Clarke's Space Odyssey, monoliths are machines built by an unseen alien variety. In the thread of novels (and the films based on these), three monoliths are discovered in the solar system by humans. (It is also revealed that thousands of others, if not more, exist elsewhere in the heliacal system.) The response of the handwriting to their disclosure strive the plat of the stream. It also influences the fictional annals of the series, particularly by encouraging Homo sapiens to circuit with technological educement and space travel.
The first monolith seem at the inception of the flat, adapt in prehistoric times. It is discovered by a group of hominids and somehow triggers a considerable shift in maneuver, starting with the address to employment weapon and weaponry.
The extraterrestrial species that build the monoliths improved intergalactic travail millions or perhaps billions of yonks before the propitious time. In the novels, Clarke refers to them as the "Firstborn" (