The invention of the wheel has changed our attitude to speed and distance forever. With the advent of the boat, we conquered water spaces. Creating a balloon lifted a wingless man into the heavens, and a jet engine reduced our perception of the huge planet Earth to a small blue ball in the infinite universe. Man mastered earthly wealth, penetrated the secret of the atom and put it in his service. 50 machines and mechanisms, from a hoe and a plow to a spaceship and a hadron collider, presented in this book, will create before the reader's eyes an incredible panorama of the development of technology that has globally changed the world. The publication is intended for the widest range of readers.