America's Contributions To Society

 

Pinguin

 

You have some degree of truth. However, you should add Greeks, Egyptians and many other fellows, to the list of technological innovations for "academic interest". The steam turbine was invented by the Greeks but was used only for fun, like many clockworks of the middle ages.But still today there are things done for academic interest only. It takes times to get them into practise.

 

On the other side, many inventions of the Chinese were quite practical, including magnetic compasses, paper and gunpowder! And also the Mayans have rubber! Could you imagine modern world without rubber wheels? withouth syringes or snow rackets? all inventions of the Native Americans.

 

And I agree, Americans are practically oriented people, like Chineses and Ancient Romans.

 

Pinguin

 

 

 

That too. It depends a bit whether you think of the blues as a sub-genre of jazz ('city' Blues), or as one of the predecessors of jazz ('country' blues').

 

Anyway, I'd go along with 'jazz and blues'.

 

The point really is that they arise from a fusion of several cultures which only happened in America, and probably would never have happened anywhere else. Even slavery had its part in the development.

 

It isn't like, say, the transistor, which would have been developed in some other lab if Shockley and co hadn't done it.

 

 

Arab invention? Do those guys invented anything ?

 

The syringe and thousand of other inventions were invented in the Americas as well. Some of those parallel inventions are the apartment buildings, inflatable boats, hunging bridges, paper, number zero, pneumatic toys, convex mirror for lighting fires, and a thousand more. Some were discovered only in the Americas (as far as I know), like platinum, the rubber balls, the waterproof raincoat, the snow racket shoe, the syringe and the rubber enemas.

 

And do you believe that Amerindians were not able to discover the applications of rubber? They discovered vulcanization BEFORE Goodyear, and many of the practical things that were attributed to European inventors.

 

That robbing of the Indian knowledge still goes on with the pharmaceutical industries and the pattents of Amazonian medicines! Believe me because is true.

 

I don't know when THE AMERICAS are going to be DISCOVERED! At last.

 

Pinguin

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hey Hey clam down! OK?

 

As a Latino, I do have Arab ancestors too.

 

Now. Arabs invented many things but NOT the one you have mentioned there. In the old world they didn't invent the Number Zero  because that comes from India, together with the Chess and the numerals. Anasthetics was known by the Romans and brain surgery as well (Brain surgery was known in the Americas, too ). I will find out about the syringe invented by the Arabs but I think you are wrong.

 

Arabs invented many things, like the cauterization technic in medicine. They invented the windmill. They developed alcohol and many other chemicals. They also developed algebra and astronomy to new heights. And theirs contributions during the middle ages are outstanding. Their main Arabic centers in Europe were located in Spain and sicily. So I know a little bit about them

 

And indeed, not all came from the Americas, but believing the Americas produced nothing in pre-contact times is just ignorancy.

 

Pinguin