MARNEY MORRIS
The Atomic Bomb

Well, John, you did say "most important invention," not the one we should be most proud of. The invention (and detonation) of the atomic bomb has changed the world more profoundly than any other human development in the last two thousand years. In seconds, nearly two hundred thousand people were dead or dying in Hiroshima, and consciousness was forever changed on our planet. Although the arms race fueled our economy for a few more decades, the bomb set into motion a "warfare stalemate." With the ability to destroy our planet within the realm of possibility, we were forced to examine our rules of war and seek new means of engagement to work out our differences. And although hundred of wars are going on at any one time on our planet, there are checks and balances underscored by the horror of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Please note that if you were to have phrased the question to include time prior to two thousand years ago, I would have suggested that our most powerful invention is song.

Marney Morris is the president of Animatrix, publishers of SprocketWorks, a next-generation interactive learning channel and CD series. She also teaches interactive design in the Engineering Department at Stanford.