Hi,
That’s an interesting question. It’s good that you say “a part of”, because so many of the great projects do need more than one person.
Tha Apollo space program would have been quite something to be involved with – huge numbers of people solving all sorts of problems, but I think I’ll choose the Global Positioning System – GPS. It amazes me every time I think about it how we can measure the time it takes a radio signal coming from something we threw up into space with enough accuracy to know which side of the road I’m standing. I’d love to have been there when they worked out such a mad idea was possible.
There are so many interesting projects to choose! I think the number one development for me though would have been the early days of the Internet, working on the fundamental infrastructure that we now take for granted! Growing up in the 1980s I wasn’t even really aware of the Internet – and now it’s something I can’t imagine not being there. For a start – this conversation wouldn’t be happening! 🙂
I’d love to have been involved in the beginning of semiconductors (the materials that microchips and LEDs are made out of) – they’ve changed fundamentally how we’ve done so many things! The original computers took up entire buildings because they had to be made of valves – the equivalent today might only take up a piece of semiconductor the size of one of these letters. Another thing they’ve done is bring us LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) that allow us to make much better use of electricity compared to old-fashioned lightbulbs.
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