Inventions that make life easier
You have to get by somehow in life, as the shepherd said, tying his shoe with an earthworm. This old saying comes to mind when we reflect on the history of inventions that made people’s lives easier. And there are countless of them.
Due to our failing health or physiology with age, people with the soul of an inventor focused on improving our hearing and eyesight, protecting our feet, doing something not to dirty our hands while eating, or making life easier for women during menstruation.
Hearing
One of the important senses that diminishes with age is hearing. In the old days, people with hearing loss would simply place their hand rolled up to their ear, thereby enlarging the surface area of the auricle. This actually improved hearing, but only by a few decibels. Other devices were larger shells or hollow animal horns. It was not until the 19th century that the manufacture of ear trumpets began. A variety of materials were used, from metals such as tin and silver to hollow wood and rubber. All of these devices improved hearing somewhat, but the frequency response was quite narrow. Then we began to learn more and more about the physiology of hearing. It turned out that in addition to classical air conduction, when a sound wave travels through the ear to the eardrum, we also have bone conduction. This made it possible to develop the…
