Rube Goldberg Technology Timeline Visualizer Model

A physical model based on the old Connections TV show which looked at how one technology would lead to another, then another, chain reaction style, ending up with a technology far removed from the technology that started the whole chain of events off in the first place.

Events would be re-inacted with little dioramas in such a way that an event leads to the next chronological event physically. So a piece of gold slides down a touchstone which triggers a bunch of little model ships converging on a map of Alexandria. This shows how the standardization of gold as a medium for currency allowed for greater more efficient commercial trading, which at this time in history centered in Egypt. A library made possible by the free trade of books pops up that includes Ptolemy's star tables, aiding navigators during the age of discovery hundreds of years later.

Then the following events would be triggered, illustrated by little models, dolls etc that would trigger the next event.

Mariners using the previously illustrated star tables discovered that the compass's magnetized needle did not actually point directly north. Investigations into the nature of magnetism by Gilbert led to the discovery of electricity by way of the sulphur ball of von Guericke. Further interest in atmospheric electricity at the Ben Nevis weather station led to Wilson's cloud chamber which in turn allowed development of both Watson-Watt's radar and (by way of Rutherford's insights) nuclear weaponry.

It would be an artistic challenge to do this in such a way that it actually made sense, and it would obviously need narration to explain what's going on, but it would be a fun way to go over thousands of years of technology evolution in a few seconds.