Best invention of the 20th century

[Proton Soup]

Sorry, I don't think Control Theory counts:

yes, there are some small beginnings of it in the 19th century, but the bulk of it, and the development of Control Theory as a systematic tool of the engineer, happened in the 20th century. that's my answer, and I'm not changing it.

Many active and historical figures made significant contribution to control theory, including, for example:

* Alexander Lyapunov (1857–1918) in the 1890s marks the beginning of stability theory.
* Harold S. Black (1898–1983), invented the concept of negative feedback amplifiers in 1927. He managed to develop stable negative feedback amplifiers in the 1930s.
* Harry Nyquist (1889–1976), developed the Nyquist stability criterion for feedback systems in the 1930s.
* Richard Bellman (1920–1984), developed dynamic programming since the 1940s.
* Andrey Kolmogorov (1903–1987) co-developed the Wiener-Kolmogorov filter (1941).
* Norbert Wiener (1894–1964) co-developed the Wiener-Kolmogorov filter and coined the term cybernetics in the 1940s.
* John R. Ragazzini (1912–1988) introduced digital control and the z-transform in the 1950s.
* Lev Pontryagin (1908–1988) introduced the maximum principle and the bang-bang principle.

they shouldn't have left out Bode: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hendrik_Wade_Bode

 

[Mech_Engineer]

yes, there are some small beginnings of it in the 19th century, but the bulk of it, and the development of Control Theory as a systematic tool of the engineer, happened in the 20th century. that's my answer, and I'm not changing it.

Agree to disagree

they shouldn't have left out Bode: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hendrik_Wade_Bode

It's Wikipedia, add him in yourself!

 

[Theo1]

First can i say thank you for the positive response!

Second i just wana say something about this post...

1. Penicillin (1928)
2. Electric Air Conditioner (1902)
3. Nuclear Reactor (1942), Nuclear Weapons (1945)

1) I never thought of penicillin and now i am wondering why the hell not! Maybe i was going too far along the idea of electricity (as that is one of the clear favourites, with internet/ TV/ Computers)...so thank you A LOT for putting the medical side of things back into my head.

2) I have seen a few people put Electric Air Conditioner, but i don't see what is so good about it, can u tell me why?

3) And, Nuclear Weapons is a great invention?...lol...but i don't wana go into that, just thought it a bit funny that u put it down, however agree with nuclear reactor

LAST, i don't think i can include the control theory as i was mainly talking about more material goods, however like the abstract idea! thx

 

[Mech_Engineer]

1) I never thought of penicillin and now i am wondering why the hell not! Maybe i was going too far along the idea of electricity (as that is one of the clear favourites, with internet/ TV/ Computers)...so thank you A LOT for putting the medical side of things back into my head.

Also look into things like DDT. It saved literally tens of millions of people from dying of malaria... until it was tragically banned on poor scientific evidence.

2) I have seen a few people put Electric Air Conditioner, but i don't see what is so good about it, can u tell me why?

Opened up much more of the US to comfortable living, upped the standard of living, expanded popularity of domestic electric appliances.

3) And, Nuclear Weapons is a great invention?...lol...but i don't wana go into that, just thought it a bit funny that u put it down, however agree with nuclear reactor

Maybe before you scoff at nuclear weapons you should define "great." It's definitely one of the most significant inventions of the 20th century. More significant than nuclear reactors IMO due to their widespread social and political ramifications.