Every day there is something new on the market for us to buy. Our favorite television shows are routinely “interrupted” with commercial breaks, and advertisers try to temp us with their late night infomercials. While many products are useful, admittedly, many of these items we buy are often unnecessary. Regardless of the products importance, they all have something in common – an idea. Somewhere, sometime – someone had an idea to invent, and brought it to life. While many inventions will fade, some will always stand the test of time. Here are five famous inventors, and their historic world changing inventions.
With so many important inventions to choose from, it really is hard to narrow down the most famous five, therefore, this list includes the basic things that are in our lives every day.
Whether it’s by public transportation, or your own personal vehicle, each of us typically depends on an automobile for transportation. The automobile had its inception early on. Many minds had the idea; even DaVinci was known to have contributed to the idea of powered transportation. It wasn’t, however, until 1908 when the Model T arrived, and then a few years later when Henry Ford founded the process that brought fully functional and affordable vehicles to the public. Earlier in his life Ford was known as the neighborhood watch repairman, as he was quite skilled at taking apart and fixing pocket watches. Another interesting fact: during WWI and shortly thereafter, Ford manufactured airplane engines and some aircraft.
When the name, Thomas Edison, is heard, one automatically thinks of the light bulb. For over three quarters of a century, other scientists and inventors had tinkered with electric light. Edison, however, has been synonymous with the light bulb as it was his work that improved upon the technology by using a carbon filament that initially provided light for over 40 hours – a huge leap in electric light performance. A friend of Ford’s, Edison successfully introduced the principles of mass production and teamwork to the inventive process. Edison is also credited for creating the first phonograph and motion picture camera.
Simply put, Alexander Graham Bell, is credit with creating the first practical telephone. Much of his early work was based on speech and elocution. As Bell’s mother and wife were deaf, his work on hearing devices influenced his eventual work on the telephone for which he earned the first US Patent in 1876. Bell was also involved in aeronautics and was a founding member of National Geographic Society.
As we are in the age of digital reading devices such as the Kindle, it is import to take note of Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg’s contribution to modern day book printing by introducing mechanical moving type. Gutenberg was a goldsmith and printer who understood the printing process and the use of metals. Combining the two, he improved on the primitive methods of printing. Because of his work, records, journals, and more could be widely shared. He is known for the Gutenberg Bible (the 42-line Bible), and also for the use of oil based inks over traditionally used water based inks.
This list of inventive forefathers wouldn’t be complete without mentioning Albert Einstein. His name is synonymous with “genius.” His work as a scientist and philosopher changed the world, and plays a role in every modern science and technology as we know it today. Among his credits, he published over 300 scientific works, and over 150 non-scientific works.
Sources/Resources:
Wikipedia: Henry Ford
Wikipedia: Thomas Edison
Wikipedia: Alexander Graham Bell
Wikipedia: Johannes Gutenberg
Wikipedia: Albert Einstein
