Four Trees of Technological Progress. What Usually Goes Unseen.

Everyone knows the game Civilization. It has a technology tree — you research writing, mathematics unlocks, then astronomy, then navigation. Clean and logical. But the real technological tree is more complex. Behind every node of the visible tree hide three invisible trees. And without them the main tree simply cannot grow. Let us go through this with concrete examples. Tree 1 — The Main Tree of Technologies This is what everyone sees. A new idea or scientific discovery gives birth to a new technology. Einstein in 1917 described the theory of stimulated emission of light. In 1960 Theodore Maiman built the first working laser. In 1903 the Wright brothers understood how to control the lift of a wing. In 1938 Otto Hahn split the uranium atom. These are all nodes of the main tree — ideas that change the world. Tree 2 — The Tree of Instruments Every new technology requires a new instrument for its realisation. This is the first hidden tree — the direct manifestation of the main tree. The la