibrium rise for 400 ppm of CO2 as at the present day to 24 +7/-15 meters – or about 79 feet, with a non-linear response at higher levels resulting in about 213 feet of sea level rise at 1200 ppm CO2. The average elevation of the state of Florida, I hasten to add, is about 6 feet above MSL. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2015, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-invention-or-scientific-discovery-was-most-significantly-ahead-of-its-time/732399/43 "2015-09-26T12:22:05Z")
How many decades before calculus had an industrial application? ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2015, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-invention-or-scientific-discovery-was-most-significantly-ahead-of-its-time/732399/44 "2015-09-26T15:18:24Z")
> [@the\_diego](#): > > How many decades before calculus had an industrial application? Maybe my grasp of math history is flawed, but I thought calculus had immediate applications to some of the problems of Newton’s day. Obviously, its use as the foundational tool of engineering came a bit later. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2015, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-invention-or-scientific-discovery-was-most-significantly-ahead-of-its-time/732399/45 "2015-09-27T04:26:45Z")
The Saturn V blows my mind. ---
**Author:** ![tafowler87](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f07891/32.png) [@tafowler87](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tafowler87)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2015, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-invention-or-scientific-discovery-was-most-significantly-ahead-of-its-time/732399/46 "2015-09-27T08:21:41Z")
The light bulb… The automobile… The internet… ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2015, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-invention-or-scientific-discovery-was-most-significantly-ahead-of-its-time/732399/47 "2015-09-27T23:44:39Z")
The wheel. As far as is known, it was only invented once, and then very gradually spread. That suggests it was an unusual advance, otherwise it would have arisen independently in several different points in history. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2015, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-invention-or-scientific-discovery-was-most-significantly-ahead-of-its-time/732399/48 "2015-09-27T23:49:10Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > The Saturn V blows my mind. > [@tafowler87](#): > > The light bulb… > The automobile… > The internet… > [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > The wheel. > > As far as is known, it was only invented once, and then very gradually spread. That suggests it was an unusual advance, otherwise it would have arisen independently in several different points in history. 😕 Those are inventions that IMHO did appear and then were used and known by many, the OP is about inventions that appeared ahead of their time when few understood how they worked. In essence, inventions that were not used widely until much later. ---
**Author:** ![Stoneburg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@Stoneburg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoneburg)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2015, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-invention-or-scientific-discovery-was-most-significantly-ahead-of-its-time/732399/49 "2015-09-28T02:32:54Z")
The blow job. Don’t know when it happened or who did it, but god bless you. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2015, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-invention-or-scientific-discovery-was-most-significantly-ahead-of-its-time/732399/50 "2015-09-28T09:50:32Z")
> [@Stoneburg](#): > > The blow job. > > Don’t know when it happened or who did it, but god bless you. How could that possibly be ahead of its time? It’s an invention even an ape could make, and has. [Rare BLOWJOB-GIVING APES ‘face extinction from interacting with HUMANS’](http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/11/27/bonobo_apes_face_extinction_from_interaction_with_humans/) ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2015, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-invention-or-scientific-discovery-was-most-significantly-ahead-of-its-time/732399/51 "2015-09-28T14:38:34Z")
The modern binary number system devised by Gottfried Leibniz in 1679 didn’t have much of a practical application until the computer age. ---
**Author:** ![Stoneburg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@Stoneburg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoneburg)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2015, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-invention-or-scientific-discovery-was-most-significantly-ahead-of-its-time/732399/52 "2015-09-28T17:12:31Z")
> [@naita](#): > > How could that possibly be ahead of its time? It’s an invention even an ape could make, and has. [Rare BLOWJOB-GIVING APES ‘face extinction from interacting with HUMANS’](http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/11/27/bonobo_apes_face_extinction_from_interaction_with_humans/) First off Bonobos are clearly much more intelligent than Humans in many ways, so just because they also invented it doesn’t make it less awesome. I mean reptiles invented flight millions of years before we were even here, doesn’t mean flight isn’t a really cool invention. 😉 Either way, I am sticking with my choice! ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2015, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-invention-or-scientific-discovery-was-most-significantly-ahead-of-its-time/732399/53 "2015-09-28T17:17:00Z")
> [@Stoneburg](#): > > First off Bonobos are clearly much more intelligent than Humans in many ways, so just because they also invented it doesn’t make it less awesome. I mean reptiles invented flight millions of years before we were even here, doesn’t mean flight isn’t a really cool invention. 😉 > > Either way, I am sticking with my choice! The question wasn’t “What’s an awesome invention?” If you’re going to make joke replies, at least try to make them fit the thread topic. ---
**Author:** ![Stoneburg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@Stoneburg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoneburg)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2015, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-invention-or-scientific-discovery-was-most-significantly-ahead-of-its-time/732399/54 "2015-09-28T17:18:48Z")
> [@naita](#): > > The question wasn’t “What’s an awesome invention?” If you’re going to make joke replies, at least try to make them fit the thread topic. Mea culpa. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2015, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-invention-or-scientific-discovery-was-most-significantly-ahead-of-its-time/732399/55 "2015-09-28T17:51:41Z")
Well, I’d be inclined to agree. It was definitely a head of its time. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2015, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-invention-or-scientific-discovery-was-most-significantly-ahead-of-its-time/732399/56 "2015-09-29T14:20:13Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Well, I’d be inclined to agree. It was definitely a head of its time. Horrible, but on point. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2015, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-invention-or-scientific-discovery-was-most-significantly-ahead-of-its-time/732399/57 "2015-09-29T15:31:18Z")
No, it was an idea whose time had cum. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2015, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-invention-or-scientific-discovery-was-most-significantly-ahead-of-its-time/732399/58 "2015-09-29T22:12:57Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Heron of alexandria (ca. 200 AD) invented s team turbine…had he been able to perfect it, who knows where we would be now. This was my thought too. Although I don’t know if the steam engine would’ve caught on back then, I thought there were other factors that helped create the industrial revolution like the agricultural and scientific revolutions of the preceding 2 centuries. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2015, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-invention-or-scientific-discovery-was-most-significantly-ahead-of-its-time/732399/59 "2015-09-29T22:58:17Z")
Consider the [Baghdad Battery.](http://www.smith.edu/hsc/museum/ancient_inventions/battery2.html) It may well have been only a vessel for holding scrolls (scroll is wrapped around the copper tube, clay pot protects form moisture degradation and sun fading.) With a rod of one type of metal, surrounded by an acid bath, and both contained in a copper tube, it was a battery nonetheless. It was so far before it’s time that the inventor neither realized, nor could have made use of, the incredible power it held. I can certainly see how the tiny buzz one may have felt when grasping the rod might have been used as “proof” of the power of the sacred scrolls they held. [Ancient temples](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrI1FsH4UH8) were always playing tricks with magnets and such to awe the people who visited. ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-invention-or-scientific-discovery-was-most-significantly-ahead-of-its-time/732399/60 "2015-10-01T15:39:58Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > [Ancient temples](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrI1FsH4UH8) were always playing tricks with magnets and such to awe the people who visited. That is awesome. Thanks for the link. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-invention-or-scientific-discovery-was-most-significantly-ahead-of-its-time/732399.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-invention-or-scientific-discovery-was-most-significantly-ahead-of-its-time/732399.md?page=4)