In any field of endeavor, it is impossible to make a significant contribution without first being strongly influenced by past achievements in that field. Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statement and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider ways in which the statement might or might not hold true and explain how these considerations shape your position.

The premise that significant contributions in any

field

can only be made through the influence from past achievements in that

field

holds true in the modern world. Modern appliances, advanced medicine, and improved fuel efficiency are founded on earlier models. The

next

big thing is simply a version of the

last

big thing. It may be thinner, smaller, faster, or more intuitive, but, fundamentally, it is the same thing. The ubiquitous television sets in people’s homes today are probably hanging on the wall and have plasma or LCD screens. These bigger, brighter versions essentially perform the same function as the older, bulkier vacuum tube models; they bring moving pictures into our homes. The Band-Aids found in every medicine chest come in a variety of sizes, colours, with or without an antibacterial cream embedded, and even in liquid form. These superior bandages

also

perform the same function as their predecessors; they cover cuts and scrapes. In actuality, everything new is not very original. They are adaptations. One must turn to the ancient world to recognize that the greatest contributions in any

field

of endeavour have come through discovery rather than invention or advancement. Early

man

is covered the fire and realized he could use it to cook his food, warm his cave, and keep predators at bay. Eventually, he learned how to create it, preserve it, and carry it with him as he migrated to better hunting grounds or more temperate climates. Modern

man

has witnessed the harnessing of fire to create steam that powered ships and locomotives. It still heats our homes and cooks our food, but it

also

takes us into outer space. At some point an ancient

man

realized that round objects move more effectively over the ground than do the square or rectangular objects, that the power of water could help

man

to accomplish tasks more easily, and that the leaves, roots, and bark of plants and trees provided relief from pain and other maladies.

Thus

, we have the wheel, grist mills on local streams, and aspirin in tablet form. Were it not for Franklin’s flying a kite during a thunderstorm or Fleming’s discovery of penicillin, we would live in the dark and die from bacterial infections. When bold seafarers from Scandinavia and Western Europe sailed east and failed to fall off the edge of the earth, they discovered the fishing banks off the coast of Newfoundland and treasures in Mexico and opened the doors to modern-day travel. In the final analysis, it is appropriate to assert that no one can contribute significantly in any

field

of endeavour without

first

being influenced by past achievements in that

field

. While those contributions generally improve the quality of our lives, it is likely that the

next

important discovery will have a profound effect.