From Stone Tools to TikTok: Explore the Historical Tech Tree
Hands-on technology leader with 10+ years building scalable, mission-critical systems at Goldman Sachs, Brevan Howard and fast-growing fintechs. Expert in cloud-native architectures, distributed data pipelines and high-throughput systems; experienced in migrating legacy platforms and designing AI-enabled services. Proven track record delivering reliable platforms that process millions of transactions daily.
Ever wondered how we went from smashing rocks together to doomscrolling on TikTok? Now you don’t just have to wonder. That’s because Étienne Fortier-Dubois has built something jaw-dropping: The Historical Tech Tree.
This isn’t your dusty high school timeline of inventions. It’s a massive, living map of 1,780 technologies spanning 3.3 million years, all stitched together with over 2,000 connections. Imagine seeing the wheel evolve into cars, or ancient glass-making techniques laying the groundwork for your smartphone screen. It’s not a list. it’s a web. A story. A chain reaction of human creativity.
What makes it even cooler? He is building it in public. He’s tweaking, refining, and expanding it based on feedback. Every time you check in, the map has grown a little bit more. like technology itself.
The best part is how approachable it feels. Instead of staring at today’s mind-bending tech and thinking, “How on earth did we get here?”, you can trace the path step by step. It’s history, but alive, and it reminds you that every breakthrough, no matter how tiny, can spark the next revolution.
Head to historicaltechtree.com to see this for yourself. but once you dive in, you may not resurface for hours.