According to the dictionary, the definition of technology is "the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes".
I had the privilege of visiting Thomas Jefferson's Monticello in July. There were so many fascinating technologies in his home. If you are interested, you may wish to read about The Great Clock which is the most amazing clock I've ever seen. I have to say, though, that the technology at Monticello that was of the greatest interest to me was The Polygraph. This is not the "polygraph" that we think of today when we are testing people to see if they are telling the truth. Instead, this is a copying machine.
Jefferson called this device, also known as the "letter-copying machine", the finest invention (dare we say "technology") of his time. Look carefully at the photo below. Jefferson's hand moved one pen whose action was duplicated by a second pen, thus creating a copy of the original. The polygraph could be folded up and travel with Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson made a copy of everything he wrote.
Thomas Jefferson had about 7,000 books and always had one or two in his pocket. He read in seven different languages, by the way. If Jefferson lived today, I think he would be the one with all the cool "technology" - an IPad, an IPhone, a Kindle and, yes, even Google Glass.
I had the privilege of visiting Thomas Jefferson's Monticello in July. There were so many fascinating technologies in his home. If you are interested, you may wish to read about The Great Clock which is the most amazing clock I've ever seen. I have to say, though, that the technology at Monticello that was of the greatest interest to me was The Polygraph. This is not the "polygraph" that we think of today when we are testing people to see if they are telling the truth. Instead, this is a copying machine.
Jefferson called this device, also known as the "letter-copying machine", the finest invention (dare we say "technology") of his time. Look carefully at the photo below. Jefferson's hand moved one pen whose action was duplicated by a second pen, thus creating a copy of the original. The polygraph could be folded up and travel with Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson made a copy of everything he wrote.
Thomas Jefferson had about 7,000 books and always had one or two in his pocket. He read in seven different languages, by the way. If Jefferson lived today, I think he would be the one with all the cool "technology" - an IPad, an IPhone, a Kindle and, yes, even Google Glass.