Project Gutenberg 2011-09-30 Public domain in the USA. 443 Piercy, Willis Duff 11016967 Great Inventions and Discoveries Introduction -- The printing press -- The steam engine -- Electricity: the telegraph and the telephone -- Electricity: Lighting, transportation, and other uses -- The discovery of America -- Weapons and gunpowder -- Astronomical discoveries and inventions -- The cotton-gin -- Anæsthetics -- Steel and rubber -- Stenography and the typewriter -- The friction match -- Photography -- Clocks -- Some machines: The sewing machine. The reaper. Spinning and weaving machines -- Aeronautics. E-text prepared by Albert László and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made available by Internet Archive (http://www.archive.org) "Great Inventions and Discoveries" by Willis Duff Piercy is an educational work aimed at young readers, written in the early 20th century. The book chronicles significant inventions and discoveries that have shaped human civilization, highlighting key figures and their contributions to technological advancement. Through engaging prose, it aims to instill appreciation for innovation and the historical context in which these breakthroughs occurred. The opening of the book sets the stage for a fascinating exploration of civilization's journey from primitive existence to the complex modern world. It begins with a vivid contrast between the lives of early cave-dwellers and contemporary society, emphasizing the transformative impact of inventions like the printing press, steam engine, and electric telegraph. Piercy introduces the concept of civilization as the accumulation of achievements, illustrating how each invention contributes to societal advancement, safety, and happiness. This initial chapter lays a foundation for the subsequent detailed discussions on specific technologies, urging readers to recognize humanity's capacity for progress through ingenuity and determination. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 68.7 (8th & 9th grade). Neither easy nor difficult to read. en Inventions T Text Category: Children & Young Adult Reading Category: History - Ancient Category: History - Modern (1750+) Category: Engineering & Technology 307713 2025-08-15T09:17:50.819784 text/html 302723 2011-09-29T22:49:53 text/html 2104502 2025-08-15T09:17:59.039763 application/epub+zip 2110387 2025-08-15T09:17:54.449797 application/epub+zip 182715 2025-08-15T09:17:53.007799 application/epub+zip 2290713 2025-08-15T09:18:02.365736 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 2278552 2025-08-15T09:17:57.971778 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 333140 2022-09-17T08:26:46.381019 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 281255 2025-08-15T09:17:50.108812 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 280927 2011-09-29T22:42:16 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 280960 2011-09-29T22:42:16 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 20759 2025-08-15T09:18:02.508727 application/rdf+xml 16217 2025-08-15T09:17:53.530767 image/jpeg 3823 2025-08-15T09:17:53.268771 image/jpeg 107112 2011-09-29T22:42:16 application/octet-stream application/zip 1639502 2011-09-29T22:53:35 application/octet-stream application/zip 107106 2011-09-29T22:42:16 application/octet-stream application/zip 1735305 2025-08-15T09:17:50.914805 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog