Man-Made Marvels
By DANIEL S. LEVY
TOP FIVE INVENTORS
1,093 PATENTS Thomas Alva Edison Light bulb, phonograph, motion picture, mimeograph, pneumatic stencil pen
925 PATENTS Melvin De Groote Method to separate crude oil from water, process that adheres chocolate to vanilla ice cream
894 PATENTS Francis H. Richards Golf-ball-molding machine, air-cushion door spring, high-speed envelope machine
696 PATENTS Elihu Thomson Electrically operated pipe organ, cream separator, electric welding
554 PATENTS Jerome Lemelson Bar-code reader, computer-controlled tourniquet, audiocassette-drive mechanism, magnetic-recording system
COMPANIES WITH MOST PATENTS IN 20th CENTURY
General Electric 50,837 --Electric fan (1902) --X-ray tube (1913) --First U.S. jet engine (1941) --Solid-state laser (1962) --Computed tomography, a.k.a. CT scanner (1970)
IBM 32,498 --Integrated tabulator (1903) --Scanning tunneling microscope (1981) --Deep Blue parallel computing system (1995)
Westinghouse Electric 28,005 --Full kitchen range (1917) --Commercial nuclear power plant (1957) --Camera on the moon (1969)
AT&T 24,578 --Coaxial cable (1929) --Quartz clock (1930) --Transistor (1947) --Solar cell (1954) --Laser (1958) --Touch-Tone service (1963)
General Motors 23,948 --Electric self-starter (1912) --Diesel-powered train (1934) --Automatic transmission (1940) --Catalytic converter (1975)
EVOLUTION OF A WELL-KNOWN INVENTION Everyday objects seldom spring fully formed into the world. They evolve, sometimes slowly, over centuries. Take the timepiece...
HOURGLASS > SUNDIAL > VILLAGE CLOCK > POCKET WATCH > PENDULUM CLOCK > ALARM CLOCK > WRISTWATCH > DIGITAL WATCH
CONTROVERSIES Who Gets Credit?
THE TELEGRAPH Was It Morse or Cooke and Wheatstone?
It was all three. Numerous inventors often work on the same idea at the same time, and different nations therefore claim credit for being first. In 1837, Britain's Charles Wheatstone and William Cooke patented a five-needle telegraph. That same year, the American Samuel F.B. Morse created a telegraph that used a single key to transmit signals. Soon afterward he developed Morse code, a telegraph language made up of dots and dashes that became the standard.
THE TELEPHONE Was It Bell, Gray, Reis or Meucci?
In 1856, Italian Antonio Meucci set up the world's first phone line, on Staten Island, N.Y. But he never marketed his idea. A few years later the German Johann Philipp Reis made a device he dubbed a telephone, over which he transmitted music. Alexander Graham Bell knew of Reis' experiments, and by 1876 had created the modern phone. A few hours after Bell filed his patent papers, Elisha Gray submitted an application for his own phone. Since Bell was first to apply, he reaped the glory.
CELEBRITY INVENTORS QUIZ
MATCH UP INVENTION IN COLUMN A WITH INVENTOR IN COLUMN B
1 AN "IMPROVEMENT IN ADJUSTABLE AND DETACHABLE" ELASTIC STRAPS FOR GARMENTS
2 HE TOOK A MIDNIGHT RIDE AND BUILT THE FIRST COLD-ROLLING COPPER MILL
3 A DRESSER-TRUNK MADE FOR THOSE LIKE HER WHO SPEND THEIR LIFE ON THE ROAD
4 A DEEP-SEA SUIT THAT ALLOWS A DIVER IN DANGER TO ESCAPE THE OUTFIT AND SWIM TO THE SURFACE. ANOTHER FEATURE OF THE INVENTION PREVENTS THE DIVER FROM BEING CRUSHED IF THE AIR PRESSURE FAILS
5 PONTOON-LIKE CHAMBERS TO GIVE STEAMBOATS ADDED BUOYANCY OVER SHOALS. GREAT FOR RUNNING CONFEDERATE BLOCKADES
6 A STYLISH CIGAR HOLDER TO FREE ONE'S HANDS AND AVOID HANDLING THE CIGAR
7 A MOLDBOARD PLOW, A REVOLVING CHAIR, A CIPHER FOR CODING MESSAGES AND A NATION
8 A TWO-FACED WRISTWATCH FOR CARDIAC PATIENTS, ONE DIAL DRIVEN BY THE WEARER'S PULSE, THE OTHER KEEPING A CONSTANT PACE SO WEARERS CAN GAUGE THEIR HEART RATE
9 A DEVICE TO PREVENT RADIO-CONTROLLED TORPEDOES FROM HAVING THEIR SIGNALS JAMMED. WHAT A PATRIOT!
10 A DISPOSABLE, MULTIPURPOSE INFANT GARMENT: INCLUDES A DIAPER, A POCKET AND HANDY DISPOSABLE CLEAN-UP WIPES
A Edie Adams B Jamie Lee Curtis C Harry Houdini D Thomas Jefferson E Hedy Lamarr F Abraham Lincoln G Zeppo Marx H Paul Revere I Lillian Russell J Mark Twain
ANSWERS: 1 J, 2 H, 3 I, 4 C, 5 F, 6 A, 7 D, 8 G, 9 E, 10 B
Building a Better Mousetrap
Did you know that...
--THE MOUSETRAP IS THE MOST PATENTED DEVICE IN U.S. HISTORY --THE WORLD'S LARGEST MANUFACTURER OF MOUSETRAPS IS WOODSTREAM CORP. IN LITITZ, PA.
1876 DANIEL CONNER, ALONG WITH OTHERS, PATENTED A TRAP CALLED THE CLAWS. UNLUCKY RODENTS WERE ENTICED TO JUMP UP AND SNATCH A MORSEL OVERHEAD. THOSE WHO DID WERE SUMMARILY DISPATCHED
1876 J.H. NORRIS AND L.B. BROWN BUILT A TRAP THAT CORRALLED MANY MICE INTO A SINGLE BOX
1879 CORNELIUS HENRY RECEIVED A PATENT FOR THE "COMBINED MOUSE-TRAP AND BOX OF PAPER COLLARS AND LIKE ARTICLES"
1899 THE SIMPLE SNAP TRAP WAS MADE BY JOHN MAST OF LITITZ, PA., AND IS STILL PRODUCED BY WOODSTREAM. IT IS CALLED THE VICTOR
1911 A.A. LOW AND HIS PARTNERS MADE THE ELECTROCUTING TRAP
1980S GLUE TRAPS WERE INTRODUCED
2000 THE HOUSE CAT IN THE END, KITTY STILL DOES IT BEST
EPONYMOUS INVENTIONS
Zamboni Frank Zamboni
Gore-tex Wilbert Gore
Braille Louis Braille
Jacuzzi Roy Jacuzzi
Colt Revolver Samuel Colt
Tupperware Earl Tupper
Diesel Rudolf Diesel
Phillips Screw Henry Phillips
Gatling Gun Richard Gatling
Remington Rifle Eliphalet Remington
Yale Lock Linus Yale