Title: Transportation

Group 2 – Science and Technology

Timeline
The evolution of transportation, just like the evolution of humankind, has gone
through trials and tribulations as it has evolved through time. It has ebbed and flowed,
overcoming challenges to grow to ever-increasing levels of complexity and efficiency.
Today, we often take for granted our ability to get from one place to another, nearby or
distant. We expect to get there, but don’t often reflect on how, and we suppose, more
than we actually know, how we move from one location to another. But throughout history,
we have had to slowly but surely, painstakingly evolve our means of transportation to
where it is today. Many modes of transport have evolved and many more have gone
extinct. The modes of our transportation have developed alongside the expansion of our
human understanding and culture. Our greatest demands and challenges have, in turn,
initiated our greatest inventive feats that have taken us from where we have come to
where we intend to go. Transportation technology has been the key to our most powerful
sociological and teleological growth. And as it has done so in the distant past, it will
continue to do so into the distant future.
 Stone Age
The first ever form of transportation was by foot. The only way to get from one
place to another is by walking. It serves as the building block for the future
transportation technology.

Advantages: Travelling by foot is inexpensive and comes naturally with people.

The main controller of the journey is your own mind and it also does not require
skills except knowing how to walk/run. There would also be less pollution in the
air.
Disadvantages: Some people were born with slightly different bone structure and
oftentimes would have trouble walking and in the absence of proper equipment,
they might lose the action of walking. Probably the slowest form of transportation
in comparison with the vehicles.
 231 A.D
Wheelbarrow
According to the history book The Records of the Three Kingdoms, by the
ancient historian Chen Shou, the single-wheeled cart today known as a
wheelbarrow was invented by the prime minister of Shu Han, Zhuge Liang, in
231 A.D. Liang called his device a “wooden ox.” The handles of the cart faced
forward (so that it was pulled), and it was used to carry men and material in
battle.
 In the time of the Han Dynasty, the wheelbarrow was an amazing invention with
one wheel and a piece of iron, it changed the lives of many people. The earliest
wheelbarrows were used around 200 AD by soldiers in the armies of Chuko Liang, a
Chinese general. They were used to transport supplies along narrow embankments. Also,
during Han Dynasty, it helped the farmers by putting their heavy loads in it instead of
carrying them on their backs, or in buckets attached to a pole on their shoulders. The
main purpose of this amazing yet simple invention was to transport farmers' goods from
one place to another easier. The harvest of crops potentially could speed up because
farmers' could carry more supplies faster and easier than they used to.
Advantages:
1. It can maneuver through narrow roads where vehicles cannot access .
2. It carries more supplies than an individual person can carry at a time.
3. Cost effective
4. Pollution free and Eco-friendly.
5. Easy to use.
Disadvantages:
1. If you were to travel by a wheelbarrow, you would have to get someone who is
willing to push the wheelbarrow you are in. They are also not meant for long
travels.
 3100 B. C
For people who like to be near the water, sailboats provide a means of skimming
over its surface. Even when the water is frozen, iceboats (sailboats with runners
or blades on the hull) can glide across the ice. The sailboat is a form of
transportation, a type of recreation ranging from simple craft to the most
elaborate racing yacht, and even a form of housing.
Sailboats themselves began as single logs and simple rafts. More sophisticated
shapes for hulls that would cut through the water grew out of military use, but
also from merchant sailors who built extensive trading networks crisscrossing the
Mediterranean Sea. When day-sailers were built for fishing and recreation, they
were essentially miniature copies of naval ships like schooners and cutters.
Advantages:
For the Egyptians, it was used for easy transportation in water and was also used
for enjoyment and fishing.
Disadvantages:
The materials of the boat is expensive and newer versions of it cost higher. The
direction of the wind and also its speed will determine the direction of your travel.
 3500 B. C
Riverboats (ship with oars) were invented and many versions of this have been
rebuilt.
Advantages: It can carry and transport many people minimum of 12 persons for
the oars to be moving.
 Disadvantages: There should be a skilled person with boat experience and good
leadership skills to help manage the group and get them all to row the boat at the
same time.
 1783
In 1783, two brothers demonstrated their invention, the hot air balloon, before a
crowd of dignitaries in Annonay, France.

Joseph-Michel and Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier, prosperous paper

manufacturers (a high-tech industry at the time), experimented with lighter-than-
air devices after observing that heated air directed into a paper or fabric bag
made the bag rise. After several successful tests, the brothers decided to publicly
demonstrate their invention.

The Montgolfiers built a balloon made of silk and lined with paper that was 33
feet (10 meters) in diameter and launched it — with nobody aboard — from the
marketplace in Annonay on June 4, 1783, according to Encyclopedia Britannica.
The balloon rose to between 5,200 and 6,600 feet (1,600 to 2,000 m) and stayed
aloft for 10 minutes, traveling more than a mile (about 2 kilometers).

Advantages: Used for enjoyment and aesthetic purposes.

Disadvantages: You would have to rely on the climate and wind for it to move
and you need to have skills and knowledge to pilot and steer a hot air balloon.
 1790
The bicycle also called “Draisine,” was created not out of fancy but necessity by
Baron Karl von Drais of Baden. He was looking for a substitute for the horses
that had starved to death from the volcanic winter, caused by the eruption of
Mount Tambora in 1815.
Cycling fashion trends evolved alongside developments in bicycle technology. Even as
far back as the introduction of the celerifere in 1790s France, a running machine
consisting of a wooden horse on wheels, what to wear while riding was a concern.
These machines were popular with wealthy young gentlemen for park riding. For
celerifere enthusiasts, the costume of choice was was a masculine military inspired
jacket paired with matching breeches and cap.
Advantages:
2. Increase blood flowImproves lung capacity.
3. Reduces cholesterol levels in the blood.
4. It decreases the percentage of fat in the body, it is an effective weapon to combat
overweight.
5. Improve physical capacity.
6. It can be practiced as a family, among children, adults, and so on.
7. It is easy to practice and you can set your own pace.

Disadvantages:
1. It is not as fast as the car or the motorcycle.
 2. It is not so safe inside the road.
3. It is not respected in many places by motorists.
4. The distances that can be traveled with it cannot be as extensive as with the car or the
motorcycle.
5. It is easy to steal.
 1867
American Sylvester Howard Roper (1823-1896) invented a two-cylinder, steam-powered
velocipede in 1867. A velocipede is an early form of a bicycle in which the pedals are
attached to the front wheel. Roper's invention can be considered the first motorcycle if
you allow your definition of a motorcycle to include a coal-fired steam engine.
Advantages: This type of motorcycle had different kinds of materials. Spoons were used
as brakes and a forged iron fork for suspension.
Disadvantages: This motorcycle runs with steam and is also expensive

 1956
The Hovercraft began its life in 1955 when inventor Sir Christopher Cockerell tested out
his idea for a floating/flying craft by putting a cat food tin inside a coffee tin. He said he
first came up with the idea when he was thinking how to make a boat go faster by
reducing the amount of friction caused when it travels through the water.To test his
'hover' theory the inventor then blew a jet of air through the gap between the two tins to
create a cushion of air and the Hovercraft was born.

Advantages: It is manageable for short trips in the water

Disadvantages: It is not compatible on roads and only functions on water. It requires being a
skilled member in the military in order to have access to it.

 2002
Introduced to the public in December 2001, the first official Segway Human Transporter
(HT) received a lot of attention as celebrities used it for the first time on national TV. The
hit sitcom Frasier even featured it on an episode.

Legislation was passed on Feb. 15, 2002, that allowed Segways to operate on
sidewalks. Within a year 30 other states passed laws that allowed the Segway HT to
operate on sidewalks. On Nov. 18, 2002, the Segway HT was sold to the public for the
first time on Amazon.com. The Segways sold for $3000.
Advantages : eco-friendly, saves time and a lot faster than walking
Disadvantages: expensive and you would have to keep standing until you reached the
destination
 TBA
Flying car
Companies like AeroMobile and Terrafugia are developing flying cars that are
built on the same foundation of part car/part airplane. The AeroMobil 3.0 is slated
for a 2017 release and is gas-powered, has folding wings and is nearly 20 feet
long. Terrafugia has the Transition model which may be available soon and the
TF-X™ is slated for a debut in the next few years. The TF-X is a semi-
autonomous hybrid electric flying car with a vertical takeoff and landing ability. It’s
starting to get a little more George Jetson daily!

Sources:
http://www.jetsetmag.com/travel/aviation/evolution-of-transportation/
https://www.quora.com/Why-is-the-Wheelbarrow-important-nowadays
https://www.thoughtco.com/who-invented-the-wheelbarrow-1991685
https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-the-motorcycle-1992151
http://www.sheilahanlon.com/?p=2069
https://auto.howstuffworks.com/flying-car2.htm
https://www.historyofthings.com/history-of-the-segway
http://www.bbc.co.uk/hampshire/content/articles/2008/03/27/history_hovercraft_f
eature.shtml