1900: A few hand-built automobiles are found among the steam, electric, and horse-drawn vehicles used for transportation. The industrial revolution and an age of invention -- most recently, electric light, telephones, and motion pictures -- have begun to change the face of the world. But factories and symphony orchestras still provide the loudest sounds around, few people have running water, ice keeps our food cold, and we can travel off the ground only by balloon.

Here are a few steps on the science odyssey from then to now, including links to activities and databank entries on this site.

• In 1901, Guglielmo Marconi, in Newfoundland, receives a telegraph signal sent by radio wave from Great Britain. This feat will evolve into a communications revolution as the century progresses.
  

  You Try It: Technology at Home
  Discoveries: Marconi receives radio signal across Atlantic
  People: Guglielmo Marconi
  

• In 1903, from a sand dune further south, in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, the Wright brothers are the first to successfully leave the ground in a motor-powered airplane.
  

  Discoveries: Wright Brothers fly first motorized plane
  People: Wilbur and Orville Wright
  

• In 1913, Henry Ford conceives of a way to make automobiles quickly and inexpensively, helping to set the stage for our technological consumer society.
  

  Discoveries: Ford installs first moving assembly line
  People: Henry Ford
  

• By 1920, Marconi's pioneering work has spurred a new communications medium, radio.
  

  You Try It: Radio Transmission
  Discoveries: KDKA begins to broadcast
  People: Lee de Forest
  

• During the 1920s, new inventions and manufacturing methods allow the consumer revolution to spread to middle class households.
  

  You Try It: Technology at Home
  Discoveries: Electric consumer appliances proliferate
  

• In 1926, radio transmission technology takes a new step forward as the first television images are broadcast over radio waves.
  

  Discoveries: Television is developed
  You Try It: Technology at Home
  

• In 1935, a new material for inexpensive, durable consumer goods appears, beginning the age of plastics.
  

  You Try It: Technology at Home
  Discoveries: Nylon is invented
  People: Wallace Carothers
  

• During World War II, many new technologies are envisioned and implemented. The advance that would have perhaps the largest effect during the latter part of the century is the invention of the computer.
  

  "That's My Theory!" with special guest ENIAC
  Discoveries: ENIAC is built
  People: Grace Murray Hopper
  People: Jay Forrester
  

• In 1947, the transistor is invented. This will eventually have significant impact on all kinds of electronic devices and technologies, from radios and computers to airplanes and spaceships.
  

  You Try It: Technology at Home
  Discoveries: Transistor is invented
  People: William Shockley
  

• In 1962, people begin to view our technological advances with a new eye, as Rachel Carson calls attention to some unanticipated, harmful effects.
  

  On The Edge: Ecology is Hep
  Discoveries: "Silent Spring" is published
  People: Rachel Carson
  

• In 1969, computer technology and advances in rocketry take humankind as far from Earth as we will venture during the century.
  

  Discoveries: Apollo astronauts land on the Moon
  

• In 1971, with the commercial introduction of the first silicon microprocessor, a new step in miniaturization is made, spurring further advances in electronic technologies.
  

  You Try It: Technology at Home
  Discoveries: First commercial microprocessor is introduced
  

• By the mid 1970s, microprocessors are used in the first consumer-sized, consumer-priced personal computers.
  

  You Try It: Technology at Home
  Discoveries: Personal computer industry is launched
  People: Stephen Wozniak
  

• By the mid 1990s, software and networking protocols bring networked multimedia computing into the homes and workplaces of millions.
  

  You Try It: Technology at Home
  Discoveries: The Internet gives rise to the World Wide Web
  

Today: We live in a world that is tied together by technology. We can travel to any part of the globe in a matter of hours and communicate by television, telephone, radio, or over computer networks nearly instantaneously. The world is awash in consumer goods, many of which are becoming even smaller, energy-efficient, and "smarter." We continue to use technology to explore outer space and to learn more about our world. Yet scientists and policy makers are still unsure how best to control technology to benefit humankind and to preserve and restore our environment.