Great Inventions That Shaped the World

Inventions have revolutionized our everyday lives in many ways; this encyclopaedia looks at the different types of human inventions, from the earliest energy-saving devices through to the Internet and biotechnology.

Find out how buildings are constructed, when the earliest computer was built and the mechanisms that make cameras work.

Easy-to-do projects such as making an electric motor, constructing a waterwheel and making your very own vacuum cleaner help you to understand the principles that lie behind many inventions and demonstrate how they work.