‘Earth Hour’ should celebrate engines and electricity
By Viv Forbes - AMERICAN THINKER
Human history is punctuated by the creation of tools and machines that made life easier.
Our first tools were “green tools” – digging sticks, spears, boomerangs, bows and arrows made of wood; and axes, clubs, knives and grinders made of stone. These were all powered by human energy.
Then humans learned how to control fire for warmth, cooking, warfare and hunting.
Another clever person invented the wheel and we harnessed animal power using donkeys, horses, mules and oxen, and made better tools like bridles, saddles and yokes from wood, fibre and leather.
All of these tools made hunting, gathering and trade easier and more reliable.
Then wooden ploughs revolutionised the cultivation of wild grasses for food for animals and humans. Farming started.
Trade and exchange was made easier with money using rare commodities like gold, silver, gems and shells.
Tool-making made a huge advance with the discovery of how to extract metals like copper, lead, zinc and tin from natural ores using charcoal. Brass, bronze and pewter made many useful tools. These were then replaced with better tools when man discovered how to smelt iron and make steel.
Then along came the game-changers – engines and electricity.
