Question 5: Of those plants we have so far studied, which in your opinion has had the greatest impact on world history. Justify and explain your answer.
From the mighty oak to the lowliest sapling, wood has wormed its way into our lives and become an integral part of human civilization. This can be seen in changes in transportation methods.
The first way that wood affected humanity was by aiding in transportation of goods and people. In the ancient world, wood was fashioned into wheels, rollers and, chariots. The wheels and rollers facilitated the movement of the giant blocks of stone used in construction projects like the great pyramids in egypt. Also the chariots, used by almost all ancient civil increased the mobility of larger armies and allowed for the formation and defense of empires on a scale hitherto unknown.
Wood’s effect on transportation didn’t stop there. The age of exploration was inexorably linked to this renewable natural resource. The dashing explorers, vicious pirates, and gallant naval officers all stood on decks of teak and sailed wooden ships across the vast oceans. These ships built of pine and oak from all across Europe and North America and the Levant dramatically increased the volume and speed trade. This trade caused the rise and fall of various nations.
Even when the venerable wooden ships bowed down to steel; wood had one last major hurrah, the railroad. While the railroads came to be known as the backbone of human civilization, it all rested on the lowly wooden rail ties. With an average of 3,249 ties per mile, 212,000 miles of tracks in America alone, there are around 689,974,000 wooden ties crisscrossing America. As the railroad expanded so did the transport of important ideas and events, both good and bad. From the deadly march to the nazi extermination camps to the transportation of goods to starving people in remote parts of the world.
While the import of all the plants we have discussed in class so far is flexible, wood has left the largest impact on human civilization.
Sources:
Images:
http://blog.world-mysteries.com/mystic-places/the-great-pyramid-and-transport-of-heavy-stone-blocks/
Hi Tyler- seeing how wood has played such an important role in human life all throughout history, do you think we are justified in recent years in our criticisms of modern deforestation? Or do you think humans have been exploiting forests all along, and it is only now that we are starting to realize the consequences?
ReplyDeleteI believe that we have always exploited the environment. It is part of our DNA to exploit and consume. However the level of our exploitation in the recent past exponentially! At the rate we are going, humanity will be facing a crisis in the near future.
ReplyDelete