Top 10: Most prolific inventors
Truth be told, most guys can have a single great idea. But what
separates great thinkers from the rest of us mere mortals is a single
great mind that springs many great ideas. "Impossible," you say? Well,
take a look at these top 10 inventors.
You may have heard of these guys, but you probably don't know just how
much they contributed to humanity.
Each man on this list is truly worthy of the title "inventor" because
their work either directly resulted in a number of important technological
leaps or their ideas allowed thousands of other scientists to bring us
into modern times with a bang. In short, these men are the scientific
giants on whose shoulders we stand.
Number 10
Thomas Edison
Most famous invention: Light bulb
No other invention represents innovation more than the light bulb. In
fact, Edison's invention had such a profound effect on the world that it
has ironically become the symbol of any great idea.
It's easy to focus on the light bulb when we think of Edison (a design
that he actually improved and made feasible), but his real insight came
with the power to make the light bulb work. In 1882, Edison gave the world
its first power distribution company, sending electricity to 59 customers
in lower Manhattan. Backed by the likes of JP Morgan and the Vanderbilts,
Edison also used his knowledge to give the world an early version of the
stock ticker.
Cool fact: It's a good thing that Edison didn't put his knowledge to
work in the field of human science; for the last years of his life he
followed a popular fad diet that required him to drink nothing but a pint
of milk every three hours.
Number 9
Johannes Gutenberg
Most famous invention: Modern printing press
Johannes Gutenberg put all the pieces together when he made a viable
printing press that used moveable type -- an idea that might seem small
until you consider the fact that his press probably launched the
information revolution.
While nobody knows who wrote the Bible, we do know its publisher:
Gutenberg. In truth, the Chinese had been using moveable type for
centuries, but Gutenberg was the first to print his type in books, not
silk.
That innovation made knowledge accessible to a wider class of people
and gave birth to the Age of Enlightenment. As an innovator, Gutenberg was
top notch, but as a businessman, he was a bust. His printing press changed
the world, but failed to make him a profit and he lost the rights to his
invention in a lawsuit against his financier.
Cool fact: In debt and battling alcoholism, Gutenberg spent the later
years of his life working for the Archbishop of Mainz, who paid him in
food and lodging to curb his drinking habit.
Number 8
James Watt
Most famous invention: Improved steam engine
We don't think of steam as an energy source today, but back in the
early days of the Industrial Revolution, steam was where it was at, and
James Watt contributed big time with an improved working steam engine that
powered the world forward.
James Watt didn't invent the steam engine, but he did make it work. In
fact, his innovation helped turn the world from mostly agrarian to mostly
industrial. Fitting of a man who contributed so much to power and engines,
Watt did manage to take credit for inventing the rotary engine and a
device known as the flyball, which regulates the speed of an engine
automatically.
Cool fact: The electrical unit of measurement -- the Watt -- is named
in of honor James Watt, who many consider to be the greatest engineer of
all time.
Number 7
Benjamin Franklin
Most famous invention: Bifo cals
We all know that reading is fundamental, but seeing is a prerequisite
to reading -- thanks to Benjamin Franklin and the bifocal even guys with
less than 20/20 vision can browse the pages of AskMen.com.
In between writing Poor Richards Almanac, helping get America
recognized by France (and thus turning the tide in the American
Revolution) and being an all-around ladies' man, Benjamin Franklin made
some pretty important contributions to science. Most of us probably
remember drawings of him flying a kite in a storm from our social studies
classes. That experiment taught Franklin a lot about electricity and gave
us the lightening rod.
Cool fact: Inventor and stud aren't often used to describe the same
guy. But with Benjamin Franklin, you need to make an exception; he was the
ultimate ladies' man of his time and his popularity with the French women
certainly helped the American cause.
Number 06
Howard Hughes
Most famous invention: Improved airplane design
Howard Hughes didn't invent the airplane, but he basically wrote the
book on airlines as the father of TWA. That airline is now gone, but air
travel remains thanks to Mr. Hughes.
He introduced a number of design innovations to the airplane. He
redesigned the H-1 Racer to have retractable landing gear and all rivets
and joints to be set flush into the body of the plane to reduce drag.
These enhancements influenced the design of a number of World War II
fighter airplanes.
Oddball is an understatement when it comes to Howard Hughes. Hughes
came from sound inventor's stock. His father, Howard Senior, invented a
drill bit that enabled oil rigs to tap previously inaccessible sources.
Late in his life, he was known as a recluse, but in his heyday he set
out to conquer the worlds of aviation and Hollywood. Whether is was
developing an amphibious plane -- The Spruce Goose -- or dating the likes
of Hollywood starlets like Katharine Hepburn or Bette Davis, Hughes always
did things his own way.
Cool fact: In 1972, Howard Hughes was recruited to provide cover for a
CIA covert operation. The mission, codenamed "Project Jennifer," was to
raise a sunken Soviet submarine off the coast of Hawaii.
Unfortunately, the mission only met with limited success, and a 1975
burglary exposed some of Hughes' secret papers, bringing his involvement
with the CIA to light.
Number 05
Isaac Newton
Most famous invention: Calculus
If you struggled through advanced math courses, you're probably not a
big fan of Sir Isaac Newton, since he's mostly at fault for your problems
-- he invented calculus.
If you study physics today, you still start with the work of Sir Isaac
Newton, whether you're talking about gravity (the apple falling from the
tree -- a story that may or may not be true, but is nevertheless a
powerful illustration), to the principles of light and optics.
Newton was the first to argue that light was composed of particles,
which enabled him to develop his own reflecting telescope (today named
after him). Newton also made contributions by studying the principles of
sound and heat.
Cool fact: It's easy to think of scientists as socially inept lab rats;
Newton was certainly an exception. For nearly two years, Newton worked as
an attorney for the King of England, prosecuting counterfeiters. By the
end of his tenure in the law, Newton had 10 men facing executions for
their crimes.
Number 04
Alexander Bell
Most famous invention: Telephone
"Can you hear me now?" Yes we can because Alexander Graham Bell
invented the telephone. Today there are dozens of phone providers, but the
work of Alexander Graham Bell made the first (and most powerful) phone
company possible -- Bell telephone (aka The Phone Company) But Bell wasn't
just a one-hit wonder; his ideas ranged from air conditioning (he actually
set up a primitive system for use in his home) to the hydrofoil to a
concept whereby information could be stored on magnets (which led to an
innovation Bell never lived to see -- the computer).
Cool Fact: Bell has credit for inventing the world's first metal
detector, a device that he put together to find a bullet lodged in
President James Garfield. The metal detector worked, but it was unable to
locate the bullet because the President was laying on a metal-framed bed
while being examined.
Number 03
Alessandro Volta
Most famous invention: Battery
Volta didn't discovery electricity, but he did have a good idea on how
to make it portable. The Voltaic Pile was the forerunner to the modern
electric battery.
Alessandro Volta was occupied with all things electric. Early in his
career, he invented the electrophorus (a single-plate capacitor that
produced an electric charge). A year later, he turned his attention to
experiments on igniting gases in closed vessels to produce energy.
In the process Volta discovered methane, a gas commonly used today to
heat homes. But it was the Voltaic Pile the really put Volta on the map.
Quite literally, it was a pile of alternating zinc and copper discs with
pieces of salt water soaked cloth in between to increase conductivity. The
crude battery showed the world how to generate an electric charge out of a
metal/chemical combination.
Cool fact: To honor this great Italian inventor, Napoleon Bonaparte
made him a Count in 1810. But the honors didn't stop there. In 1881, the
volt (an electronic unit) was named after him.
Number 02
Nikola Tesla
Most famous invention: Radio
Although he didn't get credit for it while he was alive, the Supreme
Court eventually upheld his patent application and recognized Nikola
Tesla, not Guglielmo Marconi, as the inventor of the radio.
Tesla was about as eccentric as they come. He invented a method of
transmitting electricity known as alternating current, which is still in
use today, but his main focus was on the theoretical applications of
electricity (many of which are still sadly on the drawing board).
Tesla, who often made his own equipment (notably the Tesla coil, which
helped to concentrate electricity), worked on a range of ideas from X-rays
to an earthquake machine.
Cool fact: Near the end of his life, Tesla was working on a death ray.
While that notion might sound like the work of science fiction, the FBI
certainly didn't find it entertaining, and J. Edgar Hoover ordered Tesla's
papers seized and declared "top secret."
Number 01
Leonardo da Vinci
Most famous invention: Calculator
When you're talking about Leonardo da Vinci and inventions, the best
question is: What didn't he invent? His journals illustrate workable
designs for so many things, but the most noteworthy of all has to be a
calculator -- imagine where science would be without the ability to
perform simple and complex mathematics.
Leonardo da Vinci was the prototypical Renaissance man. He could paint
(the Mona Lisa), he could sculpt and he could invent. His notebooks, which
continue to fascinate the world to this day, have outlines and sketches of
everything from the human body to a helicopter to a tank.
Cool fact: da Vinci's famous notebooks comprise over 13,000 pages and
continue to influence science to this day. In 2005, a British surgeon used
da Vinci's designs to repair damaged hearts, an amazing feat in it's own
right, but truly awesome when you realize that da Vinci had no concept of
how the body's circulatory system worked.
Master of inventions
It's hard to sum up these inventors in broad strokes. After all, as
certified geniuses, their impact is still being felt today. But that's
what it means to be prolific. What set these great thinkers apart was
their ability to dream in ways that had yet to be imagined.
While it's easy to sit in awe of their work, there's one lesson that
each of them can teach us: Never be afraid to think outside the box. It
might sound like a cliche, but that's exactly what these guys did (before
the phrase was invented).
Remember, before they were famous inventors, many of them had
reputations as rebels. Of course, being an outsider is often where the
inspiration for great ideas comes from.
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