Invention (DK Eyewitness Books)

Cinema IȯʰʷʱʳȢȯȦȯȨȭȪȴȩȥȰȤȵȰȳ, P. M. Roget, first explained the ROUND AND ROUND phenomenon of “persistence In the late 1870s, Eadweard of vision.” He noticed that if Muybridge designed the you see an object in a series zoopraxiscope for projecting of closely similar positions in a rapid sequence, your eyes tend to moving images on a screen. see a single moving object. It did not take people long to realize The images were a sequence that a moving image could be created with a series of still images, of pictures based on and within 10 years scientists all over the world were developing photographs, painted on a a variety of devices for creating this illusion. Most of these machines glass disk, which rotated to remained little more than novelties or toys, but combined with create a moving picture. improvements in illumination systems for magic lanterns and with developments in photography, they helped the progress of cinema technology. The first successful public showing of moving images created by cinematography was in the 1890s by two French brothers, Auguste and Louis Lumière. They created a combined camera and projector, the Cinématographe, which recorded the pictures on a celluloid strip. Slide holder SILVER SCREEN Lens The Lumières’ system was used for the first regular film shows in Europe. The brothers opened a theater in a café basement in 1895. Lens hood to prevent stray light from reaching lens 0$*,&/,*+76+2:above An early movie-maker at work In a magic lantern, images on a transparent slide are projected onto a screen using a lens and a light source. Early magic lanterns used a candle; later, limelight or carbon arc lamps were used to give more intense illumination. 029,1*3,&785(6 The Lumières were among the first to demonstrate projected moving images. Their Cinématographe worked like a magic lantern but projected images from a continuous strip of film. 50

Light­ proof wooden film magazine STRIP FEATURES above LONG AND WINDING PATH right In the 1880s, Muybridge produced thousands of Movie film must be wound through the camera and sequences of photographs that showed animals projector at between 16 and 24 frames a second. and people in motion. He placed 12 or more Many yards of film are needed for shows lasting cameras side by side and used electromagnetic more than a few minutes. This English camera from shutters that fired at precise split-second 1909 had two 400-ft (120-m) film magazines. Film intervals as the subject moved in front of them. comes out of the first magazine, passes through the gate, and is fed into the lower magazine. Film spools GLORIOUS Prism TECHNICOLOR beamsplitter Color movies became common in the late 1940s. This Technicolor three-strip camera of 1932 has a prism beamsplitter behind the lens which exposes three separate negative films – each one sensitive to red, blue, or green light. The three images were dyed and then combined to make a single full- color print film for projecting. Viewfinder Film-housing door opened to reveal Film revolution counter film-winding system and film gate Film gate 51

Radio Guglielmo marconi, experimenting in his parents’ attic near Bologna, Italy, developed the first radio. Fascinated by the idea of using radio waves to send messages through the air, he created an invention that was to change the world, making wireless communication over long distances possible and transforming the entertainment business. For a transmitter he used an electric spark generator invented by Heinrich Hertz. Radio waves from this transmitter were detected by a “coherer,” the invention of Frenchman Edouard Branly. The coherer turned the radio waves into an electric current. By sending radio signals across the room, Marconi made an electric bell ring. That was in 1894. Within eight years he was sending radio messages 3,000 miles (4,800 km) across the Atlantic. A BRIGHT SPARK above In 1888 Heinrich Hertz, a German physicist, made an electric spark jump between pairs of metal spheres, Glass bulb creating a current in a circuit nearby. Hertz was studying Positive electromagnetic electrode waves, a type of (anode) radiation that Grid includes visible light, radio waves, Filament X-rays, infrared (negative waves, and electrode - ultraviolet light. cathode) HEATING UP CARRIER WAVES Early radio Thermionic valves receivers were not developed into the triode very sensitive. In of 1906, with a third electrode, 1904 Englishman John the grid, between the cathode and Ambrose Fleming first used a anode. Triodes allow telephone diode (a device with two messages and microphone signals to electrodes) as a better detector be amplified. The amplified signals are of radio waves. It was a type of combined with special radio waves known as carrier waves so that they can be electron tube (p. 56). Diodes transmitted over great distances. convert alternating electric IT’S THE CAT’S WHISKERS When radio stations first started broadcasting in the early 1920s, currents into direct ones, listeners tuned in using receivers made up of silicon crystals or lead for use in electric circuits. compounds and thin wires popularly known as cat’s whiskers. The radio signals were weak, so headphones were used. They contain a pair of devices that convert varying electric currents into sound waves to reproduce broadcasts. Electrical ACROSS THE AIRWAVES connections Marconi developed radio as the first to battery practical system of wireless telegraphy, which made possible uninterrupted communication over land and sea.

Cat’s whisker HEAVY SOUNDS Coils Tubes Electron tubes and other radio Crystal components needed direct current. Early radio sets ran off large powerful batteries. The resulting radio receiver was big and heavy. A separate loudspeaker was used with this model. Tuning condenser Tuning dials WHAT THE WHISKER DID Volume control On this type of radio receiver, the crystal detector only worked when the cat’s whisker made a point contact with the crystal. It was often difficult to establish contact, so crystal sets were not easy to use. They were soon superseded by sets using electron tubes. GOOD RECEPTION WORDS AND PICTURES RADIO COMES TO EVERY HOME This early tube In the 1920s, tubes like By the 1920s, many radio transmitters receiver had a this triode not only had been built, and radio was within enabled the first speech reach of many loudspeaker built into to be broadcast from households in the cabinet. England to Australia – by the U.S. and Marconi in 1924 – but also Europe. aided the development of television cameras, transmitters, and receivers. Plug-in base GATHER ROUND This detail from a painting by W. R. Scott shows people gathering around a radio receiver at a Christmas party. In 1922, when this picture was painted, radio was still a new attraction for most people. 53

Inventions in the home WATER CLOSET Scientist Michael Faraday discovered KEEPING COOL The first description of a Electric refrigerators flush toilet or water closet how to generate electricity in 1831. But it was published by John was many years before electricity was used began to appear in Harrington in 1591. But around the home. At first, large houses and the 1920s. They the idea did not catch on factories installed their own generators and revolutionized widely until sewers used electricity for lighting. The electric food storage. installed in major cities. light bulb was first demonstrated in 1879. London’s sewer system, In 1882, the first large electric power station TEA’S ON for example, was not in was built in New York. Gradually, as people In the automatic tea-maker operation until the 1860s. began to realize how appliances could cut of 1902, levers, springs, By this time several and the steam from the improved versions of the down on work in the home, mechanical kettle activate stages in the “W.C.” had been patented. items, such as early vacuum cleaners, were teamaking process. A bell replaced by more efficient electrical versions. is struck to tell you that As the middle classes came to rely less and the tea is ready. less on domestic servants, labor- saving appliances became more popular. Electric motors were applied to food mixers and hair dryers around 1920. Electric kettles, ovens, and heaters, making use of the heating ability of an electric current, had also appeared by this time. Some of these items were very similar in design to those used today. ON THE BOIL The Swan electric kettle of 1921 was the first with a totally immersed heating element. Earlier models had elements in a separate compartment in the bottom of the kettle, which wasted a lot of heat. COOK’S FRIEND Heating Before the 19th century, you had to light a fire to cook food. element By 1879, an electric cooker had been designed in which food was heated by electricity passing through insulated wire wound around the cooking pot. In the 1890s, heating elements were made as iron plates with wires beneath. The modern element, which can be bent into any shape, came into use in the 1920s. 54

Electric EASY MIXING Dowsing motor The 1918 food mixer had bulb GOOD GROOMING two blades driven by an The 1925 electric hair dryer electric motor. A hinge had a simple heater and a small allowed the mixer to be fan. It was made of aluminum turned to a horizontal and had a wooden handle. The position. user had a choice of two heat settings. KEEPING WARM Early electric heaters used the Dowsing bulb. This was like an oversized light bulb, which was coated on the outside and mounted in front of a reflector in an attempt to concentrate the heat given off. Heating ELECTRIC IRON element The first electric iron was heated by an electric arc between carbon rods and was highly dangerous. A safer iron was patented in 1882. It used an electrically heated wire element like the coils on a stove. THE SAD IRON left Bellows The most common form of iron in use from the 18th century until the early 20th century was the sad iron (“sad” meant heavy). These were usedin pairs, with one heating up over the embers of a fire while the other was being used. QUICK COOKING left The pressure cooker was invented by Frenchman Denis Papin in 1679. He called it the “new digester.” Superheated steam at high pressure formed inside the strong container. The high temperature cooked the food in a very short time. CLEANING UP right The mechanical vacuum cleaner of the early 20th century needed two people to operate it. A bellows was worked by a wooden handle, sucking dirt in. William Hoover began to make electric cleaners in 1908. 55

The cathode ray tube HANDS ON Wilhelm Röntgen discovered In 1887, physicist William Crookes was investigating the properties of X-rays using a tube similar to Crookes’ in 1895. electricity. He used a glass electron tube containing two metal plates, the electrodes. When a high voltage was applied and the air pumped out of the tube, electricity passed between the electrodes and caused a glow in the tube. As the pressure fell (approaching a vacuum) the light went out, yet the glass itself glowed. Crookes called the rays which caused this cathode rays; they were, in fact, an invisible flow of electrons. Later, Ferdinand Braun created a tube with an end wall coated with a substance that glowed when struck by cathode rays. This was the forerunner of the modern TV receiver tube. Cathode – Metal plates – one emitted attracted the beam, electrons the other repelled it DOWN THE TUBE Anode with hole to Screen – NOW YOU SEE IT below Braun’s 1897 tube create beam of coated with By the 1940s, Braun’s tube was the high-speed indicating incorporated two electrons powder that device at the heart of the electronic engineer’s most pairs of flat metal glowed when important instrument – the cathode ray oscilloscope. plates arranged at struck by the With the aid of amplifying and scanning right angles to beam circuits, it made unseen electric each other. The waves visible. screen was coated with phosphorescent powder. By applying a voltage to the plates, Braun directed the beam of electrons (named cathode rays, because they were UNKNOWN FACTOR left Electron gun given off from the cathode) to German physicist Wilhelm Röntgen noticed create a bright spot of light on the that as well as cathode rays, another form of screen, By varying the voltage across the plates, he could make radiation was emitted from a discharge tube the spot move around. when very high voltages were used. Unlike cathode rays, these rays, which he called X, for unknown, were not deflected by electrically charged plates or by magnets. They passed through materials and darkened photographic plates. Induction coil to IN A SPIN right produce high voltage In 1884 Paul Nipkow invented a system of Photographic plate spinning disks with spirals recording X-rays passing of holes to transform an through a hand object into an image on a screen. In 1926 Scottish inventor John Logie Baird (standing in the picture) used Nipkow disks, not a cathode ray tube, to give the world’s first demonstration of television. 56

Single-beam gun Electromagnetic coil to direct electron beams CHEAPER TV Electron gun In the late 1960s, the producing 3 Japanese firm Sony developed and separate beams patented the Trinitron system, a cathode ray tube with a different design from Trinitron tube RCA’s original color tube. This meant that they did not have to pay fees to RCA for FASTER THAN THE every tube they made. EYE CAN SEE below TELEVISION GOES PUBLIC Until the 1960s, most home In 1936 the BBC started the first public television receivers produced black high‑definition television service from this studio at and white pictures and operated Alexandra Palace, London. At first they used both with valves (p. 52). The “tube” Baird’s system and one using the cathode ray tube. consisted of a single electron gun The latter gave the best results and Baird’s system producing a beam that was made to was never used again. In 1939 RCA started scan the screen up to 50 times a America’s first fully electronic second. As techniques improved, the television service. length of the tube was shortened. Phosphor screen IN FRONT OF THE BOX above Early television sets, such as this RCA Victor model, had small screens but contained such a mass of additional components that they were housed in large boxes. At the time, many such sets cost as much as a small car. Electron gun 57

Flight AIRBORNE CARRIAGE TȩȦȧȪȳȴȵȤȳȦȢȵȶȳȦȴ to fly in a humanmade craft were a Henson and Stringfellow’s “Aerial steam carriage” had cockerel, a duck, and a sheep. They were sent up in a many features that were hot-air balloon made by the French Montgolfier brothers in used by later aircraft September 1783. When the animals landed safely, the designers. It had a separate brothers were encouraged to send two of their friends, Pilâtre tail with rudders and de Rozier and the Marquis d’Arlandes, on a 25-minute flight over Paris. elevators, and upward- Among the earliest pioneers of powered flight were Englishmen sloping wings. The craft William Henson and John Stringfellow, who built a looks strange, but it was a model aircraft powered by a steam engine surprisingly practical in the 1840s. We do not know design. whether it flew or not – it may well have failed because of the heavy weight and low power of the engine. But it did have many of the features of the successful airoplane. It was the Wright brothers who first achieved powered, controlled flight in a full-size aeroplane. Their Flyer of 1903 was powered by a lightweight gasoline engine. FIRST FLIGHT below Wooden and canvas wing On June 4,1783, Joseph and Etienne Montgolfier demonstrated a paper hot-air balloon. It climbed to about 3,300 ft (1,000 m). Later in the same year, the brothers sent up animal and human passengers. 0(&+$1,&$/:,1* Some 500 years ago, Leonardo da Vinci designed a number of flying machines, most of which had mechanical flapping wings. They were bound to fail because of the great effort needed to flap the wings. Leonardo also designed a simple helicopter. GLIDING FREE above The first piloted glider was built by German engineer Otto Lilienthal. He made many flights between 1891 and 1896, when he was killed as his glider crashed. His work showed the basics of controlling a craft in the air. 58

Wing MASTER OF THE WORLD? right Propeller This design for a flying machine appeared in the book Master of the World by Jules Verne. Verne was vague about the power source and his design was generally impractical. GETTING UP STEAM left The model airplane made by Henson and Stringfellow had a specially made lightweight steam engine – the only type available at the time – to drive the twin propellers. Housing for steam engine IN CONTROL above FIRST POWERED FLIGHT The brothers Wilbur and Orville On December 17, 1903, the Flyer took off near Kitty Wright spent three years Hawk, North Carolina, experimenting with gliders, learning with Orville Wright as pilot. The machine rose to how to control the craft. On the a height of 10 ft (3 m), and Flyer, the pilot lay on the lower wing landed heavily after 12 seconds. The brothers made three other flights and twisted the wings to roll the craft that day. The longest lasted 59 seconds and covered 850 ft (260 m). right or left. The craft also had elevators (for climbing and diving) and rudders (to control right and left turns). 59

Plastics Plastics are materials that can easily be formed into different IMITATION IVORY Early plastics often had shapes. They were first used to make imitations of other materials, the appearance and feel but it soon became clear that they had useful properties of their of ivory, and carried own. They are made up of long, chainlike molecules names such as Ivoride. formed by a process (called polymerization) that Materials like this were joins small molecules together. The resulting long used for knife handles and combs. molecules give plastics their special properties. The first plastic, Parkesine, was made by modifying cellulose, a chainlike molecule found in most plants. The first truly synthetic plastic was Bakelite, which was invented in 1907. The chemists of the 1920s and 1930s developed ways of making plastics from substances found in oil. Their efforts resulted in a range of materials with different heat, electrical, optical, and molding properties. Plastics such as polyethylene, nylon, and acrylics are widely used today. THE FIRST PLASTIC right In 1862 Alexander Parkes made a hard Hard, smooth IN FLAMES material that could be molded into surface In the 1860s, a plastic called Celluloid was shapes. Called “Parkesine,” it was the HEAT-PROOF developed. It was used as a substitute for ivory to first semi-synthetic plastic. Leo Baekeland, a make billiard balls, and for small items like this Belgian-born chemist powder box. The new material made little impact Celluloid working in the US, made a at first, but in 1889 George box plastic from chemicals found Eastman began using it as in coal tar. His plastic, which a base for photographic he called Bakelite, was different film. Unfortunately, it had the disadvantage from earlier that it easily caught plastics fire and sometimes because heat exploded. made it set hard instead of causing it to melt. AROUND THE HOUSE Plastics of the 1920s and 30s, like urea formaldehyde, were tough and nontoxic, and could be made any color with synthetic pigments. They were used for boxes, clock cases, piano keys, and lamps. Heat-proof Bakelite container Marble-effect surface 60

Acrylic glasses Film Styrofoam Imitation sponge egg box Nylon thread PLASTIC FOAM above NYLON ROPE Molded Polystyrene was first made in the 1920s. It Nylon provides polyethylene comes in two forms: a hard form and a great strength in a lightweight foam full of small holes called narrow thickness, spade and Styrofoam. making it ideal for racket rope. Buttons Separate and pen nylon fibres Toy bricks Plastic wrench Polyethylene flower SHAPES AND SIZES Plastic can be formed into intricate shapes, like this fine netting. PLASTIC FIBRES left It was US chemist Wallace Carothers who produced a plastic called nylon in 1934. It was like artificial silk and could be drawn out into thin threads and woven into cloth or twisted to create rope as strong as steel cable. Polyester, another plastic suitable for fibers, was discovered in 1941. Polyester fibers are woven into cloth for shirts, pants, and dresses. 61

The silicon chip Early radios and television sets used electron tubes (p. 56) to manipulate their electric currents. These tubes were large, had a short life, and were costly to produce. In 1947, scientists at the Bell Telephone Laboratories invented the smaller, cheaper, and more reliable transistor to do the same job. With the development of spacecraft, still smaller components were needed, and by the end of the 1960s thousands of transistors and other electronic components were being crammed onto chips of silicon only 0.2 in (5 mm) square. These chips BABBAGE’S ENGINE were soon being used to replace the mechanical control The ancestor of the devices in products ranging from dishwashers to cameras. They computer was Charles Babbage’s “Difference Engine,” a mechanical calculating device. were also taking the place of the Today tiny chips do bulky electronic circuits in computers. the job of such cumbersome machines. Silicon wafer A computer that once took up a containing several hundred whole room could now be tiny chips contained in a case that would fit on top of a desk. A revolution in information technology followed, with computers being used for everything from playing games to administering government departments. Silicon Ceramic chip housing Matrix of MAKING A CHIP CHIP OFF THE OLD BLOCK connections The electrical components and connections are built up in layers In the early 1970s, different types of on a wafer of pure silicon 0.02 in (0.5 mm) thick. First, chemical chip were developed to do specific to be impurities are embedded in specific regions of the silicon to alter jobs – such as memory chips and produced their electrical properties. Then, aluminum connections (the central processing chips. Each silicon SILICON CRYSTAL equivalent of conventional wires) are laid on top. chip, a fraction of an inch square, is Silicon is usually found combined with mounted in a frame of connections oxygen as silica, one form of which is 62 and pins, made of copper coated with quartz. Pure silicon is dark gray, hard, gold or tin. Fine gold wires link and nonmetallic, and it forms crystals. connector pads around the edge of the chip to the frame. The whole assembly is housed in a protective insulating block.

WIRED TOGETHER OUT IN SPACE below DESK-TOP BRAIN Printed circuit On a printed circuit Computers are The late 1970s saw the board connectors (PC) board, a network essential for spacecraft computer boom. of copper tracks is like this satellite. The Commodore Visual created on an silicon chip means that introduced the PET, display insulating board. control devices can be one of the first mass- terminal Components, housed in the limited produced personal (VDT) including silicon chips, space on board. computers. It was used are plugged or mainly in businesses soldered into holes in and schools. the PC board. Keyboard Silicon SMART PHONE CARD chip Smart cards contain a microprocessor and memory on a single silicon chip. When this card is inserted into a phone, the chip receives power and data through the gold contacts. It can then do security checks and record how many units have been used. ON THE RIGHT TRACK MAKING CONNECTIONS Under a microscope, the circuitry of A close-up shows the connector wires a chip looks like a network of attached to the silicon. Robots have to aluminum tracks and islands of be used to join the wires to the chip silicon, treated to conduct electricity. since the components are so tiny and must be very accurately positioned. 63

Did you know? AMAZING FACTS TetraPak milk The TetraPak The first hovercraft, SR.N1, was launched carton carton was in 1959. It was designed by British introduced in 1952 engineer Christopher Cockerell. The craft by Swedish business- glided across water or land, supported on a man Ruben Rausing. cushion of air that was contained by a Its clever design is ideal rubberized skirt. for holding liquids such as milk, juice, The first computer game was Space and soup. War. It was developed in 1962 by a college student at the Massachusetts Bar codes were first introduced in 1974. Institute of Technology. A laser scanner “reads” the bar-coded number so that a In 2001, Robert Tools was fitted with the computer can look up first self-contained artificial heart. The information such as name grapefruit-sized AbioCor runs on a battery and price. fitted in the ribcage. Previous artificial hearts needed an outside power source, so anyone Modern who received one had to have wires sticking The poma wearable computer snowmobile out of his or her chest. Wearable computers for the consumer The modern snowmobile was created in The Chinese invented the market were unveiled in 2002, when the 1950s by Canadian inventor Joseph- first toothbrushes about American company Xybernaut showed off Armand Bombardier. Resembling a 500 years ago. They were made poma to the world. “Poma” is short for motorcycle on skis, it is used in snowy “portable multimedia appliance.” The regions by foresters, rescue workers, and the from pigs’ bristles. The central processing unit clips onto the police. It is also popular as a recreational and first nylon brushes user’s belt, while a 1 in (2.5 cm) square racing vehicle. were made in monitor sits in front of one eye. the 1930s. Some of the equipment that John Logie Global positioning system (GPS) Baird used to build his first television An ancient Greek designed the receivers were developed for the Air system included a bicycle light and a knitting world’s first vending machine. Force in the 1970s. By cross-referencing needle. Around CE 60, Hero of Alexandria information from several satellites, a came up with a drink dispenser. receiver can determine its precise location. The computer mouse was invented in Putting a coin in the slot moved a 1965 by Doug Engelbart, but he didn’t cork stopper, which caused The Aqua-Lung was invented by give the device its famous name - he called it refreshing water to trickle out. French oceanographer Jacques an “x-y position indicator.” Cousteau, who also developed an Teflon, the nonstick plastic The first compact discs went on sale in pan coating, was found improved method of filming 1982. They were a joint invention by by accident. Chemist Roy underwater. Cousteau two electronics companies, Philips and Sony. Plunkett discovered it in used his inventions At first, the CD was used to store only 1938 while testing the gas to show television sounds. Today it also carries written words, tetrafluoroethylene. Teflon is viewers the pictures, and movies. able to withstand wonders of the temperatures as low as undersea world. –450 °F (–270 °C) and as high as 480 °F (250 °C). Diver and inventor Jacques Bubble gum was invented in 1928 by Walter Diemer. Cousteau He adapted an existing recipe for chewing gum so that it could be used to blow bubbles. 64

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS QWhy are most inventions QHow do inventors safeguard created by companies rather WKHLULGHDV\" WKDQLQGLYLGXDOV\" AThe Japanese electronics AThe only way to be sure that company Sony is famous for no one steals the design of a new invention is to patent it. its groundbreaking inventions, Each country has its own patent including the Walkman, the office, where officials register PlayStation, and the AIBO plans, drawings, and robot dog. Few people could specifications. Only an name any of the individuals invention that is truly new can involved in the creation of be patented. After that, the these products. That is inventor can sue anyone who because, as technology tries to make or sell products becomes more complex, based on the same idea, whole teams of specialists are unless they have paid for needed to work on different Sony’s permission to use it. aspects of the invention. Also, robot dog, QCould inventions ever RXWVPDUWLQYHQWRUV\" building and testing new AIBO technologies requires sophisticated, costly machinery that only large corporations can afford. Such companies market new AAt this moment, several scientists are inventions under their own name, a brand working to build computers with that customers will recognize. Even if the artificial intelligence. These would be capable product had been invented by an individual of testing ideas through trial and error, Dean Kamen on his Segway HT employee, the company probably would not thereby learning from their mistakes. In QAre there any famous market it under the inventor’s name, since he 2002 the most advanced machines possessed FRQWHPSRUDU\\LQYHQWRUV\" or she might go to work at a rival company at the mental capacity of a beetle, but designs AIt seems like the past is full of famous inventors, but in the modern world, some point in the future. are always improving. products are usually created by teams of people working for large companies. Dean Record Breakers Kamen is one of the few famous names in the world of contemporary inventing. While )źƌƍžƌƍƅźƇŽƏžƁƂżƅž 0ƈƌƍƉźƍžƇƍƌ still a student, Kamen designed a wearable infusion pump that injects sick patients with A jet-powered car called Thrust 2 American inventor Thomas Edison filed exact doses of the drugs they need. Next he set the one-mile land-speed record in 1,093 patents during his lifetime. They developed portable insulin pumps and Nevada in 1983, running at 633.47 mph included 141 patents for batteries and 389 kidney dialysis machines. Not all of Kamen’s (1,019.47 km/h). The car was designed by for electric light and power. innovations are in the medical field. In 2001 British engineer John Ackroyd. he unveiled his Segway Human Transporter %ƂƀƀžƌƍƋźŽƂƈƍžƅžƌżƈƉž (HT), a self-balancing transportation device )źƌƍžƌƍƍƋźƇƌƂƌƍƈƋ with an integral gyroscope. Kamen envisions The biggest single-dish radio that the Segway HT will revolutionize short- A silicon transistor that switches on telescope is 1,000 ft (305 m) across. distance travel, particularly in cities. Postal and off 1.5 trillion times a second is slated However, the Very Large Array (VLA) in workers, for example, will be able to make to be introduced for use in computers in New Mexico is even more powerful. It is deliveries far more quickly and efficiently. 2007. Some of the Intel transistor’s made up of 27 dishes, working together as QWhich invention shrank components are just 20 a single telescope. WKHZRUOGLQWKUHHGHFDGHV\" nanometers long – 1 /4,000 of the width of a human hair. AThe Internet began life in 1963 in the United States as the ARPAnet, a network Inside an of computers linked up to protect military Internet cafe data in the event of a nuclear attack. Under ARPAnet many key advances were made in network technology: e-mail (1971); telnet, a way to control a computer from a distance (1972); and file transfer protocol (FTP) (1973). By the 1980s the Internet had developed into an international network. But it wasn’t until the mid-1990s that World Wide Web (WWW) technology improved enough to make the internet a vital tool in universities, businesses, and homes. The Web allows people around the world to exchange text, sound, pictures, and movies in a matter of seconds. 65





Find out more IȧȺȰȶȢȳȦȪȯȵȦȳȦȴȵȦȥ in inventions, you will soon notice that you come across hundreds of them The stand mixer is one of every day – many of them many inventions that can be in your own home. Visits found in the average home to science museums can give lots of helpful information about inventions, including hands-on demonstrations of how they work. Look for useful books, Web sites, and television programs, too. If you’re OLD VALVE RADIO feeling truly adventurous, see if you can come All inventors learn valuable lessons by looking at the inventions of the past. Look in junk shops for cheap old radios or other machines. Compare your up with some inventions of your own. Start finds to modern versions. How have radios changed since this one was made? What features have disappeared? Which are still there? What can with sketches and descriptions, then build up modern radios do that this one can’t? to making a working model. Good luck! USEFUL WEB SITES • A Web site with a timeline, plus A-Zs of inventors and inventions: www.inventors.about.com • Lots of explanations of scientific principles and inventions: www.howstuffworks.com • A Smithsonian site dedicated to the lives of inventors: www.si.edu/lemelson/centerpieces/ilives/index.html • Web site for the Tech Museum of Innovation, California: www.thetech.org Turbojet engine situated at rear of wing CONCORDE, AN INVENTION OF THE SKIES Fly away on vacation, or simply look up, to see some of humankind’s most amazing inventions – aircraft. Jet passenger planes have been around since 1952, while the first supersonic craft, Concorde, made its maiden flight in 1969. Only 14 of the planes entered service, and the fleet was retired on October 24, 2003. Flying at twice the speed of sound, Concorde cut the time of a transatlantic flight to three hours and 50 minutes. *(2'(6,&'20( 7+(6&,(1&(086(80 This eyecatching building is La Géode, an OMNIMAX cinema where visitors can enjoy the latest cinematic technologies, including a 360° movie screen. A key attraction at London’s Science It is in the Parc de la Villette, Paris. If you cannot make it to Paris, see if there Museum is the Making of the is an OMNIMAX or IMAX cinema near you. The quality of the picture and Modern World gallery. It sound ensures that you’ll have a memorable experience. displays 150 milestone inventions, created 68 from 1750 to 2000. Highlights include the Apollo 10 Command Module, used in the first Moon landing.

60$57:$6+,1*0$&+,1( Places to visit Familiar appliances are being improved all the time. The latest 7+((;3/25$725,806$1)5$1&,6&2&$/,)251,$ “smart” kitchen machines are (415) 561-0399 www.exploratorium.edu Internet linked, so that owners can Hundreds of fun and innovative exhibits demonstrate scientific principles. control them remotely by e-mail. This washing machine will even 6&,(1&(086(802)0,11(627$673$8/0,11(627$ call for a repairman if it (651) 221-9444 www.smm.org breaks down. Visitors can try experiments exploring physical science and mathematics. Optical )257/$8'(5'$/(086(802)',6&29(5<$1'6&,(1&( viewfinder FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA (954) 467-6637 www.mods.org Rotating drum spins washing Lets visitors discover the universal concepts behind today’s technology. &$0(5$&85,286 %5$'%85<6&,(1&(086(80/26$/$0261(:0(;,&2 (505) 667-4444 www.lanl.gov/museum It’s always rewarding to find out Home to exhibits about the history of Los Alamos National more about a key invention, such as Laboratory and its research. the camera. If you don’t have access to a digital one, you can read up on the new Distinctive, pointy technology in photography magazines. Digital cameras nose cuts through do not use film. Instead, they have a sensor that converts the air light (photons) into electical charges (electrons). Wings form Passengers ride in ROBOT WARS streamlined pressurized cabin V shape The TV series Robot Wars is now popular in more than 25 countries. Its enthusiastic contestants call themselves roboteers, but they are also amateur inventors. Anyone can compete, as long as they can build a warrior robot with the right specifications – and unique means of attack and defense. Tune in to watch the action or, better yet, set up your own roboteering team. 69

Glossary AMPUTATION  CATHODE  (See also Giant pulleys in an elevator A type of surgery in ELECTRODE) A negative FORCE  A push or pull that can make which a limb, such as electrode, which receives something move, prevent it from moving, or the leg, is removed; less current from its surroundings. change its motion common now that The flow of electricity into a FRICTION  The resistance to movement medical innovations have cathode can be used to coat an between two surfaces in contact. This force can made it possible to cure a object in silver – the object is generate heat – for example, when you rub much broader range of wired up as a cathode, and your hands together for warmth. infections and injuries attracts tiny particles of silver. GEAR  A wheel with teeth, which carries ANESTHETIC COMPOUND  A chemical power from one moving part to another. On a A substance used to block pain substance formed when two or bicycle, gears are used to allow efficient cycling Flint signals traveling from the body more other substances combine at different speeds. Closely related to (used as a to the brain. In medical with each other gears are pulleys, which have simple ax) operations, the anesthetic effect CULTIVATE  To work toward the best no teeth and are used may be local, affecting only the possible growth of plants, especially by with ropes. They are part of the body being operated on, or general, plowing, fertilizing, weeding fields, and by used in elevators and affecting the whole body. rotating crops to maintain the balance of by builders lifting ANGLE  Two straight lines leaving a single nutrients in the soil heavy loads. point make a corner, which can be described CYLINDER  In engines, the tubular chamber by its angle – the portion they would cut out in which the pressure is created to push the Chopsticks use a system of any circle with its center on the point. other parts. In gas engines, the larger the of leverage Circles are 360°, so at 3pm the two hands of a cylinder (measured in liters), the more power clock form an angle of 90°, cutting out a the engine can create. GENERATOR  A machine using the quarter of the circle. DIAPHRAGM  A thin, strong sheet of motion of a wire coil past magnets to turn ANODE (See also ELECTRODE) A positive material, often circular, designed to flex in the movement into electricity – the opposite of an electrode, considered to be the source of middle. A large diaphragm divides the human electric motor. The generator that powers the current flowing into its surroundings body between the chest and the stomach, to light on a bicycle is a simple example. AUTOMATIC  Any system or machine that aid breathing. INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION  The works by itself, without external control or EFFICIENT  Describes a machine or system dramatic change from a farming society to effort by a person that does a job with very little wasted energy a mechanized society, first identified in BEAM  In machines and buildings, a strong or human effort England toward the end of the 1700s. horizontal supporting bar, made of wood or ELECTRICAL  Describes any thing or event Important parts of the process included metal, that transmits forces across distances in which electricity plays a significant role the relocation of large numbers of people CALCULATE  In mathematics, to work out ELECTRICITY  Energy associated with from the country to cities and the the answer according to a rule-governed electrically charged particles, usually introduction of powered machines in most method; comes from the Latin word calculus, electrons, either when they are aspects of industry. which refers to the pebbles used in the Roman moving, as in a wire, or stationary, as INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY  era to help with math problems Machines, programs, and systems designed to in a battery help process information, often more Making cathode ray tubes in a factory ELECTRODE  The source or efficiently and reliably than humans can; destination of an electric computers, for example current in a cell such as a IRRIGATION  Systems of dams, canals, pipes, battery. Electrodes can be and other tools that help maintain a steady made from a range of water supply to crops, especially in areas with materials, often metallic. unpredictable rainfall EXPERIMENT  A controlled test of a theory, or part of a theory, used to provide evidence for or against a scientific idea FLINT  A common type of stone, with the useful property of breaking and chipping in a way that produces sharp edges. Flint was widely mined in prehistoric times and used to make simple tools. FOCUS  The point where rays of light meet after passing through a lens 70

Helicopter with its rotary LOGARITHM  A way to represent numbers PRISM  A transparent object, usually made blades in full motion as powers of another number, such as 10. The of glass, used to change the direction of a base-”10 logarithm of 100 is 2, because beam of light, or to split light into LEVER  A rigid bar, pivoted at one point along 100 = 102 (“10 squared” or “10 to the power of separate beams its length, used to transmit force. If a load is 2,” equivalent to 10 x 10). Logarithms can RECEIVER  The instrument that detects and placed at the end of the lever closest to the represent only positive numbers. First slide translates a signal into a form – such as pivot, and pressure is exerted on the farther rules, and then calculators, have made the sound waves — that humans can sense. An end, the lever “magnifies” the force that is process of calculating logarithms much easier. everyday example is the radio or “tuner” applied to the load. component in a stereo. LIFT  The force required to overcome the MECHANICAL  Describes RESERVOIR  A container for storing weight of a flying machine and keep it off the actions or events in which liquids, such as machine oil or drinking water ground. In an airplane, lift is created by air the simple laws of SEAL  A tight joint, often using rubber or passing over the curved, angled wings. The motion have a primary another waterproof material, that prevents gas fast-flowing air pushes against their lower role; often used to describe or liquid from escaping or entering an surface and forces the plane up. enclosed space the activity of machines MEDIUM  The material or system a signal or Colored balls represent the arrangement energy passes through from one point to of atoms in a molecule of vitamin B6 another MOLECULE  The basic unit of a chemical SOLUTION  A mixture of one liquid with compound, consisting of two or more atoms something else – either another liquid, a gas, bonded together. Molecules vary in size. or a solid Extremely long molecules are used to TECHNOLOGY  The practical uses of make some modern materials, such knowledge, both in terms of skills and in as plastic wrap. terms of the creation and use of new tools. PHENOMENON  An experience New technology is driven both by new or event, particularly as it is scientific discoveries and new uses for sensed by a human observer old knowledge. PISTON  A flat-headed tubular TRANSMITTER  An instrument that machine part, which moves up translates a signal into a form in which it can and down within a cylinder. A be passed through a particular medium to a piston may be mechanically receiver. Examples include cell phones or driven to pump gases or fluids in the walkie-talkies. chamber or may transfer pressure in the VACUUM  A perfectly empty – or very nearly cylinder to drive other parts of the machine. empty – space. A vacuum can be created in a PIVOT  A machine part around which another vessel by pumping out all the gases or machine part moves. Pivots may be simple liquids inside. hinges or more complicated structures. They VALVE  A flap or plug that is used to are also known as bearings, since they control the flow of gas or liquid from one normally “bear” a load. space to another. Some valves control the PRESSURE  The “pressing” force of one direction of flow, while others control its substance against another. Usually applies to timing. Valves are vital for most pumping flexible materials, such as liquids or gases – for systems. Their existence in human arteries example, the air inside a car tire. led scientists to discover that the heart was actually a pump. This prism is splitting white light into separate beams, revealing a rainbow of colors. 71

Index carbon arc 50 global positioning system Lumière, Auguste and poma 64 tally sticks 30 cathode ray 56, 57 64 Louis 50 potter’s wheel 12 tape recording 46, 47 A cat’s whisker radio 52 Gutenberg, Johannes 26, 27 Poulsen, Valdemar 47 tea maker 54, 66 celluloid 41, 50, 60 M power station 54 Teflon 64 abacus 30 cinematography 50-51, 68 H Pratt, William 31 telegraphy 44, 52 acupuncture 42 circumferentor 35 Macarius, Joannes 35 Pravaz, Charles 42 telephone 44-45, 46, 52 adze 10, 11 clock 12, 22-23, 67 Hadley, John 34 magic lantern 50 printed circuit board 63 telescope 28, 29 airplane 58, 59, 68-69, 71 cloth 36, 37, 66 hair dryer 55 magnet 44 printing 18, 26-27 television 53, 65-57, 62, 64 amplification 52 Cockerell, Christopher 64 Hall, Chester Moor 28 magnetic tape 46, 47 prism 29, 51, 71 TetraPak 64 anesthetic 42, 43, 70 compact disc 64 Halladay Standard Marconi, Guglielmo 52 quadrant 29 Thales 38 antiseptic 43 compass 34, 35 Windmill 25 match 7, 21 theodolite 34 Archer, Frederick Scott 41 computer 62, 63, 64, 67, 70 Harrington, Sir John 54 measurement 16-17, 34 RS thermionic valve 52 Archimedes 8, 9, 24, 67 copper 14, 38, 39, 44, 63 Harvey, William 43 mechanical clock 22 thermometer 43 Arkwright, Richard 37 Cousteau, Jacques 64 helicopter 58, 71 medical instrument 42-43, radio 52-53, 62, 68 threshing machine 67 artificial heart 64 Crompton, Samuel 37 Henson, William 58, 59 65 radio telescope 65 tinder box 21 artificial intelligence 65 Crookes, William 56 Hero of Alexandria 32, 64 Meickle, Andrew 25, 67 rayon 66 toilet 54 astrolabe 66 crossbow 66 Hertz, Heinrich 52 merkhet 22 record 46, 47 Tompion, Thomas 23 astronomy 34, 66 Hoover, William 55 metalworking 14-15 refraction 28 tool 8, 10-11 automobile 12, 48, 65 DE horse power 24 microchip 62-63 refrigerator 54 toothbrush 64 horseshoe 15 microelectronics 46, 62-63 robot dog 65 Torricelli, Evangelista 67, B da Vinci, Leonardo 42, 58, hot-air balloon 58 microphone 52 Robot Wars 69 69 69 hovercraft 64 microscope 28, 29, 63 Roget, P. M. 50 transmitter 52, 53, 71 Babbage, Charles 62 Daguerre, Louis 40 Huygens, Christiaan 23 mirror 28, 29, 35 roller 12, 13 treadmill 24 Baekeland, Leo 60 Daimler, Gottlieb 48 Montgolfier brothers 58 Röntgen, Wilhelm 56 Trevithick, Richard 33 Baird, John Logie 56, 64 Danfrie, Philippe 35 IJK mouse 64, 67 ruler 11, 16, 17 trigonometry 34 balance 16, 23, 67 Daniell, John Frederic 38 Muybridge, Eadweard 50, sail 25, 33 triode 52 ballpoint pen 18, 19 de Rozier, Pilâtre 58 ink 18, 19 51 sandglass 23 typecasting 26-27 bar code 64 diode 52 internal combustion satellite 63 barometer 67 Donkin 6 engine 48-49 NO Savery, Thomas 32 vw battery 38-39, 52, 53, 66, drill 8-9, 10, 42 Internet 65, 69 saw 11, 42 70 Dyson, James 67 iron 14, 15, 16, 44, 46, 55 Napier, John 31 scales 16, 67 vacuum cleaner 54, 55, 67 beam engine 33 Dystrop wheel 13 Judson, Whitcomb 7 navigation 34-35 Schulze, Johann 40 Van Leeuwenhoek, bearing 12, 13, 71 Eastman, George 41, 60 Kamen, Dean 65 needle 15, 42, 46, 47 scissors 6 Antoni 29 Bell, Alexander G. 44 Edison, Thomas 7, 44, 45, kettle 54 Newcomen, Thomas 32, screw press 66 Verne, Jules 59 Bell, Chichester 47 46, 65 33 sextant 35 visual display unit 63 Benz, Karl 48 electricity 38, 39, 53, 54-55, L Niepce, Joseph 40 silicon chip 62, 66 Volta, Alessandro 38 Berliner, Emile 47 56, 63, 70 Nipkow, Paul 56 silicon transistor 65 von Basch, Samuel 43 bicycle 12, 70 electromagnetic wave 52 Laënnec, René 43 octant 34, 35 smart card 63 washing machine 69 binoculars 29 endoscope 43 lantern clock 23 oil lamp 20, 21 snowmobile 64 watchmaking 23 Biró, Joseph and Georg 19 Engelbart, Doug 64, 67 latitude 34, 35, 66 optics 28-29, 40 spacecraft 62, 63, 68 water frame 37 Braun, Ferdinand 56 engine 33, 48, 70 lead-acid accumulator 39 ore 14 spectacles 28 water power 24, 25, 37 bronze 10, 11, 14, 15, 16 Leclanché, Georges 66 Otto, Nikolaus 48 sphygmomanometer 43 water pump 32 bubble gum 64 FG Lenoir, Etienne 48 spinning 36-37 Waterman, Edson 19 lens 28, 29, 40, 41, 50, 70 PQ steam 32-33, 37, 55 Watt, James 32, 33 C Faraday, Michael 54 letterpress 26 steam engine 12, 32-33, 48, wax cylinder 47 film 41, 50, 51, 60, 67 light 28-29 paper 7, 19 58, 59 weaving 36-37 calculator 30, 31, 62, 71 fire 8, 10, 14, 20, 21 lighthouse 35 Papin, Denis 55 Stephenson, George 33 welding 14, 15 calipers 17 flight 58-59 lighting 7, 20-21, 54 papyrus 18 stethoscope 42, 43 wheel 12-13, 24, 25, 31, 48 Calotype 40 flint 10, 11, 18, 21, 66, 70 Lilienthal, Otto 58 Parkes, Alexander 60 Stringfellow, John 58, 59 windmill 12, 24, 25 camera 40, 41, 51, 62, 67, food canning 6 limelight 50 Pascal, Blaise 31 stylus, 18, 31, 46, 47 Wollaston, W. H. 38 69 food mixer 54, 55, 68 Lister, Joseph 43 pen 18, 19 Su Sung 23, 67 Wright brothers 58, 59 Campbell, John 35 four-stroke engine 48, 49 lock 7 pencil 7, 18 Sundback, Gideon 7 writing 18-19, 67 can opener 6 Franklin, Benjamin 38 locomotive 32, 33 pendulum 22, 23 sundial 22 Canaletto 40 furnace 14, 15, 25 lodestone 34 phonograph 46 surveying 34, 35 XYZ candle 20, 21, 22 Galileo Galilei 28, 69 logarithm 30, 71 photography 40-41, 50 Swan, Joseph 7 Galvani, Luigi 38 longitude 34, 35 Planté, Gaston 39 X-rays 52, 56 Gassner, Carl 39 loom 35, 37 plastic 60-61, 62 T yardstick 17 gear wheel 8, 9, 25, 70 Loud, John H. 19 plough 7 Zeiss, Carl 41 generator 54, 70 loudspeaker 52 plumb line 29 Tainter, Charles 47 zipper 7 glass making 6 Talbot, W. H. Fox 40 Acknowledgments The publisher would like to thank: Picture credits Mentorn Barraclough Carey Productions Ltd.: Science Museum, London: 66br, 70tl, 71b. The following members of the staff of the (t=top, b=bottom, m=middle, l=left, r=right) 69br Copyright © 2002 Robot Wars LLC/Robot Science & Society Picture Library: 63m, 63bl, Science Museum, London, for help with Ann Ronan Picture Library: 17tl, 29br, 29bm, Wars Ltd. Trademarks: Robot Wars and the 63bm, 67ml, 67m. the provision of objects for photography 35br, 38tl, 38mr, 44tl, 44tr, 45tl, 56br. Robot Wars logo are trademarks of Robot Wars Syndication International: 12tl, 13m, 23tl, 26mr, and checking the text: Marcus Austin, Bridgeman Art Library: 11, 18bm, 19bl; Russian LLC. Sir Killalot, Shunt, Matilda, Sgt. Bash, Dead 28tl, 28mr, 34tl, 35tl, 36tr, 46br, 50br, 52b, 52tr, Peter Bailes, Brian Bowers, Roger Museum, Leningrad 21 mr, 22tr; Giraudon/ Metal, Mr Psycho, Growler and Refbot are 56tr, 58bm, 59br;Bayerische Staatsbibliotek, Bridgman, Neil Brown, Jane Bywaters, Musée des Beaux Arts, Vincennes 30bl, 50mr. trademarks and designs of the BBC in the UK Munich 24cl; City of Bristol Museum and Art Sue Cackett, Janet Carding, Ann Carter, British Airways: 68–69m. and are used under licence. Sir Killalot, Shunt, Gallery 53br; British Museum 13tm, 24bl, 59tr; Jon Darius, Eryl Davies, Sam Evans, Peter Corbis: Haruyoshi Yamaguchi/Sygma 65tr. Matilda, Sgt. Bash, Dead Metal, Mr. Psycho, Library of Congress 37tl; Smithsonian Fitzgerald, Jane Insley, Stephen Johnston, Brian Cosgrove Collection: 68-69. Growler and Refbot are trademarks of Robot Wars Institution, Washington DC 58br. Ghislaine Lawrence, Peter Mann, Mick Design Museum: 67br, 68tl. LLC in the world excluding the UK. The Wallace Collection: 66ml. Marr, Kate Morris, Susan Mossman, E.T. Archive: 26tr. Robot Wars television series is produced by Photo Courtesy of Xybernaut Corporation: 64tr. Andrew Nahum, Cathy Needham, Vivien Fifield: 32m, 48ml, 48m, 48bl. Mentorn in association with Robot Wars Ltd. for Jacket credits Francesca Riccini, Derek Robinson, Peter Getty Images: Bruce Forster 70bl. BBC Television in the UK and for broadcasters Front: Tcl: Science Museum, UK; Tcr: Stephens, Frazer Swift, Peter Tomlinson, Michael Holford: 16ml, 18ml, 18bl. worldwide. Design Museum, UK; Tr: Science Museum, UK; B: John Underwood, Denys Vaughan, Tony Hulton-Deutsch: 41 tr. National Maritime Museum, London: 64-65. BananaStock/Alamy. Back: Science Museum (all). Vincent, John Ward, Anthony Wilson, Barnabas Kindersley: 64ml National Motor Museum, Beaulieu: 49tr. With the exception of the items listed above, and David Woodcock, and Michael Wright. Mary Evans Picture Library: 10m, 12ml, 12tr, Natural History Museum, London: 66tr. the objects on pages 8–9, 61, and 64–71, all the 14, 19mr, 19br, 20tr, 21mr, 23tr, 24tr, 25tr, 28br, Norfolk Rural Life Museum: 67mr. photographs in this book are of objects in the Retouching: Roy Flooks 30br, 31mr, 36bl, 39m, 40tl, 40mr, 41tm, 42bl, Stephen Oliver: 67bl, 68br. collections of the Science Museum, London. Index: Jane Parker 42ml, 43tr, 43m, 45tr, 50br, 53mr, 54tl, 54bl, Popperfoto: 64b. 55ml. Rex Features: 69tl; Patrick Barth 65b; Erik C. Pendzich 65tl. 72