Driven to drink.

• Author: Sullum, Jacob
• Position: Briefly Noted - How Beer Saved the World - Brief article

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How Beer Saved the World makes an entertaining case that fermented malt beverages are "the greatest invention of all time." The 2011 Discovery Channel documentary presents evidence that beer triggered the agricultural revolution (since hunter-gatherers needed barley to make it), "built the pyramids" (since Egypt's workers were fueled by it), and inspired "a host of inventions," including the plow, irrigation, wheeled carts, measurement math, and writing.

We also learn that drinking beer saved "millions of lives" during the Middle Ages because brewing killed dangerous waterborne bacteria. In early...