Have you ever wondered who came up with a staircase that moved, leading eventually to the creation of the escalator? The genius of some inventions is their simplicity: the paperclip, rivets, boomerangs. Many of the items, processes, concepts, medical firsts, and discoveries in this book are life-saving and life-enhancing: can you imagine a world without seat-belts, antibiotics, toothbrushes, traffic signals, or scissors?

From the invention of the wheel in the fifth millennium BC to the development of the world wide web and the launch of the MP3 player, this engaging, accessible, and enlightening book reveals the origins and impact of everything from paper to the personal computer, and from penicillin to the contraceptive pill.

The worlds of medicine, science, technology, industry, literature, and art have all influenced the way we live, but inventions are essentially human affairs. This book explores the fascinating stories behind the breakthroughs and traces the development of each invention from original concept to completion. 1001 Inventions That Changed The World is nothing less than an alternative history of the world through invention - a comprehensive study of human endeavour.