Winner of the 2002 IEEE-USAB Award for Distinguished Literary Contributions Furthering Engineering Professionalism. and Winner in the category of Science in the 2002 Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPYs) presented by Independent Publisher Magazine. Inventing Modern America profiles thirty-five inventors who exemplify the rich technological creativity of the United States over the past century. The range of their contributions is broad. They have helped transform our homes, our healthcare, our work, our environment, and the way we travel and communicate. The inventors profiled include such well-known figures as George Washington Carver, Henry Ford, and Steve Wozniak, as well as unsung technological pioneers such as Stephanie Kwolek, inventor of Kevlar, and Wilson Greatbatch, inventor of the first implantable cardiac pacemaker. Inventing Modern America is designed to create excitement about invention through the personal stories of these American scientists, technologists, and researchers. It is accessible enough to engage high school students yet wide-ranging and interesting enough to appeal to anyone who has ever wondered where microwave ovens and traffic lights come from. The book was developed by the Lemelson-MIT Program for Invention and Innovation, whose mission is to inspire a new generation of American scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs.
Author(s): David E. Brown
Edition: 1st
Publisher: The MIT Press
Year: 2001
Language: English
Pages: 222
CONTENTS......Page 7
Foreword......Page 9
Introduction......Page 15
Introduction......Page 17
Raymond Damadian: MRI scanner, magnetic resonance imaging (1977)......Page 19
Thomas Fogarty: balloon embolectomy catheter (1961)......Page 25
Wilson Greatbatch: implantable cardiac pacemaker (1958)......Page 31
Dean Kamen: portable medication technology (1970s)......Page 37
Mary-Claire King: advances in the treatment of breast cancer (1990)......Page 43
Robert Langer: biomedical applications of polymers (1980s)......Page 47
Rosalyn Yalow: RIA, radioimmunoassay (1959)......Page 51
Introduction......Page 57
Leo Baekeland: Bakelite, the first modern plastic (1907)......Page 59
Harold “Doc” Edgerton: stop-action photography (1931)......Page 65
Philo T. Farnsworth: electronic television (1927)......Page 71
Stephanie Kwolek: Kevlar (1964)......Page 75
Jerome Lemelson: apparatus for driving tape in a cartridge (1972)......Page 81
Jacob Rabinow: self-regulating clock (1954)......Page 87
Percy Spencer: microwave oven (1947)......Page 93
Introduction......Page 97
Ole Evinrude: outboard boat motor (1907)......Page 99
Henry Ford: assembly line (1913)......Page 103
Robert Goddard: liquid-fueled rocket (1926)......Page 107
Paul MacCready: human-powered airplane (1977)......Page 113
Garrett Morgan: traffic signal (1923)......Page 119
Elmer Ambrose Sperry: gyrocompass (1911)......Page 125
Introduction......Page 131
George Washington Carver: industrial applications for agricultural products (1910s)......Page 133
Carl Djerassi: nontoxic pest-control products (1960s)......Page 137
Sally Fox: naturally colored cotton (1989)......Page 141
R. Buckminster Fuller: geodesic dome (1950)......Page 147
Ashok Gadgil: ultraviolet water purification system (1993)......Page 153
Stanford Ovshinksy: mass production of photovoltaic cells (1983)......Page 157
John Todd: ecosystems for combating pollution (1984)......Page 161
Introduction......Page 167
Nolan Bushnell: video game (1971)......Page 169
Douglas Engelbart: computer mouse (1968)......Page 175
Al Gross: walkie-talkie (1937)......Page 181
Erna Schneider Hoover: computerized telephone switching system (1965)......Page 185
Grace Murray Hopper: computer compiler (1952)......Page 191
Raymond Kurzweil: optical reading machine for the blind (1976)......Page 195
Carver Mead: very-large-scale integrated circuits (1971)......Page 201
Steve Wozniak: personal computer (1976)......Page 207
Sources and Further Reading......Page 211
C......Page 214
E......Page 215
I......Page 216
N......Page 217
S......Page 218
Z......Page 219
Acknowledgments......Page 220
Photo Credits......Page 221
