Writing in the first century BC, Cicero mentions an instrument “recently constructed by our friend Poseidonius, which at each revolution reproduces the same motions of the sun, the moon, and the five planets.” Archimedes is also said to have made a small planetarium, but these were just taken as literals as none were discovered …
Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison are two giants of electrical engineering whose inventions changed history. But the electricity between the two is no secret to the world.
When Robert Whitehead invented the self-propelled torpedo in the 1860s, the early guidance system for maintaining depth was so new and essential he called it “The Secret.” Airplanes got autopilots just a decade after the Wright brothers. These days, your breakfast cereal was probably gathered by a driverless harvester. Sailboats have autotillers. Semi-autonomous military drones …
Necessity is the mother of innovation. Always was, still is. From inventing the wheel because boxes and cubes were hard to push around by themselves, humanity has come a long way. But our thirst for ultimate comfort keeps us at it.