Final

Project
“Creating my own Gadget”
Presented by:
Valeria Pérez Castelblanco
Grade: 7-A
School of the Holy Angel
Teacher: Pedro Alejo Galindo
Castro
Bogotá D.C
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 t
inve
ntor
 s in
histo
ry
 A. Profiles of the greatest
inventors in history

Leonardo Da
Vinci
Many will doubtlessly be surprised
that one of the greatest minds of the
Renaissance has fallen all the way to
number ten, Many will doubtlessly be
surprised that one of the greatest but
that’s not an indictment of him, but of
the times he lived in. The problem
was that his ideas were so far ahead
of the technology of his age that
almost none of his ideas could be
realized; as such, technically he
didn’t really “invent” anything at all.
He was more of a futurist who
imagined various innovations rather than a person who possessed the
mechanical aptitude to build things with his own hands. Additionally, his
interests were so varied that he didn’t get very far in developing any single
idea beyond drawing a few sketches or describing his ideas in very general
terms. Further, while he came up with futuristic things like gliders and tanks
and submarines, he didn’t envision any truly remarkable inventions such as
electricity, the telephone, photography, or
even sliced bread. A great mind, no doubt,
and had he the focus to concentrate on any
single idea long enough to bring it into reality,
he might well have proven to have been one
of the greatest inventors in history. For now,
however, I’m afraid the best he can do is finish
out the top ten.

Edwin Land
Connecticut physicist and inventor Edwin Land didn’t invent
photography, of course, but he invented or perfected almost everything
else having to do with it.  While a freshman at Harvard University in
1926, he developed a new kind of polarizer by aligning and embedding
crystals in a plastic sheet, which he called Polaroid. Later, joined by
other young scientists, he applied the polarizing principle to light filters,
optical devices, and motion picture processes and founded the Polaroid
Corporation in the process. Holder of
no fewer than 535 U.S. Patents, Land
is probably best known for
developing the first self-developing
camera, making it possible to
embarrass your friends on the spot
rather than having to wait for the film
to come back from the drug store
before humiliating them.

Benjamin Franklin
Seriously? Ben Franklin? Absolutely! Not many people know that among
his many skills (Franklin was a noted polymath, an author and printer, a
satirist, a political theorist, a politician, postmaster, scientist, civic
activist, statesman, and diplomat) he was a prodigious inventor. Among
his many creations were the lightning rod—a device which saved
countless homes and lives from lightning induced fires, the glass
armonica (a glass instrument, not to be confused with the metal
harmonica), the Franklin stove, bifocal glasses, a carriage odometer and
even the flexible urinary catheter (ouch). Franklin never patented any of
his inventions, however, believing that innovations should be shared
freely with others, which is why he is often overlooked for his creative
talents. Writing in his autobiography, he said, “… as we enjoy great
advantages from the inventions of others, we should be glad of an
opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours; and this we should
do freely and generously.” In my book, that makes Ben a top ten
candidate.
Hero of Alexandria
If only the man had realized what he had
with his invention, the Aeolipile—a primordial
steam engine capable of making a metal ball
spin—the industrial revolution might have
started in 50 CE instead of 1750 CE! Alas, he
thought it merely a toy and besides, with
slaves around to do all the menial labor,
what did you need steam engines for? Of
course, Hero—probably one of the finest
minds in the Roman Empire—also developed
other useful items, including a force pump ,
the first syringe, a fountain capable of operating off
hydrostatic electricity, a windmill operated organ, and even
the first coin operated vending machine—all during a pre-
industrial age—making him something of an early Thomas
Edison. Too bad he didn’t take his inventions a little more
seriously or develop them further; if he had, we might live in a
very different world today.

Jerome “Jerry” Hal Lemelson

What, you’ve never heard of
Jerome Lemelson? Well, you have
now, for he was one of the most
prolific inventors in history, with
605 patents to his credit. What
did he invent? Things like
automated warehouses, industrial
robots, cordless telephones, fax
machines, videocassette
recorders, camcorders and the
magnetic tape drive used in
Sony’s Walkman tape players.
Lemelson also filed patents in the
fields of medical instrumentation,
cancer detection and
treatment, diamond coating technologies, and consumer
electronics and television. He was probably best known,
however, as a tireless advocate for the rights of independent
inventors, which made him a controversial and even much
loathed figure by patent attorneys and some of the larger
companies whose noses he tweaked, but a champion of the
independent inventor’s community.

George Westinghouse
Though it was Edison that got most of the credit, it’s hard to argue that
in many ways Westinghouse’s contributions were almost as great as
Edison’s. Certainly it was his electrical system, which used alternating
current based (a result of the work of Nikola Tesla, by the way), that
ultimately prevailed over Edison’s insistence on direct current and paved
the way for the modern power grid. But Westinghouse wasn’t a one-hit
wonder; before he bested Edison with his AC power system, he invented
the railway air brake, which did much to
improve the safety of the American railway
system. Like Edison, he also had an
experimental streak which induced him play
around with a perpetual motion machine. It
didn’t quite work, of course (largely due to the
fact that such a machine would violate
the laws of physics) but you couldn’t blame
him for trying. In any case, a prolific inventor
and engineer with 361 patents to his credit,
Westinghouse easily rounds out the top five
candidates.
Alexander Graham Bell
You don’t often see the inventor of the
telephone finish this high on such a list, but
when one looks at the accomplishments the
man was responsible for during his seventy
five years on earth, it seems impossible not to
include him in the top five. Though most
famous for the telephone (which came about
as a result of his early work with the deaf) not
many people know he also invented devices
that did everything from locate icebergs and 
detect minor hearing problems (an
audiometer) to finding hidden treasure (he
invented the modern metal detector). He even tried his hand at
eugenics, built hydrofoils and worked on early airplanes, demonstrating
quite a range of interests. And that copy of National Geographic
Magazine you’ve been meaning to get around to one of these days?
Thank Mister Bell for that as well, for he was one of the founding
members of the National Geographic Foundation way back in 1888.
Quite a résumé by any standard, if you ask me.

Thomas Edison
What? The most prolific inventor in modern
history, with over a thousand patents to his
credit, not number one? The inventor of the
light bulb, the phonograph, the motion
picture camera and the man who electrified
New York City—literally—not top dog?
Impossible! Actually, while Edison was a
gifted man, many of his better known
inventions were developed by others
working for him or in collaboration with an
entire design team, making him responsible for their development rather
than their chief inventor. He also had a nasty tendency to renege on
contracts and claim credit for
other people’s work, but then
nobody is perfect. However, even
if he wasn’t personally responsible
for everything that came out of
his shop at Menlo Park and was at
time integrity challenged, he was
the master of R & D and oversaw
the creation and production of
many of the great inventions of
the nineteenth century, earning
him, if not the number one spot,
at least a top five showing.

Nikola Tesla
Though largely unknown during his lifetime and a man who died in
relative obscurity (and as something of a reclusive mad scientist at
that), the brilliant Serb—who is enjoying a resurgence in popularity lately
—was probably more responsible for the birth of commercial electricity
than any man in history.  While Tesla’s patents and theoretical work
formed the basis of modern alternating current (AC) electric power
systems, including the polyphase system of electrical distribution and
the AC motor which helped usher in the Second Industrial Revolution, he
is probably best known for his work in the field of electromagnetism. He
also contributed in varying degrees to the science of robotics, laid the
foundation for the development of remote control, radar, and computer
science, and even helped in the expansion of ballistics, nuclear physics,
and theoretical physics. Some people also believe he developed anti-
gravity, teleportation, and even death rays, but that’s a bit more difficult
to substantiate. In any case, with 111 patents to his credit, he was
genuinely one of the finest and most innovative minds in history whose
recognition has been long in coming.

 
Archimedes of Syracuse
How did this ancient Greek scholar come out at number one? Well, first,
he did happen to be one of the greatest mathematicians of all time who
came close to precisely calculating the value of pi, figured out how to
determine the area under the arc of a parabola, and thought up lots of
other stuff that brings nightmares to generations of high school math
students on a daily basis. Oh, and he also invented a bunch of cool
machines, including siege weapons and possibly even a device that may
have been capable of setting Roman ships on fire by using mirrors to
focus sunlight onto their sails. So how does that make him deserving of
the top spot? Because he did all of this more than 2,000 years ago, and
without the aid of computers or the benefit of the technologies available
to many inventors today.  Additionally, though he may have studied at
the libraries at Alexandria (though this is not confirmed) he acquired
much of this knowledge the old fashioned way—by thinking it up himself.
Considering the times and the obstacles he faced in doing this, he gets
my vote for being the greatest inventor of all time.
 2.
Great
inven
tions
in
histor
y
A. Explain the importance of these
inventions in your life and your daily
routine.