Discovering how to control and use fire allowed people to increase the diversity of their diet tremendously and being less occupied by collecting food they had enough spare time to invent the wheel. It also helped metal working to emerge, so that better tools and finally machines could be constructed, driven by water wheels.

Much later steam engines were invented to drive machines, which not only led to an immense increase in productivity but also revolutionised transport by facilitating trains and steam boats.

The invention of telegraphs and telephones simplified and sped up communication around the world and together with the new means of transport paved the way for globalisation. 

Following trains, automobiles enabled personal mobility and aircraft made it possible to travel across continents much faster than before. This also induced societal and personal changes.

The last 50 years were dominated by the invention and spread of computers. In the beginning they were mainly used by scientists for calculations and by banks and insurances to manage their accounts. Industrial robots controlled by computers remarkably increased the productivity of factories.

In the 1990s, computers became affordable for households and started to have an impact on everyday life by replacing typewriters and as a platform for video games. At the same time, E-mails and the internet changed the way we communicate and obtain information. 

Big Data

Internet of things

Deep Learning: recognizing cats in youtube images