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The surface plate. Modern precision all stems from the concept of a flat reference. However, the technique to make a surface as flat as possible (which is based on simple geometry) was first discussed in the early 19th c. In terms of profound impact on modernity, the metal screw-cutting lathe.
The metal lathe is not really a 'modern' invention is it?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screw-cutting_lathe#Modern_scr...
The surface plate. Modern precision all stems from the concept of a flat reference. However, the technique to make a surface as flat as possible (which is based on simple geometry) was first discussed in the early 19th c. In terms of profound impact on modernity, the metal screw-cutting lathe.
The metal lathe is not really a 'modern' invention is it?
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flush_toilet
Technically invented in the 1500s but not widely produced until the 1800s.
Ah, the problem is that modern inventions are really embedded in a practice and theory. The invention may be simple but the practice and theory are not. So I would put up soap as a contender. Simple, saves hundreds of thousands of life, prevents diseases and so forth. But soap, as an invention, is embedded in the modern practice of washing, which requires our modern knowledge of germs and diseases, as well as our mod…
"The earliest recorded evidence of the production of soap-like materials dates back to around 2800 BC in ancient Babylon." [1] Soap is not a modern invention and its usefulness in cleaning was recognized way before modern knowledge about diseases. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soap#Ancient_Middle_East
The process for making ammonia from air (nitrogen) and hydrogen. Allowed a huge increase in agricultural output that saved a few billion people from starvation. Haber-Bosch process.
Basically there would be ~2 times less people on Earth and over half of them would work in farming if not for this one invention.
Why would throwing more people at the problem solve or mitigate lack of fertilizer?
The greatest invention/discovery of modern times is electricity. It is the second fire and much much more..
The manipulation of the aether thoroughly meets your definition of modernity, and the principles of constructing a simple radio aren't terribly complicated.
Electric battery
plastics