Humanity is a collaboration
Spanning the past, present and future
Every invention builds on the ideas of people who lived before
here are 362 inventions plotted by the number of humans
Sources: Population Reference Bureau · UN World Population Prospects · Wikidata/Wikimedia//Wikipedia metrics.
How invention importance is calculated
Each invention's importance is an equal-weight mix of four Wikipedia based signals:
1. Language reach
Highest: "Computer" with 248 language editions
How many languages is the article translated into. Signifying cross-cultural recognition.
2. Readership
Highest: "The internet" 399,500 monthly views
A proxy for public attention and interest about the invention.
3. Inbound links
Highest: "City" 48,741 inbound links
How often is the invention cited in other articles. Indicating how embedded the idea is in everything else.
4. Depth
Highest: Artificial intelligence 272,800 bytes
How much has been written about the invention. Longer articles imply depth of coverage.
Each signal is converted to a score depending how far above or below average it sits. The scores are averaged to give a percentile importance value.