---
title: "A Brief History of Technology"
description: "We humans like to think of ourselves as master tool builders, but we're really the heritors of a long tradition of tool making. Here's a brief history of technology starting 4 billion years ago."
date: "2016-12-28"
modified: "2016-12-29"
authors:
  - name: "Todd Jaquith"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/todd-jaquith"
url: "https://futurism.com/images/a-brief-history-of-technology"
categories:
  - "Future Society"
tags:
  - "abbas ibn firnas"
  - "acheulean"
  - "aeolipile"
  - "agricultural revolution"
  - "agriculture"
  - "ancient art"
  - "ancient hominids"
  - "antikythera mechanism"
  - "archytas of tarentum"
  - "atomic age"
  - "ballistic missile"
  - "blombos cave"
  - "calendrics"
  - "cave painting"
  - "cellular biology"
  - "charles babbage"
  - "chichibu shelter"
  - "cognitive evolution"
  - "difference engine"
  - "dolni vestonice"
  - "domesticated animals"
  - "drone"
  - "eukaryotes"
  - "evolution"
  - "gobekli tepe"
  - "hero's engine"
  - "history of technology"
  - "homo erectus"
  - "homo sapiens"
  - "human evolution"
  - "ibm"
  - "iconography"
  - "industrial revolution"
  - "internal combustion engine"
  - "ishango bone"
  - "mathematics"
  - "megalithic"
  - "metal tools"
  - "neolithic"
  - "nuclear fission"
  - "nucleic acids"
  - "oldowan"
  - "schoningen spears"
  - "seismoscope"
  - "stone age"
  - "stone tools"
  - "sumerian abacus"
  - "tech history"
  - "technology"
  - "technology evolution"
  - "tool use"
  - "turbine"
  - "water pump"
  - "watercraft"
  - "zhang heng"
---

# A Brief History of Technology

![Brief history of technology featured image](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Brief-History-of-Technology-Feat.jpg>)

![brief history of technology infographic](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Brief-History-of-Technology.jpg-1.png>)

### Author social links  
[Facebook](<https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100010429595677>)  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/todd-jaquith-b5aaa7127>)