Top 10 inventions by number of direct descendants
1: High-vacuum tube — 13
2: Automobile — 12
3: Stored-program computer — 12
4: Voltaic pile — 11
5: High-pressure steam engine — 11
6: Glass blowing — 10
7: Papermaking — 10
8: Bipolar junction transistor — 10
9: Writing (Mesopotamia) — 9
10: MOSFET — 8
reply
1: Control of fire — 585
2: Charcoal — 444
3: Iron — 422
4: Iron smelting and wrought iron — 419
5: Ceramic — 404
6: Pottery — 402
7: Induction coil — 389
8: Raft — 365
9: Boat — 363
10: Alcohol fermentation — 353
Top 10 by total ancestors (direct + indirect)
1: Robotaxi — 253
2: Moon landing — 242
3: Space telescope — 238
4: Lidar — 236
5: Satellite television — 231
6: Space station — 228
7: Stealth aircraft — 228
8: Reusable spacecraft — 224
9: Satellite navigation system — 224
10: Communications satellite — 224
