One of the main reasons for the world-wide dominance of the West at present is that much of modern technology was developed there. This, however, was not the case in ancient times. The decimal system of numbers, together with the concept of zero, was invented in India. The reason for these numbers from 1 to 9 and 0, to be known as Arabic numerals is that they were transmitted from India to Europe through the Arab world.

Again, the most important inventions of the Renaissance, the period in which Europe began its domination of the world, came to Europe from China. Printing and paper began in China, as did gunpowder. Yet, the fact remains that both these ancient civilizations, India and China, soon began to fall behind. Within a few hundred years of the Renaissance, Europe came to dominate the world.

This situation has continued to the present day, except that it is appropriate to use the term Western rather than European to describe the dominant influences now. The United States has now replaced European countries as the most powerful nation in the world. Of course, we should remember that the major part of the population of the United States, as well as the dominant culture there, are derived from Europe.

In order to understand this dominance and learn how other countries too can develop, we should study the various periods in which technology developed in Europe.