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Charles Townshend- 4 Crop Rotation
Though Townshend didn't invent the four-crop rotation, he was the first to popularize the system in England. Using the system, farmers could maximize their yield while maintaining the soil's nutrients. -
James Hargreaves- Spinning Jenny
The spinning jenny was created to meet the increased demands of the weaving industry due to the flying shuttle. The original model allowed a spinner to work 8 spools of yarn at once. Though it was soon rendered obsolete by the water frame, the spinning jenny provided the foundation for the industrialization of the textile industry. -
Richard Arkwright- Water Frame
The water-powered frame improved on the spinning jenny, providing much more power than a worker could. Thus, it produced higher quality yarn much more efficiently and could eventually spin 96 threads simultaneously. -
James Watt- Watt Steam Engine
The first steam engine was invented by Thomas Newcomen in 1712, but it required too much fuel for most applications. Watt improved on his design and added a second condensing cylinder, which doubled the steam engine's efficiency. -
Eli Whitney- Cotton Gin
The cotton gin greatly accelerated the tedious process of separating cotton fibers and seeds. Instead of cleaning the cotton by hand, one gin could process nearly 50 pounds of lint in a day. As a result, the cotton gin became an integral part of the cotton supply chain, reducing costs and increasing productivity. -
Alessandro Volta- Battery
Volta's voltaic pile was instrumental to the development of electronics in the 19th century. Though the battery had little practical application, its insight into conductivity and electromagnetism opened an entirely new field of research. -
Joseph-Marie Jacquard- Jacquard Loom
The Jacquard machine could be attached to a loom to create intricate patterns. Using a punch card system to denote patterns, the Jacquard machine was a predecessor to early computing systems and further contributed to the textile boom. -
George Stephenson- Steam Locomotive Engine
An engineer at a colliery, Stephenson observed a primitive locomotive in another mine. Improving upon the design, he introduced steam blast, which used convection to pull steam vertically and increase the locomotive's efficiency. A decade later, his locomotive became the first effective passenger rail. -
Samuel Morse- Telegraph
The telegraph harnessed Volta's electromagnet to send a signal across a wire between receivers. Using a system of dots and dashes, Morse developed a code system that could represent alphanumeric characters. -
Louis Daguerre- Daguerreotype Process of Photography
Though he didn't invent photography, Louis Daguerre was the first to introduce a commercially viable camera. The process was unreliable and tedious, but Daguerreotype laid the foundations of modern photography. -
Henry Bessemer- Bessemer Process
The Bessemer Process introduced oxygen to molten iron, oxidizing the metal's impurities so they could be removed as slag. This was the first large scale method of steel production and the material soon replaced iron in railroad and building production. -
Alexander Graham Bell- Telephone
The primary shortcoming of Morse's telegraph system was that messages had to be sent one way at a time. Bell's telephone could convert sound to an electromagnetic pulse and back again, allowing two people to talk simultaneously. -
Thomas Edison- Incandescent Light Bulb
The arc lamp, the predecessor to the light bulb, required massive amounts of energy and produced too much light for home use. By testing thousands of filament materials, Edison developed a small bulb that produced soft, warm light that required much less electricity. -
Gottlieb Daimler- Liquid Petroleum Fueled Engine
Daimler built the first motorized vehicle by developing an engine for a motorcycle chassis. It used the first carburetor, which allowed for gasoline's use as a fuel and produced nearly 1 HP. Daimler's engine design would be improved upon in early automobiles. -
Guglielmo Marconi- Wireless Telegraph
Marconi was the first scientist to successfully demonstrate the transmission of radio waves over long distances. This discovery made it possible to send morse signals remotely, even successfully broadcasting across the Atlantic in 1901. Furthermore, the waves Marconi measured are now used to broadcast modern radio, television, etc.
