-
First Refracting Telescope - Hans Lippershay
In 1608, Hans Lippershey invented the first telescope that worked by using refraction. He was not the first person to assemble one, but is credited with making the device widely known. It worked by using an objective lens to focus the view into the eyepiece. The telescope was introduced to astronomy in 1609, when Galileo used it to observe the moons of Jupiter and Earth, and the rings of Saturn. -
First Adding Machine - Blaise Pascal
Blaise Pascal invented the first adding machine in 1642. He both designed and built the machine. It was designed to do addition and subtraction, but it couldn't do multiplication or calculate quotients. Pascal built the device for his father, who was a tax collector. It worked mechanically, not electrically. Most devices today work through the use of electricity. -
Barometer - Evangelista Torricelli
Evangelista Torricelli was a scientist who lived and studied with Galileo. In 1644, Torricelli decided to prove the existence of a vacuum. He filled a glass tube with mercury, and inverted the tube over a dish of the same. This caused a vacuum to form. Not only did Torricelli prove the existence of the vacuum, he found that the mercury level varied based on the outside air pressure. This instrument became the barometer. It is used to measure the current air pressure and predict the weather. -
Air Pump - Otto van Guericke
Otto van Guericke invented the air pump to create a partial vacuum to assist with his experiments on combustion and respiration. He discovered that light can travel through a vacuum, while sound cannot. In 1654, in a famous series of experiments, he demonstrated the power of air pressure. He used an air pump to create a vacuum between two bowls, and sealed them together. They were then used to lift weights. -
Pendulum Clock
The pendulum clock, invented in 1656 by Christian Huygens, paved the way for accurate timepieces. It decreased the time loss per day from 15 minutes to 15 seconds. Pendulums display isosynchronic behaviour. This means that the time of the swing is similar between different sized swings. Huygens revised the design after invention to use smaller swings, after finding that larger ones were inaccurate. The concept of using a pendulum timed to one second per swing became the grandfather clock. -
First Reflecting Telescope
The first reflecting telescope, also known as the Gregorian Telescope, was invented in 1663. It worked by focusing the light recieved onto a secondary mirror, which focuses the light onto the viewer. The design of this telescope is rarely used today; however, it is used in some labs and high-end labratory observatories. For example, Arecibo telescope in Puerto Rico and Green Bank in West Virginia both use Gregorian optics. -
Newtonian Reflecting Telescope
This version of the reflecting telescope was invented in 1668 by Issac Newton. It came after Gregory’s design and wasn’t made to observe the sky. It was a proof of concept of the improvements Newton made to Gregory’s design. This telescope needed still needed further revision, and didn’t become popular until those revisions were made. Modern-day revisions of Newton’s reflecting design are called Newtonian reflectors. -
Step Reckoner
Gottfried Willhelm Leibniz’s calculating machine was an improvment to Pascal’s. It was called the Step Reckoner and expanded on Pascal’s ideas. It was able to do multiplication by repeated addition. Although Leibniz was a huge advocate for the binary system, the Step Reckoner used the decimal system. -
Pressure Cooker
In 1679, Denis Papin invented a new method of cooking food; with pressure. He worked for Robert Boyle, an Irish chemist and physicist. He performed his own experiments with pressure and heat. Papin found that water under pressure has a higher boiling point, so food cooked faster. He made a vessel to cook food in and pressurized it, making the first pressure cooker. -
First Steam Pump
Thomas Savery developed the first steam pump in 1698 using Papin’s previous work with pressure. It was made to pump water out of mines and into buildings. It worked using steam pressure and vacuums. However, Savery’s pump had a few weaknesses, most notably its tendency to explode during usage, thanks the the high 8 to 10 ATM pressures in the vessels. When Thomas Newcomen designed his atmospheric pressure engine, Savery joined him in its development. -
Alcohol Thermometer
The alcohol thermometer was not the first thermometer. There were devices called thermoscopes, but they were wildly inaccurate. Fahrenheit’s thermometer was the first accurate device. However, it lacked a scale. Fahrenheit developed a scale, the Fahrenheit scale in 1724 and added it to his thermometer. -
Piano(gravicembalo col piano e forte)
The piano was invented in 1709 by Bartolomeo Cristofori, an Italian harpichord maker. The gravicembalo col piano e forte, literally “harpsichord that plays soft and loud” replaced the plucking mechanisms of the harpsichord with hammers that hit the strings. This was a precursor to the modern piano, which has a louder sound and thicker strings. -
Tuning Fork
The tuning fork, invented by John Shore in 1711, provided a consistent means of determining pitch. Before its invention, musicians relied on wooden pitch pipes, which were unreliable as the pitch varied with the temperature and humidity. The tuning fork was able to hold its pitch even in different conditions. It was instrumental in setting international standards in pitch, so that wherever you went, A = 440 sounds the same every time. It also creates the sound in some instruments. -
Mercury Thermometer
The mercury thermometer came after the alcohol thermometer, and was also invented by Fahrenheit in 1714. It also lacked a scale, and the Fahrenheit scale was eventually added to these thermometers as well. -
Leyden Jar
The Leyden Jar’s invention is usually credited to Pieter van Musschenbroek. However, in 1745, E.G. Von Kleist invented a version of the jar that preceded Musschenbroek’s. It was invented by accident when Kleist touched a generator to a nail stuck in a bottle through a cork. It gave anyone a shock who touched the nail. It was the first example of a capacitor. -
Lightning Rod
The lightning rod was invented in 1752 by Benjamin Franklin. He was able to prove that lightning was electricity with his famous “key/kite” experiment. Franklin claimed that his pointed tip lightning rods performed better than Europe’s blunt tipped counterparts. Not only did Franklin contribute to lightning safety, the fact that the colonists decided to adopt Franklin’s model rather than Britain’s was further fuel to the Revolution. Lightning Rod after being struck by lightning.
(Below) -
Marine Chronometer - H1
The marine chronometer, invented by John Harrison in 1761, solved the problem of accurate timekeeping at sea. He made 5 prototypes, each numbered H1 through H5. The H1 worked by using counterbalanced springs, instead of gravity. He was funded for H2, but was never fully recognized for his groundbreaking work in timekeeping. -
Carbonated Water
Joseph Priestley was the first person to create artificially carbonated water. In 1767, he placed a vessel over fermentation vats, which gave off CO2. This success led to a paper entitled Impregnating Water with Fixed Air. It described a method that involved mixing sulfuric acid with calcium carbonate, releasing the CO2 into an agitated water. After publication, Johann Jacob Schweppe simplified the process and set up mass production under the Schweppes brand, which still exists today. -
First Flushable Toilet
In 1775, Alexander Cummings was granted a patent for the first flushable toilet. His design was based on John Harrington’s, but added new innovations such as the s-bend. Fittingly, a man with the unfortunate name of Thomas Crapper(yes, that was his name) manufactured the first toilets. -
Hot-air Balloon
In 1783, the Montgolfier brothers, Joseph-Michel and Jacques-Étienne, began experimentation with heated air. The first flight was unmanned and flew about a mile. The second flight had animals aboard and was witnessed by King Louis XVI. It flew about 2 miles. The first manned flight was on Oct. 15, 1783. Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier flew in a balloon tethered to the ground. A month later, on Nov. 21, Pilâtre de Rozier and the Marquis d’Arlandes made the first free flying ascent. -
Bifocals
Benjamin Franklin also invented the bifocals. He was both myopic and hyperopic, which meant he had to switch between two different pairs of glasses. Franklin had the lenses from the two pairs cut horizontally and put back in the frame - with close vision on the bottom and far on the top. He called them ‘double spectacles’. -
First Patent Issued - US
On July 31, 1790, Samuel Hopkins was granted the first patent in the US. It was signed by George Washington, and described a process to make potash, a fertilizer ingredient. It’s number was #X000001.
http://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?Docid=X0000001&idkey=NONE&homeurl=http%3A%252F%252Fpatft.uspto.gov%252Fnetahtml%252FPTO%252Fpatimg.htm -
Gas Turbine
The first gas turbine was built by John Barber in 1791. The turbine obtained gas through the burning of combustibles such as paper and wood. The gas was then mixed with air and cooled, then ignited in a piston with water. The resulting steam was powerful enough to turn the shaft. Many of Barber’s inventions failed, not because of bad design, but lack of building materials. -
Gas Lighing
In 1792, William Murdoch began experimenting with gas for lighting. By 1794, he started producing coal gas and igniting it to produce light. His own house was the first building to be lit by gas lighting. In 1798, he partially lit the watt factory by gas and fully lit a cotton mill with over 900 lights. Murdoch never patented his invention, and so many other profited from his designs. -
Ball Bearings
In 1794, Philip Vaughan patented the modern version of the ball bearing. It was designed for use in carriage axles. These bearings are in everything, from cars to 3D printers. Later, in 1869, Jules Suriray, a bicycle mechanic, received the first French patent for ball bearings. -
Cotton Gin
In 1794, Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin. It was a machine that cleaned cotton of its seeds. The slowest part in the production of cotton before Whitney’s invention was cleaning the cotton of its seeds, which had to be done by hand. The cotton gin was an example of an invention called forth by immediate demand. It worked by dragging the cotton through sets of wire teeth. -
Smallpox Vaccine
Edward Jenner saved the lives of millions with his invention, a vaccination for smallpox. The most successful way before Jenner was inoculation, where the doctor purposefully infects the patient with smallpox. However, inoculation had its risks. He saw that dairymaids who contracted cowpox were immune to smallpox. He inoculated an 8 year old boy with cowpox. Two months later, he tried infecting the boy with smallpox. He showed no symptoms. This was the first vaccine. -
-
Jacquard Loom
The Jacquard Loom, invented in 1804 by Joseph-Marie Jacquard, improved on the design of Jacques de Vaucanson’s loom. It was an automated loom which use a punched card system to control its actions. The same system would later be used by Charles Babbage to control his Difference and Analytical engine. -
Arc Lamp
Humphrey Davy invented the arc lamp in 1807. He constructed the first one by using a 2000 cell battery to create a 4-inch arc across two charcoal sticks. The arc lamp works by applying high voltage across two electrodes, usually carbon or magnesium. When electricity jumps between the two, it creates light. Widespread use of this kind of light was not viable until generator’s became available in the 1870’s. -
Tin Can
During the war, Napoleon Bonaparte slated a reward for anyone who could invent a method to preserve food for his army. Nicolas Appert came up the idea of preserving food in sealed vessels. In 1810, Peter Durand was granted a patent for the idea of preserving food in tin-coated cans. Later, in 1818, he introduced the can to America. -
Electromagnet
In 1825, William Sturgeon invented the electromagnet. It came 5 years after the discovery that electricity produces magnetic fields. The first experiment was a iron horseshoe with wires wrapped around it, and it demonstrated that the stronger the electric current, the stronger the magnetic field. Joseph Henry made a much stronger version of the electromagnet and demonstrated its ability to send signals. Sturgeon went on to invent the commutator, an integral part of electric motors. -
First Photograph
The earliest known surviving photograph was taken between 1826 and 1827. It was taken by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce, and depicts a view out his window. Heliography, a term coined by Niépce, was used to capture the photo. It was taken on a pewter plate. -
Friction Matches
In 1827, John Walker invented friction matches. He experimented with different chemicals and discovers a paste that burst into flame when scraped. He sold the paste on sticks of cardboard, and later on wooden splints. After Walker died, Newton took on his business and is sometimes incorrectly credited with Walker’s invention. -
Typographer
Although W.A. Burt is more well-known for his work in surveying, he also invented the typographer. It was the first typing tool in America. The typographer was way too far ahead of its time and never took off, but the modern typewriter shares roots with Burt’s typographer.
