List of All Inventions and Inventors

This list of inventors was created using the WorldCat database, a subset of its records. Records containing the personal names of inventors were extracted. The order of the list is based on the number of OCLC member libraries that hold the title. WorldCat is the world’s largest library catalog, with 314 million bibliographic records representing over 2 billion items in participating libraries. As such, it represents a large part of the scholarly record.

Lear’s invention

Bill Lear is an American entrepreneur and aircraft manufacturer. His innovative inventions include the 8-track cartridge and battery eliminator. These devices were common during the 1960s and 1970s and changed the lives of countless people. In 1931, Bill Lear purchased a Fleet biplane for $2,525 and began developing his own electronic products. In 1949, he started Lear Developments and incorporated it as Lear Incorporated. In 1962, Lear sold his interest in Lear Incorporated to the Siegler Corporation. In 1962, the Lear family moved to Wichita, Kansas, and began building the Learjet. The Learjet was a huge success and was produced until 1967 when he sold 65 percent of the company. Lear’s inventions continued to develop.

Among his other inventions, the eight-track tape player and the car radio are among the best-known. Lear was born in Hannibal, Missouri, and went on to attend public schools in Chicago until the eighth grade. He joined the Navy at age sixteen and learned about radio electronics in the service. After World War I, he took up flying and became a pilot. In 1927, he was inducted into the Kansas Business Hall of Fame.

Edison’s invention

The telegraph was one of Thomas Edison’s inventions, and he worked on it for nearly four years with his partner John Kreusi. They were able to create a working prototype quickly and presented it to the public. The telegraph, or telegraph machine, was a major step forward in advancing communication. It has been used ever since and has remained the mainstay of our modern world.

In 1879, Thomas Edison discovered a carbonized bamboo filament. The carbonized bamboo filament gave off hours of light and was safe for use. The carbonized bamboo filament was very inexpensive and also offered great durability. However, Edison lost a copyright infringement lawsuit to a man named Joseph Swan, who had invented a similar design ten years before him. Both men used different materials to make their devices. Fortunately for Edison, Swan’s invention did not become a trademark, and the case was settled.

A few years later, Thomas Edison’s experiments in New Jersey produced more than a dozen patents for light bulbs. In 1881, he opened a factory in East Newark, New Jersey, and moved his family to New York. A year later, he founded Thomas A. Edison, Inc., which was aimed at diversifying the company’s activities and producing new inventions frequently. Despite the controversies surrounding Edison’s invention, he maintained his laboratory’s research and development.

Niepce’s invention

Joseph Nicephore Niepce’s invention of photography is a centuries-old art. Its invention predates photography as we know it. Using silver chloride and paper, Niepce developed the first permanent picture in the history of photography. Today, this process is called heliography. Here’s the story of Niepce’s invention. Read on to learn more about this important invention. And see the original photo to learn more.

During the 1813 French revolution, Joseph Niepce became fascinated with the lithography process. In that method, an image is placed on a stone and treated with an iodine solution to repel ink and retain the image. Because Niepce was not particularly talented, he relied on his son’s artistic ability to create his designs. He also devised a method to draw pictures by using light instead of ink. In 1814, he placed a transparent engraving on a plate coated with a light-sensitive solution, and then exposed the entire set to sunlight.

Although this process produced multiple copies of an image, it did not catch on. Although Daguerre improved on Niepce’s technique, it was not widely used at that time. The process is still not widely used today. However, the negative of a Daguerreotype can be removed by acid etching. This process creates a weak intaglio plate. During the etching process, nitric acid etches raised amalgam dots and silver shadows. Despite the many improvements, however, only a few hundred prints could be extracted from a single Daguerreotype.

Hollerith’s invention

A German-American statistician and inventor, Herman Hollerith, invented the electromechanical tabulating machine, which was designed to summarize information and assist in accounting. The machine sped up the process of data entry and consolidated information from punch cards. Several improvements were made over the years, and Hollerith’s invention continues to be an invaluable tool in the business world today. Here are some of the greatest uses of Hollerith’s invention.

The 1890 U.S. census was due to be conducted, and it was becoming increasingly unworkable to count and tabulate the results by hand. The 1880 census took seven years to tabulate, and policymakers worried that the 1890 census would not be counted by 1900, making reapportionment of congressional seats impossible. In response to this need, Hollerith’s invention drew inspiration from conductors’ punch cards. His invention eventually made it possible for government officials to record and tabulate census results in a few minutes, reducing a ten-year job to a few months.

His machines saved the Census Bureau $5 million in the 1890 census. By the 1900 census, Hollerith’s machines could do in one year what would have taken eight years to do by hand. This innovation is the earliest example of modern data processing. Initially, Hollerith’s “press” machine used paper cards with punched holes for data entry. Today, businesses can use electronic devices to track transactions. A modern computer system would not be possible without Hollerith’s invention.

Whitney’s invention

Samuel Whitney grew up on a small farm in Massachusetts. As a child, he worked in his father’s fields. By the time he reached adulthood, his parents recognized that their son had unusual intellectual abilities. His innate ability to repair farm equipment earned him the reputation of a skilled mechanic. By his adolescence, farmers throughout the area sought out Whitney’s services for repairing their equipment.

After graduating from Yale University, Whitney decided to leave New England for Georgia. In seven months, he had arrived in Georgia. While he had planned to practice law, his debts forced him to take up a teaching job. However, he was still in debt and needed a job. He reluctantly moved to Georgia to work as a tutor. While there, he continued to refine his inventions. Eventually, he became wealthy by selling his patented products.

Eli Whitney’s cotton gin was a revolutionary invention that would push the United States into the Industrial Revolution. It would also have lasting effects on American slavery. Before the cotton gin was invented, the southern planters relied on enslaved laborers to process a huge amount of cotton. The southern soil had been worn down over centuries of growing the same crops, and most southerners tended to lean Democratic or Republican.

Heron of Alexandria

Heron of Alexandria’s name is one that conjures images of ancient Greek gods. He contributed to mathematics by formulating the area of a triangle and developing an iterative process for computing the square root of a number, which is used today. His method is known as the Babylonian method and may have been used by Archimedes of Syracuse two centuries earlier. His list of inventions and inventors is extensive, but it is not comprehensive.

In his Mechanica, Heron explores the principles of motion, as well as the calculation of the center of gravity of simple shapes. His Pneumatica, which may have been derived from works by Philo of Byzantium, is a great example of engineering. In addition to mechanical devices, Heron described machines and a variety of other problems. Interestingly, his book is the only known Arabic translation.

Heron of Alexandria was a Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, and scientist who lived during the first century AD. His work exemplifies the science and inventions of the Hellenistic era. Some of his inventions include aeolipiles and steam turbines. In addition to his inventions, Heron is also known as the first person to write a detailed description of a steam turbine and aeolipile.

Zworykin’s invention

The invention of the television was the brainchild of a Russian-American inventor and engineer. Zworykin devised a system to transmit and receive pictures from an antenna, which he called a cathode ray tube. Since then, television has become an indispensable part of our daily lives. Although many people are still unfamiliar with Zworykin, his invention is now widely known throughout the world.

In 1912, Zworykin earned a degree in electrical engineering at the St. Petersburg Institute of Technology. He also received a doctorate in physics from the University of Pittsburgh. Persecution and political repression in his native Russia led him to immigrate to the United States. He landed in America in 1920, three years after the Russian Revolution. He joined the staff of the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company in Pittsburgh, and by 1930 was serving as the head of the company’s electronics research lab.

After earning his doctorate in electrical engineering, Zworykin worked for Westinghouse, where he studied photoelectric cells, which change electrical properties when exposed to light. He later wrote his doctoral dissertation on photoelectric cells at the University of Pittsburgh. In 1923, Zworykin filed a patent for his invention, the iconoscope. This electronic system was more accurate than the mechanical systems and required far less light.

Hedy Lamarr’s invention

Hedy Lamarr was a Viennese-born actress and inventor. Her career was centered on glamorous films. Lamarr married an Austrian arms dealer, Fritz Mandl. While working as an actress, she used her knowledge of munitions to help the US Navy’s war effort during WWII. One of her inventions, The Secret Communication System, made it possible for torpedoes to be more accurate. The technology she developed later became common in cell phones, GPS, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi.

As a child, Lamarr loved reading children the poem “The Paradoxical Commandments” by Kent M. Keith. In it, Lamarr explains that there are people who follow only the top dogs, while the underdogs need help. Sometimes, those who offer help are attacked. And, when we try to give our best, it can turn out to be a bad experience. Despite the controversy over her invention, she remained dedicated to her passion for helping others.

While her name may sound romantic, many Americans would never know this fact. Despite being one of the most significant inventions of World War II, Lamarr never received compensation for it. In fact, the inventor never received even a cent from the United States government. But her work has been used in everyday life for decades, from cell phones and Bluetooth devices to GPS and wi-fi. And she did not get any credit for her work until 1997. Her invention is valued at $30 billion today.