What is the single most important invention in European history?

The Chinese had the compass long before Europeans discovered the concept of magnetic North. Set has already pointed out that Europeans did not invent moveable type although Johannes Gutenberg's printing press did change quite a few things in the world, both for the better and for worse. What's the big deal about mechanical clocks? Or any clocks for that matter?

It always amuses me to remember that two of the material things which European immigrants to the Americans were most proud of were the two things that the native inhabitants here found completely useless -- except as ornamention. Those were the pocket watch and the compass. If one wants to know what time it is, one looks to where the sun is in the sky. And only a woefully backward city slicker would need a compass on land to show him what's north, what's south. It gets trickier out at sea, I admit.

sea is actually easire than land for me.
A site I was trying to recall was one that I was taken to last year when I was down at my SA work area. Its called Puma Punku. The design of the rocks and the execution are phenomenal for the workmen. There had to be "trades" in the society cause the workmanship is so fine. I was blown away when I saw it the fiorst time. It was like visiting FAllingwater in the hills.

That was a timeless joke about antiquarian horology that Andy clicked.

It would be remiss to not mention that guy who stood on the shoulders on giants.

anyway, the calendar was infinately more difficult to get right than was mere hourly timekeeping. Clocks evolved from sand or water instruments .

As you already noted, things get trickier at sea, and that's where accurate (accurate to at least a matter of a few minutes) clocks become important, crucially important. Human beings have known, literally for thousands of years, how to find latitude (how far north or south they are of an arbitrary point or line). But finding longitude, finding how far east or west one is of a particular point, is extremely difficult. That can be accomplished by celestial observation, but it takes literally hours, and a steady observation platform--and at sea, one often doesn't have hours of clear weather in which to observe celestial bodies, and almost never has a steady platform.

However, if one can observe the sun at "local noon," which requires just minutes of clear weather, and does not require a steady platform, one can find one's longitude, if one has an accurate clock. Set your clock to the time determined by local noon at an arbitrary point such as, oh, i don't know, Greenwich, east of London?--and as long as your clock keeps accurate time, you can compare the time on your clock to your observation of local noon and determine just how far east or west you are of Greenwich.

This can be very important for avoiding things like running onto a rocky coast at night, or reaching your destination before your crew dies off from scurvy. It has been shown to be crucially important by historical events. Le Sieur de la Salle had reached the mouth of the Mississippi River overland, so he determined to take an expeditino there by sea to establish a colony. He knew the lattitude, but he had no way to determine the longitude. He set sail, and he made landfall on the island which is today the heart of Galveston, Texas. That meant he was far, far to the west of the Mississippi River. To his credit, he realized he needed to find the river to the east, so he set off with a party of his men. By that time, the people of the expedition were becoming despondent, and the men had begun to mistrust La Salle. When he wandered off with his party of men looking to the east for the river, they eventually murdered him, and buried the body. Then they wandered back west, and lied about what had happened. Eventually, a few of them admitted the truth, and the story finally came out.

A good, reliable clock would have saved La Salle's life, and would have dramatically affected the colonization of North America.

Here, educate yourself. Read about John Harrison.

Thanks. Set. You explained it very well. Being lost at sea was dangerous before they were able to determine location - both latitude and longitude.

Thanks Boss.

Here's a picture I took of the Prime Meridian at Greenwich. It was taken in 2003.

In my opinion, the Latin alphabet. It allowed Latin to evolve into different Romance languages, yet still be written. And, even to be adopted by non-Romance languages, as a way to phonetically write a language so others can understand how to pronounce a word (i.e., Wunderkind).

Yeah, the English love to preen themselves on silliness such as that.

The spread of Movable Type Printing, which made books and pamphlets cheap fast and available accross Europe, started an information revolution which led eventually to both the French and American revolutions, the gradual disempowerment of the Old Feudal Lords; the spread of Protestantism; the breakup of the monopoly of the Catholic Church; the establishment of the Guilds; the establishment of Universities; the spread of philossophical, scientific, technilogical and political ideas; the spread of the modern Capitalist system, parlementary democracies; colonialism; world empires and the spread of the Modern Western Culture around the world. No doubt an impressive result for such a small idea. But I think all the Modern Printing Press really did was greatly increase the speed of processes which were already in motion. I think there is one other invention which preceded Modern Printing which had just as great an impact: The invention of the Deep Furrowing Heavy Plow around 500 AD, just after the fall of the Pagan Roman Empire. This invention produced major food surpluses for the first time in history. It freed up the hands of millions of peasants, giving them an opertunity to develope and refine their skills, it freed them from the daily drudgery of "digging for their next meal" in the mud. It freed their minds as well and gave them more time to think about the meaning of their existance.

The "real" first printed document was invented in China. The British Museum has one on display.

Perhaps the Chinese had the method of Wood Block Printing before the Europeans did. But it was the Europeans who took the invention to higher levels and eventually created the Movable Lead Letter System which changed the modern world overnight. Maybe the Chinese invented gunpowder, but it was the European who greatly improved it, (Nobel), and who then conquered the world and spread his scientific, high-tech, democratic way of life around the world as a result of his use of gunpowder.

Having an idea is fine, but the way in which that idea is put to use to serve and better the human condition is what really matters.

Hey Bubba . . . WAKE UP . . . you're dreamin' . . .

How much democracy was there in Spain when Ferdinand and Isabella, and Carlos (HRE Charles V) and Philip were the monarchs? How much democracy was there in Portugal? How much democracy in France? Just what do you beliee democracy consisted of in England at any time before 1830? Or even after 1830, for that matter.

This is from Wiki.

This is utter nonsense. It was Gutenbergs invention which spread to Belgium and then to England, which changed the world in which we live. Modern Democracy and the capitalist way of life which replaced the Old Feudal Order started in England with the "Glorious Revolution"; found fertile ground in the American Revolution, spread accross Europe with the French Revolution and wrapped itself around the world with the British Empire.

We owe nothing to pre-historic Chinese nor Koreans for our modern way of life. To this day, both the Chinese the North Koreans are struggling against backward dictatorships. They have not yet achieved true democracy nor our standard of living based upon the dignity and freedom of the individual.

Besides; the topic is "Invention in European History".

When did I mention any exact dates? The information revolution which spread accross Europe as peasants began to become litterate, was an unstopable tour de force which toppled monarchs, opened markets, spread techology and fresh political ideas. Baruch Spinoza was a subject in 17th Century Spain/Portugal, but his intellect and courage, along with so many other brave men of his time, moved thousands toward modern ideas and freed them from medieval superstitions and fear.

Your lack of history becomes more pronounced with every post.

Gutenberg's bible appeared in 1455. The first monarch who was toppled would have been Louis XVI, in 1789. That wasn't very fast work, now was it?