Technological evolution

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Technological evolution as an innovation- and technology-related theory describes technology development. The Czech philosopher Radovan Richta (1924–1983) originated the theory.

Theory of technological evolution[edit]

Mankind In Transition; A View of the Distant Past, the Present and the Far Future, Masefield Books, 1993.[1] Technology (which Richta defines as "a material entity created by the application of mental and physical effort to nature in order to achieve some value") evolves in three stages: tools, machine, automation. This evolution, he says, follows two trends: .




The second technological stage was the creation of the machine. A machine (a powered machine to be more precise) is a tool that substitutes the element of human physical effort, and requires only to control its function. Machines became widespread with the industrial revolution, though windmills, a type of machine, are much older.

Examples of this include cars, trains, computers, and lights. Machines allow humans to Tremendously exceed the limitations of their bodies. Putting a machine on the farm, a tractor, increased food productivity at least tenfold over the technology of the plow and the horse.

The third, and final stage of technological evolution is the automation. The automation is a machine that removes the element of human control with an automatic algorithm. Examples of machines that exhibit this characteristic are digital watches, automatic telephone switches, pacemakers, and computer programs.

It's important to understand that the three stages outline the introduction of the fundamental types of technology, and so all three continue to be widely used today. A spear, a plow, a pen, a knife, a glove, a chicken and an optical microscope are all examples of tools.

Theoretical implications[edit]




See also[edit]


  1. ^ Bloomfield, Masse. 'tmule'The Automated Society, Masefield Books, 1995.