Accidental discoveries that changed the world. Russian inventions that changed the world Project of discoveries and inventions that changed the world
Television(1920s)
The invention that swept the world and changed leisure habits for countless millions was pioneered by Scottish-born electrical engineer John Logie Baird. It had been realized for some time that light could be converted into electrical impulses, making it possible to transmit such impulses over a distance and then reconvert them into light.
Motor Car(Late 19th Century)
With television, the car is probably the most widely used and most useful of all leisure-inspired inventions. German engineer Karl Benz produced the first petroldriven car in 1885 and the British motor industry started in 1896. Henry Ford was the first to use assembly line production for his Model T car in 1908. Like them or hate them, cars have given people great freedom of travel.
Electricity
The name came from the Greek word for amber and was coined by Elizabeth I "s physician William Gilbert who was among those who noticed that amber had the power to attract light objects after being rubbed. In the 19th century such great names as Michael Faraday, Humphry Davy, Alessandro Volta and Andre Marie Ampere all did vital work on electricity.
Photography(Early 19th Century)
Leonardo da Vinci had described the camera obscura photographic principle as early as 1515. But it was not until 1835 that Frenchman Louis Daguerre produced camera photography. The system was gradually refined over the years, to the joy of happy snappers and the despair of those who had to wade through friends" endless holiday pictures.
Telephone (1876)
Edinburgh-born scientist Alexander Graham Bell patented his invention of the telephone in 1876. The following year, the great American inventor Thomas Edison produced the first working telephone. With telephones soon becoming rapidly available, the days of letter-writing became numbered.
Computer(20th Century)
The computer has been another life-transforming invention. British mathematician Charles Babbage designed a form of computer in the mid-1830s, but it was not until more than a century later that theory was put into practice. Now, a whole generation has grown up with calculators, windows, icons, computer games and word processors, and the Internet and e-mail have transformed communication and information.
Aeroplane
The plane was the invention that helped shrink the world and brought distant lands within easy reach of ordinary people. The invention of the petrol engine made flight feasible and the American Wright brothers made the first flight in 1903.
Translation
A television (1920)
An invention that swept the world and changed the leisure habits of millions of people was first demonstrated by Scottish-born electrical engineer John Logie Baird. It has been discovered over time that light can be converted into electrical impulses, allowing such impulses to be transmitted over a distance and then converted back into light.
Automobile(late 19th century)
Next to television, the automobile is probably the most widely used and most useful of all inventions. German engineer Karl Benz created the first gasoline-powered car in 1885 and the British automobile industry began in 1896. Henry Ford was the first to use assembly line production for his Model T automobile in 1908. Whether we love them or hate them, cars have given people greater freedom of movement.
Electricity
The name comes from the Greek word for amber and was coined by Elizabeth I's physician William Gilbert, who was among those who noticed that amber could attract light objects when rubbed. In the 19th century, great names such as Michael Faraday, Humphry Davy, Alessandro Volta and Andre Marie Ampere did all the vital work on electricity.
Photo(early 19th century)
Leonardo da Vinci described the photographic principles of the camera obscura in early 1515. But it was not until 1835 that the Frenchman Louis Daguerre created a camera for photographs. The systems have been gradually improved over the years, to the delight of happy photography enthusiasts and the despair of those forced to endure viewing endless photos of friends' holidays.
Telephone (1876)
Edinburgh-born scientist Alexander Graham Bell patented his invention of the telephone in 1876. The following year, the great American inventor Thomas Edison produced the first working telephone. With the availability of telephones, letter writing began to disappear.
Computer(Twentieth Century)
The computer has become another life-transforming invention. English mathematician Charles Babbage developed a form of computer in the mid-1830s, but it was not until more than a century later that the theory was put into practice. Now, an entire generation has grown up with calculators, windows, icons, computer games and word processors, and the Internet and email have changed communication and information.
Airplane
The airplane is an invention that helped shrink the world and make distant lands within easy reach of ordinary people. The invention of the gasoline engine made flight possible, and the American Wright brothers made the first flight in 1903.
At all times, Russia has had enough inventors whose creations have been widely used throughout the world. It’s easier to just list our scientists and inventions and discoveries: Lomonosov, Kulibin, Mendeleev, Tsiolkovsky, Vernadsky, Pirogov, Mechnikov, Timiryazev, Pavlov, Zhukovsky, Kapitsa, Sechenov, Jacobi, Lodygin, Yablochkov, Zvorykin, Vavilov, Zelinsky, Lobachevsky, Dolivo-Dobrovolsky, Tamm, Tupolev, Polikarpov, Popov, Antonov, Chaplygin, Landau, Sikorsky, Chizhevsky, Kabalevsky, S. Kovalevskaya and many, many others. Such was the supposedly “bast-footed”, “backward”, “illiterate” Russian Empire, which learned and educated these wonderful scientists and engineers - the pride of all mankind.Let's remember some of the inventions of Russian inventors who helped make technical progress not only in Russia, but also far beyond its borders.
Electrotype
We so often come across products that look like metal, but are actually made of plastic and only covered with a layer of metal, that we have stopped noticing them. There are also metal products coated with a layer of another metal - for example, nickel. And there are metal products that are actually a copy of a non-metallic base. We owe all these miracles to the genius of physics Boris Jacobi - by the way, the older brother of the great German mathematician Carl Gustav Jacobi. Jacobi's passion for physics resulted in the creation of the world's first electric motor with direct shaft rotation, but one of his most important discoveries was electroplating - the process of depositing metal on a mold, allowing the creation of perfect copies of the original object. In this way, for example, sculptures were created on the naves of St. Isaac's Cathedral. Galvanoplasty can be used even at home. The electroforming method and its derivatives have found numerous applications. With its help, everything has not been done and is still not being done, right down to the cliché of state banks. Jacobi received the Demidov Prize for this discovery in Russia, and a large gold medal in Paris. Possibly also made using this same method.
Electric car
In the last third of the 19th century, the world was gripped by a form of electrical fever. That's why electric cars were made by everyone. This was the golden age of electric cars. The cities were smaller, and a range of 60 km on a single charge was quite acceptable. One of the enthusiasts was engineer Ippolit Romanov, who by 1899 had created several models of electric cabs. But that’s not even the main thing. Romanov invented and created in metal an electric omnibus for 17 passengers, developed a scheme of city routes for these ancestors of modern trolleybuses and received permission to work. True, at your own personal commercial peril and risk. The inventor was unable to find the required amount, to the great joy of his competitors - owners of horse-drawn horses and numerous cab drivers. However, the working electric omnibus aroused great interest among other inventors and remained in the history of technology as an invention killed by the municipal bureaucracy.
Pipeline transport
It is difficult to say what is considered the first real pipeline. One can recall the proposal of Dmitry Mendeleev, dating back to 1863, when he proposed to deliver oil from the production sites to the seaport at the Baku oil fields not in barrels, but through pipes. Mendeleev's proposal was not accepted, and two years later the first pipeline was built by the Americans in Pennsylvania. As always, when something is done abroad, they begin to do it in Russia. Or at least allocate money. In 1877, Alexander Bari and his assistant Vladimir Shukhov again came up with the idea of pipeline transport, already relying on American experience and again on the authority of Mendeleev. As a result, Shukhov built the first oil pipeline in Russia in 1878, proving the convenience and practicality of pipeline transport. The example of Baku, which was then one of the two leaders in world oil production, became infectious, and “getting on the pipe” became the dream of any enterprising person. In the photo: a view of a three-furnace cube. Baku, 1887.
Arc welding
Nikolai Benardos comes from Novorossiysk Greeks who lived on the Black Sea coast. He is the author of more than a hundred inventions, but he went down in history thanks to the electric arc welding of metals, which he patented in 1882 in Germany, France, Russia, Italy, England, the USA and other countries, calling his method “electrohephaestus”. Benardos's method spread across the planet like wildfire. Instead of fiddling with rivets and bolts, it was enough to simply weld pieces of metal. However, it took about half a century for welding to finally take a dominant position among installation methods. A seemingly simple method is to create an electric arc between a consumable electrode in the welder’s hands and the pieces of metal that need to be welded. But the solution is elegant. True, it did not help the inventor meet old age with dignity; he died in poverty in 1905 in an almshouse.
Multi-engine aircraft "Ilya Muromets"
It’s hard to believe now, but just over a hundred years ago it was believed that a multi-engine aircraft would be extremely difficult and dangerous to fly. The absurdity of these statements was proved by Igor Sikorsky, who in the summer of 1913 took into the air a twin-engine aircraft called Le Grand, and then its four-engine version, the Russian Knight. On February 12, 1914, the four-engine Ilya Muromets took off at the Russian-Baltic Plant training ground in Riga. There were 16 passengers on board the four-engine plane - an absolute record at that time. The plane had a comfortable cabin, heating, a bath with toilet and... a promenade deck. In order to demonstrate the capabilities of the aircraft, in the summer of 1914, Igor Sikorsky flew on the Ilya Muromets from St. Petersburg to Kyiv and back, setting a world record. During World War I, these aircraft became the world's first heavy bombers.
ATV and helicopter
Igor Sikorsky also created the first production helicopter, the R-4, or S-47, which the Vought-Sikorsky company began producing in 1942. It was the first and only helicopter to serve in World War II, in the Pacific theater of operations, as a staff transport and for casualty evacuation. However, it is unlikely that the US military department would have allowed Igor Sikorsky to boldly experiment with helicopter technology if not for the amazing rotary-wing machine of George Botezat, who in 1922 began testing his helicopter, which the American military ordered him. The helicopter was the first to actually take off from the ground and be able to stay in the air. The possibility of vertical flight was thus proven. Botezat's helicopter was called the "flying octopus" because of its interesting design. It was a quadcopter: four propellers were placed at the ends of metal trusses, and the control system was located in the center - exactly like modern radio-controlled drones.
Color photo
Color photography appeared at the end of the 19th century, but photographs of that time were characterized by a shift to one or another part of the spectrum. Russian photographer Sergei Prokudin-Gorsky was one of the best in Russia and, like many of his colleagues around the world, dreamed of achieving the most natural color rendition. In 1902, Prokudin-Gorsky studied color photography in Germany with Adolf Miethe, who by that time was a worldwide star of color photography. Returning home, Prokudin-Gorsky began to improve the chemistry of the process and in 1905 he patented his own sensitizer, that is, a substance that increases the sensitivity of photographic plates. As a result, he was able to produce negatives of exceptional quality. Prokudin-Gorsky organized a number of expeditions across the territory of the Russian Empire, photographing famous people (for example, Leo Tolstoy), peasants, churches, landscapes, factories, thus creating an amazing collection of colorful Russia. Prokudin-Gorsky's demonstrations aroused great interest in the world and pushed other specialists to develop new principles of color printing.
Parachute
As you know, the idea of a parachute was proposed by Leonardo da Vinci, and several centuries later, with the advent of aeronautics, regular jumps from balloons began: parachutes were suspended under them in a partially opened state. In 1912, the American Barry was able to leave the plane with such a parachute and, importantly, landed on the ground alive. The problem was solved in every possible way. For example, the American Stefan Banich made a parachute in the form of an umbrella with telescopic spokes that were attached around the pilot’s torso. This design worked, although it was still not very convenient. But engineer Gleb Kotelnikov decided that it was all about the material, and made his parachute from silk, packing it in a compact backpack. Kotelnikov patented his invention in France on the eve of the First World War. But besides the backpack parachute, he came up with another interesting thing. He tested the opening ability of the parachute by opening it while the car was moving, which literally stood rooted to the spot. So Kotelnikov came up with a braking parachute as an emergency braking system for aircraft.
Theremin
The history of this musical instrument, which produces strange “cosmic” sounds, began with the development of alarm systems. It was then that the descendant of the French Huguenots, Lev Theremin, in 1919, drew attention to the fact that changing the position of the body near the antennas of the oscillatory circuits affects the volume and tonality of the sound in the control speaker. Everything else was a matter of technique. And marketing: Theremin showed his musical instrument to the leader of the Soviet state, Vladimir Lenin, an enthusiast of the cultural revolution, and then demonstrated it in the States.
The life of Lev Theremin was difficult; he knew ups, glory, and camps. His musical instrument still lives today. The coolest version is the Moog Etherwave. The theremin can be heard among the most advanced and quite pop performers. This is truly an invention for all times.
Color television
Vladimir Zvorykin was born into a merchant family in the city of Murom. Since childhood, the boy had the opportunity to read a lot and carry out all sorts of experiments - his father encouraged this passion for science in every possible way. Having started studying in St. Petersburg, he learned about cathode ray tubes and came to the conclusion that the future of television lay in electronic circuits. Zvorykin was lucky; he left Russia on time in 1919. He worked for many years and in the early 30s he patented a transmitting television tube - an iconoscope. Even earlier, he designed one of the variants of the receiving tube - a kinescope. And then, already in the 1940s, he split the light beam into blue, red and green colors and got color TV. In addition, Zvorykin developed a night vision device, an electron microscope and many other interesting things. He invented throughout his long life and even in retirement continued to amaze with his new solutions.
Video recorder
The AMPEX company was created in 1944 by Russian emigrant Alexander Matveevich Ponyatov, who took three letters of his initials for the name and added EX - short for “excellent”. At first, Ponyatov produced sound recording equipment, but in the early 50s he focused on developing video recording. By that time, there had already been experiments in recording television images, but they required a huge amount of tape. Ponyatov and colleagues proposed recording the signal across the tape using a block of rotating heads. On November 30, 1956, the first previously recorded CBS News aired. And in 1960, the company, represented by its leader and founder, received an Oscar for its outstanding contribution to the technical equipment of the film and television industry. Fate brought Alexander Ponyatov together with interesting people. He was a competitor of Zvorykin, Ray Dolby, the creator of the famous noise reduction system, worked with him, and one of the first clients and investors was the famous Bing Crosby. And one more thing: by order of Ponyatov, birch trees were necessarily planted near any office - in memory of the Motherland.
Tetris
A long time ago, 30 years ago, the “Pentamino” puzzle was popular in the USSR: you had to place various figures consisting of five squares on a lined field. Even collections of problems were published, and the results were discussed. From a mathematical point of view, such a puzzle was an excellent test for a computer. And so, a researcher at the Computing Center of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Alexey Pajitnov, wrote such a program for his computer “Electronics 60”. But there wasn’t enough power, and Alexey removed one cube from the figures, that is, he made a “tetromino”. Well, then the idea came to have the figures fall into the “glass”. This is how Tetris was born. It was the first computer game from behind the Iron Curtain, and for many people the first computer game at all. And although many new toys have already appeared, Tetris still attracts with its apparent simplicity and real complexity.
Popov, Mendeleev, Mozhaisky, Lobachevsky, Korolev, Nartov - we have known all these names since childhood. The contribution of our compatriots to the development of world science and technology is truly great. Today we decided to tell you about some revolutionary discoveries and inventions of Russian scientists who changed the world for the better!
The applied scientific discipline, which became the theoretical basis for operative surgery, was introduced by the Russian surgeon, naturalist and teacher Nikolai Ivanovich Pirogov.
In the 1840s, as head of the department of surgery at the Medical-Surgical Academy in St. Petersburg, Pirogov studied the surgical methods used in those years. Thanks to his research, he radically changed a number of surgical methods and even developed several completely new ones. One of the surgical techniques today bears the name of Pirogov - “Pirogov’s Operation.”
In search of the most effective method of training surgeons, Pirogov began to use anatomical studies on frozen corpses. It was thanks to these studies that a new medical discipline was born - topographic anatomy. A few years later, Pirogov published the world's first anatomical atlas.
Periodic law and periodic table of chemical elements
In March 1869, at a meeting of the Russian Chemical Society, a report by the Russian encyclopedist Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleev was published: “The relationship between properties and the atomic weight of elements.” This report gave birth to the periodic table of chemical elements, which each of us remembers from school.
The revolutionary nature of Mendeleev's discovery lay in the fact that the place of an element in the periodic table was determined by the comparison of the totality of its properties with the properties of other elements. Mendeleev's periodic law gave scientists an understanding of a pattern that allows them not only to determine the place of chemical elements in a system, but also to predict the existence of new elements and even give them characteristics.
The discovery of the periodic law prompted researchers to study the structure of the atom.
Monument to D. Mendeleev in Bratislava. Photo: Guillaume Speurt
Russian biologist Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov devoted years of his life to research in the field of epidemiology of cholera, tuberculosis and other infectious diseases.
In 1882, Mechnikov was one of the first in the world to discover the ability of some blood cells (in particular, leukocytes) to dissolve foreign objects. Based on this discovery, the scientist developed the comparative pathology of inflammation and, subsequently, the phagocytic theory of immunity, which brought him worldwide recognition and the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1908.
In addition, Mechnikov is one of the founders of evolutionary embryology.
Image: Wellcome Images
The founder of aerodynamics as a science is considered to be the Russian mechanic Nikolai Egorovich Zhukovsky.
In 1904, Zhukovsky discovered a law that allows one to determine the lifting force of an airplane wing, and then developed the vortex theory of a propeller. His report “On attached vortices” became a kind of impetus for the development of methods for determining the lifting force of an airplane wing.
Later, Zhukovsky headed the aerodynamic laboratory at the Moscow Higher Technical School and founded the Aeronautical Circle, whose members subsequently became such prominent aircraft designers and figures in Russian aviation as V.P. Vetchinkin, B.S. Stechkin, A.A. Arkhangelsky, G.M. Musinyants, B.N. Yuryev and others.
Photo: NASA
We owe the modern method of measuring blood pressure to a Russian doctor, employee of the Imperial Military Medical Academy, Nikolai Sergeevich Korotkov.
Saving the lives of wounded officers during the Russo-Japanese War, Korotkov was the first in world medical practice to use the sound method of measuring pressure. Previously, it was common to measure pressure using a device based on a mercury manometer. Korotkov noticed that by listening to blood vessels using a phonendoscope, it is possible to record sounds that alternate depending on the compression and loosening of the cuff of the device on the patient’s limb. This discovery allowed doctors to take readings using a revolutionary sound method.
By the way, the specific sounds that the doctor listens to and records when measuring blood pressure are called “Korotkoff sounds.”
Photo: jasleen_kaur
The discovery of “stem cells” and methods of using them for medical purposes was a truly revolutionary breakthrough in medicine. The rejuvenating and healing effect that these cells have on the body can safely be called miraculous.
Today, the phrase “stem cell” is familiar to many, but few people know that this term was proposed for widespread use by the Russian histologist Alexander Aleksandrovich Maksimov back in 1909. Maksimov not only introduced the term, but also described hematopoietic stem cells and proved their existence.
Thanks to this discovery, Maksimov became a pioneer in the field of cell biology and set this science a certain vector of development for many years, right up to the present day. Maksimov's works are considered world scientific classics.
Professor of the St. Petersburg Institute of Technology Boris Lvovich Rosing is rightfully considered one of the inventors of television.
The fact is that back in 1907, Rosing received a patent for the “Method of electrically transmitting images over distances,” which he invented. The scientist proved the possibility of converting an electrical signal into visible image points using a cathode ray tube.
Rosing did not limit himself to the theoretical part. A few years later, at a meeting of the Russian Technical Society, he was the first in the world to demonstrate the transmission, reception and reproduction of images of static geometric figures on a CRT screen.
Photo: Stephen Coles
Georgiy Gamow's research is often called the beginning of Big Bang cosmology. His “hot universe” model considers the evolution of the universe to begin with a phase of dense hot plasma consisting of protons, electrons and photons. Nuclear reactions occurred in this hot, dense substance, favoring the synthesis of light chemical elements.
In his theory, Gamow predicted the existence of a cosmic background radiation, which, according to his calculations, should have existed along with hot matter at the dawn of the Universe.
Image: J.Emerson
Talented Russian scientists are directly involved in the development and creation of a prototype of another revolutionary technology - an optical quantum generator, or laser.
The first prototype of a modern laser, called a “maser,” was created in the 1950s by Soviet scientists Nikolai Gennadievich Basov and Alexander Mikhailovich Prokhorov. Around the same years, American physicist Charles Townes was also developing a similar technology.
It is noteworthy that in 1964, all three developers - Basov, Prokhorov and Townes - received the Nobel Prize "for their seminal work in the field of quantum electronics, which made it possible to create oscillators and amplifiers based on the principle of the maser and laser."
Photo: Nikos Koutoulas
In conclusion, I would like to remind readers about one more thing - a little less significant from the point of view of world science, but certainly important and loved by millions of people - a Russian invention.
In 1985, Soviet programmer Alexey Leonidovich Pajitnov invented the most famous and popular computer game in the world - Tetris.
Tetris first appeared on the Elektronika-60 microcomputer. At that time, Alexey Pajitnov was studying artificial intelligence and speech recognition. In his research, he used puzzles, in particular, the so-called “pentamino” - a puzzle in which figures consisting of five squares connected by sides must be placed into one rectangle.
Pajitnov automated the process of assembling the puzzle and transferred it to a computer, slightly modernizing it taking into account the computing power of the existing equipment. This is how “tetromino” appeared - the older brother of “Tetris”. Then the main idea of the game was born: falling figures form rows of rectangles, which subsequently disappear from the screen. Very soon the game became popular not only in Moscow, but throughout the world.
Photo: Aldo Gonzalez
Topic: Greatest inventions to change the world
Topic: Great Inventions That Changed the World
There could not be any development without inventions. Modern world can be called the world of technology, but the way to this title was rather long. Nowadays there are numerous laboratories discovering something new on a daily basis, but there are some inventions that date back centuries, but are still the core of the modern science. Almost all of contemporary discoveries have been based on previous inventions, so we should give credit to those talented inventors, who laid the foundation for our comfort. Let us remember the most crucial inventions and their creators, who paved the way to our easy-going life.
There is no development without inventions. The modern world can be called the world of technology, but the path to this title was quite long. Nowadays, there are many laboratories making discoveries every day, but there are some inventions that date back centuries but are still the core of modern science. Almost all modern discoveries were based on previous inventions, so we should honor those talented inventors who laid the foundation for our comfort. Let's remember the most important inventions and their creators that paved the way for our carefree life.
Wheel is one of the most ancient people's inventions. It is the thing that lets us move nowadays, but became a revolt in manufacturing hundreds of years ago. It is supposed that a wheel was discovered 3,000 years ago by potters and helped to carry different goods. It was a real boost when the wheel was enhanced to the extent that it became a part of the vehicle. The invention of the wheel is a concept that lay grounds for many other inventions we can not live without.
The wheel is one of the oldest inventions of people. This is the thing that allows us to move in our time, but became a stimulus in production hundreds of years ago. It is assumed that the wheel was invented 3000 years ago by potters and helped transport various goods. It was a real boost when wheels were improved to the point where they became part of the vehicle. The invention of the wheel is a concept that lay the foundation for many other inventions that we can no longer live without.
Steam engine invention can be called a key to our modern transportation and industries. Though we use more developed engines nowadays, all of them work in the same way – burning fuel is converted into kinetic energy. James Watt is considered to be a leading inventor of steam engine, but there are numerous successors who were improving it decade after decade. This invention had a dramatic impact on the world industry allowing factories to be free from water power, developing coal industry, increasing the speed of trains and becoming a core of modern transportation system.
The invention of the steam engine can be called the key to our modern transport and industry. Although we use more advanced engines today, they all work the same way - burning fuel is converted into kinetic energy. James Watt is considered the leading inventor of the steam engine, but there are many of his successors who improved his invention decade after decade. This invention had dramatic consequences for global industry by allowing factories to no longer depend on water power, developing the coal industry, increasing the speed of trains and becoming the core of the modern transportation system.
Electric light is another crucial invention that influenced the development of the mankind. Thomas Edison managed to invent a light bulb lasting for 1,500 hours, while William David Coolidge is credited as the inventor of incandescent bulb familiar to us.
Electric lighting is another important invention that influenced the development of mankind. Thomas Edison managed to invent a light bulb that lasted 1,500 hours, while William David Coolidge is considered the inventor of the familiar incandescent light bulb.
Telephone is one more revolutionary idea for people’s communication. Though the idea of it is rather simple, it took many years to realize it in real life. Michael Faraday, Johann Reis, Alexander Graham Bell have worked on the telephone equipment and the last inventor managed to reach his target and even founded the first telephone company. This company is also regarded to have developed the first mobile phones for police and later set the pace for cells development.
The telephone is another revolutionary idea for human communication. Although the idea is quite simple, it took many years to bring it to life in real life. Michael Faraday, Johann Reis, Alexander Graham Bell worked on telephone equipment and the last inventor managed to achieve his goal and even found the first telephone company. This company is also credited with developing the first police cell phones and later helping to develop cell phones.
The television set has greatly changed the world with its appearance. Though all people think that black and white TV is considered to be the first public television, color moving images did not follow behind and appeared before full functionality of black-and-white TV sets. Their appearance changed the way of life of many people, who changed their habits forever in favor of interesting and exciting TV programs.
Television has changed the world a lot with its advent. Although everyone thinks that the black and white television is considered the first public television, color moving pictures were not far behind and predate the fully functional black and white television. Their appearance changed the lifestyle of many people who changed their habits forever in favor of interesting and exciting television programs.
It is impossible not to as one of really impressive inventions. Though its appearance is connected with many names, the concept originates from the 1800s. The greatness of this invention implies the ability to prolong life of many products in cold environment and it has for on a new higher level.
It is impossible not to remember the refrigerator as one of the truly impressive inventions. Although it has many names attached to it, the concept of the refrigerator dates back to the 1800s. The greatness of this invention implied the ability to extend the life of many foods in cold environments, and this gave impetus to the development of the food industry to a new, higher level.
It goes without saying that modern people can’t imagine their life and the Internet. Being a commonplace in most of contemporary homes today, it is quite difficult to imagine that the first computer appeared only about 50 years ago and now it has changed completely. Based on two important innovations such as the integrated circuit and the microprocessor the computer began performing logical calculations and surprised people with its intelligence. The first desktop computer for everyday use was manufactured in 1974 and its popularity was enormous. Apple computers by Stephen Wozniack and Steven Jobs got the first world’s computer system. The next step in computer development was IBM PC with a more powerful and faster processor. Gradually, the competition between companies resulted in a constant development of the machine for this revolutionary invention not to lose its popularity.
It goes without saying that modern people cannot imagine their life without a computer and the Internet. Being a common sight in most modern homes today, it is quite difficult to imagine that the first computer appeared only about 50 years ago and has now completely changed. Based on two important innovations such as the integrated circuit and the microprocessor, the computer began performing logical calculations and surprised people with its intelligence. The first desktop computer for everyday use was manufactured in 1974, and its popularity was enormous. Apple computers, created by Steven Jobs and Stephen Wozniak, became the world's first computer system. The next step in the development of computing technology was the IBM personal computer with a more powerful and faster processor. Gradually, competition between companies led to the constant development of the machine, and now this revolutionary invention does not lose its popularity.
No doubt that the Internet is one of the most recent and essential inventions of the mankind. This network aims at connecting of thousands of other smaller networks that create a global network. in 1973 it was initially used for connecting of University networks and spread to Europe only in 1989. What is the Internet exactly? between various networks established across optical fibers, telephone lines and radio links. Each particular machine has a unique address. The necessary data travels from one gateway to another till its destination machine. The Internet is an indispensable helper with the wealth of diverse information available at the click of a mouse and provided thousands of different opportunities to all people.
There is no doubt that the Internet is one of the latest and most important inventions of mankind. This network aims to connect thousands of other smaller networks that create a global network. It was invented by the Americans in 1973 and was originally intended to connect a university network, and the Internet spread to Europe only in 1989. What is the Internet? This is the interconnection of various networks through optical fibers, telephone lines and radio communications. Each specific machine has a unique address. The necessary data is transferred from one gateway to another to the destination. The Internet is an indispensable assistant not only with a wealth of varied information available at the click of a mouse and a thousand different opportunities for all people.
These are only some of the world's greatest inventions worth mentioning. They have determined the way of human development and set the grounds for further innovations.
These are just a few of the world's greatest inventions that are worth mentioning. They defined the path of human development, and laid the foundation for further innovation.
1918 - Mass spectrometer
University of Chicago professor Arthur Dempster (1886-1950) revolutionized chemical analysis with an instrument that, within minutes, measures the weight of isotopes and detects the chemicals present. The Toronto inventor also discovered uranium-235, a fissile type of heavy metal atom. Later, the scientist participated in the Manhattan Project.
1921 - Tetraethyl lead
The efficiency of carburetor engines directly depends on the compression ratio, but increasing the compression ratio causes misfires -<детонацию>, and this in turn has a harmful effect on the operation of the engine. Thomas Midgley (1889-1944), a laboratory employee in Dayton (Ohio), spent 5 years researching fuel additives that stop detonation. This additive was lead, which was used until recently, until new alternatives gradually replaced this pollutant. Another invention of T. Midgley was freon, a fire-resistant cooler, which has now been replaced by new types of coolers.
1923 - Business management
Alfred P. Sloan (1875-1966), long before Stephen Cowie and Tom Peters, pioneered modern corporate governance. This helped him save the corporation<Дженерал Моторс>from collapse and make it the most powerful in the world. He also applied a type of management with an independent board of directors, executive and financial committees - a balance of power that is now a thing of the past. He empowered business units that had proven financial performance to make decisions, a style that became widespread.
1923 - Multi-plane camera
Walt Disney (1901-1966) and Madame Roy's brother turned a small animation studio into a huge entertainment, from the adventures of Mickey the mouse to live-action films (<Фантазия>, <Золушка>, <Питер Пэн>). Disney's greatest contribution to cinema is considered to be the multi-plane camera. Whereas in the traditional method of animation the cells were located on top of each other, giving little depth to the image, the multi-plane camera placed each cell on a separate level and, thus, the elements of the scene could move independently, closer to reality.
1924 - Mutual fund
L. Sherman Adams, Charles H. Leroyd and Ashton L. Carr founded the Massachusetts Investors Trust, which became the first worldwide unrestricted investment fund with a capital of $50 thousand. Within 5 years, using brokerage channels to access the stock market, the fund increased its assets to $14 million Today, the volume of investments in mutual funds is $6.1 trillion.
1924 - Freezing food
Before Clarence Birdseye (1886-1956), cooking and cryogenics had nothing in common. After leaving college, Birdseye worked as a natural scientist for the American government. In Labrador, his attention was drawn to the method of freezing, which was used by the aborigines to preserve the taste of fresh fish. Experimenting with other foods, Birdseye perfected the freezing process and opened a frozen seafood company in New York in 1924. By 1934, Birdseye's frozen meats and vegetables were filling grocery store refrigerators across the country.
1925 - Bell Telephone Laboratories
Theodore Newton Vail (1845-1920), who retired after his second term as president of ATT, merged the technical departments of ATT and Western Electric. The research results were<обречены>for success: 6 Nobel Prizes and other awards. His name is associated with such achievements as the transistor, the push-button telephone, digital signaling and switching, optical communications and the digital signal processor. Today, Bell Labs has been reduced to a division of Lucent Technologies.
1926 - Rocket engine
Robert Hutchings Goddard (1882-1945) - Clark University physicist. Inspired by H.G. Wells<Война миров>, he devoted much of his professional life to developing mathematical theories of rocket fuel and theorizing that a rocket engine could produce enough thrust to propel it into space. Goddard applied his theories to the launch of the first rocket, which took place in 1926 in a field near Auburn (Massachusetts). The rocket, which looked like a 3-meter projectile with a liquid-fuel engine in the nose, rose only 12 m. This short flight was the first giant step in rocket science.
1927 - Television
At the age of 15, Philo Taylor Farnsworth (1906-1971) presented his chemistry teacher with a project for electronic transmission of images over long distances. Four years later, he developed a cathode ray tube for imaging - a vacuum tube in which phosphorus glowed under the influence of electrons. In 1927, he was the first to transmit an electronic image - a horizontal line. In later life, Farnsworth worked on rocket control systems and nuclear fusion control, but his first invention remained his most significant.
1928 – Penicillin.
After serving in field hospitals for years. During the First World War, Alexander Fleming (1881-1955) persistently but unsuccessfully tried to find a means to combat infections that caused more casualties than weapons. One day, while cleaning out his cluttered laboratory and sorting out old medical glassware, he discovered that mold had killed the staph bacteria. In 1945, he became a Nobel laureate for the discovery of penicillin.
1929 - Synthetic rubber
Belgian Julius Nieuland (1878-1936), a graduate of the Catholic University of Notre Dame, was fond of clothing and artificial fabrics. In 1929, he discovered that acetylene could polymerize into an elastic substance. Two years later, DuPont, which funded the research, advertised the resulting material as neoprene. Synthetic rubber is still used today in cable insulation, diving suits, and refrigerator sealing.
1930 - Jet engine
Sir Frank Whittle (1907-1996), while still a cadet at the Royal Air Force War College, wrote a dissertation that radically changed the future of aircraft manufacturing. He predicted that propeller engines would be replaced by the aircraft engine, using a system of turbines and compressed air to ignite atomized fuel. Whittle patented his work in 1930, but it took another 10 years to get a turbine-powered aircraft into the air. In 1941, during a test flight, the first jet aircraft reached a speed of 595 km/h, which far exceeded the capabilities of a propeller-powered aircraft.
1933 - Frequency modulation
Edwin Howard Armstrong (1890-1954) - creator of modern radio. By 1913, he had found a way to amplify radio signals with a feedback loop. During World War I, he improved reception and tuning of signals using a superheterodyne circuit that converted high-frequency signals to intermediate-frequency signals. His main idea was that data should be transmitted using radio signals that vary in frequency rather than amplitude (AM). This idea made it possible to get rid of most of the interference characteristic of AM radio transmissions. Those who invested heavily in the development of amplitude modulation tried to stop Armstrong, but ultimately victory went to frequency modulation.
1933 – Drywall.
One of the smartest ideas in construction after brick, which was unveiled in 1933, is the plaster blank. This made it possible to reduce the huge costs of interior finishing work. The blank, which is a mixture of recycled paper and a cheap mineral - gypsum, has a low cost. As experts say, this is the dirt between two layers of garbage, for which money is paid. Product invented by U.S. Gypsum (<Гипс>), today many are produced, but the name remains the same - Sheetrock (drywall).
1934 - Investment appraisal
For most of history, investing has been about emotional choices.<куда инвестировать>. Benjamin Graham (1894-1976) and David Dodd (1895-1988), professors at Columbia University, during<большого краха>published a book<Анализ финансовой деятельности компаний>, which became the first rational basis for valuing the stock and bond markets. This work acts as a kind of bible for investors. Warren Buffett is Graham and Dodd's most famous student.
1934 – Nylon.
Due to staff shortages during the First World War, Wallis Hume Carozes (1896-1937), a student at Tarkio College, was assigned to head the chemistry department. He later achieved a professorship at Harvard and then worked at a research center<Дюпон>. There he created the first synthetic fiber. Karozes failed to see the success of nylon, which not only became a replacement for silk stockings, but also found widespread industrial use. In April 1937, in a state of depression, he committed suicide.
1937 - Blood Bank
Bernard Fantouche (1874-1940), captivated by the idea<запасов крови>similar to those provided for wounded soldiers during World War I, created the first blood bank at Cook County Hospital in Chicago.
1937 - Pulse code modulation
Alec H. Reeves (1902-1971), engineer at International Telephone & Telegraph, ushered in the era of digital communications. Reeves developed a communications device that converted audio signals into electronic pulses, transmitted them over regular telephone lines, and then converted the pulses back into an analog signal at the receiving location.
1938 – Xerography.
Chester Floyd Carlson (1906-1968), a New York patent lawyer, was overwhelmed with the work of copying patent applications. In 1934, he began developing a device that could transfer an image from an illuminated photographic plate to a blank sheet of paper. After 4 years he succeeded. In 1946, he made a deal with the Haloid Co., which produced the first commercial copy machine.
1939 - Automatic transmission (AT)
Earl Thompson, owner of an old Fierce-Arrow with a noisy transmission, spent 30 years studying ways to smooth out gear shifts. As a result of his work, Hydra-Matic appeared - the first automatic control system. As soon as Oldsmobile used automatic transmission in its cars in 1940, it immediately received 25 thousand orders. Automatic transmissions were also used by American troops - they were installed in light tanks during the Second World War.
1939 - Helicopter
The practical implementation of Igor Sikorsky's (1889-1972) obsession with vertical flight caused changes in the way warfare, rescue and travel were conducted. Sikorsky, a Russian by birth, fled to the United States to escape the Bolsheviks and the revolution. There he founded the Sikorsky Aero Engineering Corp. (now a division of United Technologies), where he developed the amphibious aircraft and the amphibious aircraft, both types of aircraft that pioneered air travel in South America. In 1931, he patented a helicopter design: a main rotary engine at the top and a vertical rotary engine in the tail, which provided unique maneuverability to the device - a great achievement of the project. In September 1939, he built the first VS-300 helicopter.
In 1935, Sir Robert Watson-Watt (1892-1973), a physicist from Scotland, was accepted into the government physics laboratory, where he developed the first radar technologies. Using a shortwave radio device, he determined how electromagnetic waves should be reflected from distant objects so that they could then be amplified and analyzed by a signal processing device. As a result, the first radar station (RLS) appeared, and with it all modern navigation systems.
1942 - Electronic computer
John W. Atanasoff (1903-1995), a physicist at Iowa State College, sketched the idea for the first computer on a napkin immediately after<вечера с виски и прогулки на автомобиле со скоростью 160км/ч>. The work resulted in such important and still used ideas as regenerative storage, binary arithmetic, and the addition of certain logic gates to create an electronic adding device. He completed his 300-kilogram table-sized device in 1942. Despite the fact that his ideas had already been applied to the ENIAC series computer, Atanasoff was recognized only after a patent hearing in 1973.
1945 - Nuclear energy.
In 4 days in August 1945, the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Japan, killing more than 200 thousand people. Nuclear explosions marked the end of World War II and the beginning of the nuclear age. In 1957, the world's first nuclear reactor was launched in the Shippingport (Pennsylvania) area, which supplied electricity to Pittsburgh and the surrounding areas. But hopes for a complete transition of the United States to nuclear power supply were destined to be dashed due to the accident in the Three Mile Island area in 1979.
1947 - Cell Phone
D.H. Ring, a Bell Labs employee, dreamed of creating a mobile communications system using low-power transmitters located in designated service areas. However, the decision of the US Federal Communications Commission to limit the number of radio frequencies for mobile communications delayed the development of the idea. The decision of the federal commission remained without revision until 1968.
1947 - Microwave oven
Percy L. Spencer (1894-1970), an engineer at Raytheon, brought the kitchen into the space age. In 1945, while standing near the operating magnetron tube, the main component of short-wave radars, Spencer noticed that the chocolate bar in his pocket began to melt. He conducted an experiment with corn kernels, which he placed on a pipe, and made a discovery. In 1947, the world's first microwave oven, the Radarange, appeared.
1947 - Snapshot.
Through his work on light polarization, Edwin Herbert Land (1909-1991) was able to reduce glare in glassware, lamps, and military safety glasses. After working with non-polarizing filters, Land invented a camera that developed photographs in seconds.
1947 - Transistor
John Bardeen and Walter H. Brattain worked under the direction of William R. Shockley at Bell Labs. They noticed that when electrical signals were applied to the contacts of a germanium crystal, the output signal power was higher than the input power. All three received the Nobel Prize for their achievements in physics in 1956.
1947 - Tupperware
Earl Silas Tupper (1907-1983) began developing his commercial talent at the age of 10, when he delivered family-made products to homes. In 1938 he left the company<Дюпон>, where he served as an engineer, and founded Tupper Plastics Co. Tupper developed a method for producing rigid, defatted plastic from black polyethylene slag by refining it. This is how plastic products (Tupperware) appeared: plastic dishes, bowls and cups with sealed, waterproof lids. But his real achievement was the multi-level distribution organization he created from a growing army of housewives.
1948 - Long playing record (LP)
Peter Carl Goldmark (1906-1977) loved music. However, the cellist and pianist from Budapest did not like the short playing time of 78 rpm records. By slowing the record speed down to 33 1/3 rpm and using softer vinyl instead of shellac, Goldmark was able to increase the number of spiral grooves and double the playback time. The long-playing record, or LP, became something of a catalyst for the music industry, as it made it possible to record classical works in their entirety.
1949 - Magnetic core storage device
An Wang (1920-1990), physicist, born in Shanghai. He worked at the Harvard University Computing Laboratory, where he developed<устройство управления передачей импульсов>, the first way to store information on a computer without using large magnetic drums.
His real major breakthrough was the use of electricity to control the polarity of thousands of tiny ring-shaped ferrite magnets. Jay Forrester, a scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, modified magnetic core memory, after which it served as the basis for high-speed computer memory until it was replaced by microprocessors. Wang sold a memory patent to IBM for $400,000. He created his own company, Wang Laboratories, which was the first to produce desktop calculators and mini-computers. Wang Laboratories was actively developing, but after Wang's death it ceased to exist.
1952 - Thorazine (chlorpromazine)
Henri Laboriat (1914-1995), a French-born surgeon, spent many years searching for a way to reduce the suffering of patients after anesthesia. He found a solution: patients were given chlorpromazine (brand name Thorazine) before surgery. He also convinced the son-in-law of one of his colleagues, a psychiatrist, to use this remedy to treat mentally ill patients. As a result, patients who had only walked for a long time were able to communicate with people. The drug blocks dopamine (dopamine), which causes schizophrenia, and patients can live outside the psychiatric hospital. The US Food and Drug Administration approved this drug in 1952.
1954 - FORTRAN programming language
John W. Backus (1924) led a team of engineers at IBM that developed the first high-level programming language. By replacing abstract assembly language with English words and familiar algebraic symbols, Fortran emerged, which became the language of the physical sciences and is the basis of almost every programming language.
1954 - Vaccine against polio.
In 1952, Jonas Salk (1914-1995) and Albert Sabin (1906-1993) worked hard on a vaccine against polio, a virus that causes inflammation of nerve cells in the spinal cord and can cause paralysis, muscle wasting, and death. That same year, 52,000 Americans became infected with polio, of whom about 3,000 died. Salk, an expert on influenza diseases, used his acquaintance with D. Basil O'Connor, president of the National Trust, to create an antiviral vaccine by introducing a virus into the body in sufficient quantities to produce antibodies. Salk tested the effect of the vaccine on himself and members of his family and in March 1953 announced the results on the radio<Си-Би-эС>. A year later, vaccination of the population began, as a result, cases of paralytic outcome from polio fell from 13.9 per 100 thousand in 1954 to 0.5 in 1961. Salk became a hero. He later participated in the work on a vaccine against HIV infection.
Sabin considered oral vaccination more effective. In 1957, field trials of the vaccine were carried out. In June 1961, the American Medical Association approved the Sabin vaccine. From 1962 to 1964, more than 100 million Americans were vaccinated, and by the mid-1960s, the easy-to-use Sabin vaccine became the main vaccine. The disease was eradicated.
1955 - Fast Food
Ray Kroc (1902-1984), despite his thriving milkshake machine business, realized that he could make more money by making hamburgers. In 1955, he opened the first diner<Макдоналдс>in Des Plaines (Illinois). The Golden Arches changed the American landscape and turned restaurants into thriving businesses like Kemmons Wilson's hotels. Kroc became a national figure by making money out of nothing.
1956 - Container transportation
Malcolm McLean (1913-2001), a trucking magnate, was dissatisfied with the pace of shipping across the country and abroad. Changing the design of the truck trailer in the manner of a railway car and a ship's hold made it possible to speed up the loading procedure. The first container cargo ship left New Jersey in 1956, launching a new industry that set a precedent for FedEx.
1956 – Disk drive.
Reynold B. Johnson, an IBM employee, developed the IBM 305 RAMAC (Random Access Controller). The device consisted of 50 rotating magnetic disks with a diameter of 60 cm, which were located one above the other. The read-write mechanism moved between the disks, providing faster access to data than magnetic tape. After the device's capabilities were demonstrated at the World Fair in Brussels in 1958, magnetic tape media was abandoned.
1956 - Optical fiber.
Once, when Narinder Kapani was still living in India, a teacher told him that light can only travel when reflected in a straight line. Kapani took this statement as a challenge. In 1956, he experimentally derived the term<волоконная оптика>: A bundle of flexible glass rods coated with reflective material transmitted an image from one end to the other without distortion and with minimal loss of light. Later to<оптическим волноводам>the laser beam was also carried. However, the development of high-speed fiber optic communications took several decades.
1956 - Ampex VRX-1000.
Charles Paulson Ginsburg (1920-1992) began working for Ampex in 1952. Video recording devices of that time operated at an excessively high speed - 6 m/s, so the consumption of video tape was very high. In his Ampex VRX-1000 device, Ginsburg used recording heads that rotated at high speed, which significantly reduced the speed of the tape mechanism. Ginsburg's invention redefined the future of analog audio and video recorders.
1958 - Implantable electronic pacemaker.
Wilson Greatbatch (1919) accidentally installed the wrong resistor in a heart rate monitor. He noticed that the device's pulse signal began to imitate a heartbeat. After making design changes to the device, he assembled 50 electronic cardiac stimulators in his shed behind his house. Ultimately, the device was tested on dogs and humans.
1958 – Laser.
Three people claim to have each invented the laser, a device for amplifying light through stimulated emission of radiation. However, the patent for the invention belongs to Gordon Good. In the early days, the intense light beam was used to cut and drill metals and other materials. In 1964, Kumar Patel, an employee of Bell Labs, invented the dioxide laser, with which surgeons were able to perform highly complex operations using a photon beam instead of scalpels.
1959 - Triple anchor seat belt.
Nils Bohlin (1920-2002), a Swedish engineer, came to the post of head of the safety department of the Volvo automobile company from Saab Aircraft, where he took part in the work on the pilot ejection device. 14 years before the invention of air bags, he came up with the idea that using a seat belt to hold the upper and lower body of a seated person in place would reduce the number of injuries among drivers and passengers. But it didn't just end with the device: Bohlin had to spend years convincing both car manufacturers and the government to make the seat belt part of standard equipment in cars. According to representatives of the US Department of Transportation, seat belts save the lives of 12 thousand Americans every year.
1959 - Integrated circuit
Robert Noyce (1927-1990), an electrical engineer at Fairchild, and Jack S. Kilby (1923), an electrical engineer at Texas Instruments, are equally credited with creating the major invention of the information technology age. Without knowing each other, they solved the problem of minimizing the discrete elements of a computer circuit board and transferring them to a wafer of silicon (Noyce) and germanium (Kilby). This significantly increased the performance of the computer and at the same time reduced its cost. The two companies eventually agreed to share the patents, but Fairchild was the first to mass produce the chips. The integrated circuit remains the key achievement of the electronics era.
1962 - Telstar 1 satellite.
Thanks to this invention, we can call our cousin/brother in Vilnius, who in turn can watch the US Cup championship in American football. The first commercial communications satellite was designed by John R. Pierce (1910-2002) at Bell Labs. It took $3.5 million to put the satellite into orbit. The device was used to transmit television signals from Europe to the USA and transatlantic telephone communications. Pierce left Bell Labs in 1971 for Stanford University, where he taught and wrote science fiction novels under the name J. J. Capling. He introduced the term<транзистор>, but few people know about this.
1962 – Modem.
Without this device, the Internet is impossible. The device was developed in the 1950s and was intended to improve the quality of data transmission in the US northern air defense system. Using a modem, computers could communicate with each other, and the data was converted into analog signals that were transmitted over telephone lines. AT&T's first commercial modem, the Bell 103, appeared 40 years ago and transmitted data at 300 bps. Modern modems transmit data at speeds of a million bits per second.
1964 - Family of mainframe computers.
IBM's System/360 line of computers included a number of commercial computer models that all used a single programming language. Thus, clients who were promoted in the company only needed to take the software with them. Gene M. Amdahl, the creator of the System/360 line, left IBM in 1970 with the idea of creating a competitive computer model.
1968 - Mouse
At a computer conference in San Francisco, Stanford Research Institute scientist Douglas Engelbart impressed a packed audience with his presentation of a prototype Windows program, teleconferencing, and a wooden device he called a mouse. Two decades later, Engelbart's invention has become a common PC accessory.
1969 – ATM.
For years, bankers have been talking about automated cash machines. Donald Wetzel, a former minor league baseball player and sales executive from IBM, was given credit to develop the first working model of an ATM. The vice president of product planning for Docutel, then a manufacturer of automated baggage handling equipment, installed the first ATM ATM at a Chemical Bank branch on Long Island, New York. The first ATMs operated in autonomous mode. Today, about 1.1 million ATMs are interconnected across the globe. Wetzel left Docutel and created companies that sold banking equipment.
1969 - Charge-coupled device
George Smith and Willard Boyle, scientists at Bell Labs, sketched out the idea of a light-sensitive circuit that could record images in just an hour. Ultimately, the mechanism for storing and transmitting video without using video tape was used in video cameras, and by 1975, Bell Labs produced a broadcast camera. The same operating principle was applied to fax machines and telescopes.
1969 - Internet
Who knew that the military-industrial complex would become the godmother of online pornography? In order for scientists working for the US Armed Forces to communicate with each other via computer, the Arpanet network was created, consisting of two terminals at Stanford and the University of California at Los Angeles. Later, the State Science Foundation, using the same technology, created a network with greater bandwidth, which is still the basis of the Internet today. With the increasing commercialization of the network, Arpanet merged with the Internet.
1970 - Relational database
Edgar F. Ted Codd, a mathematician and graduate of Oxford University, researched computers and developed the concept of a relational database in 1970. Earlier databases were organized in a strict order; Codd's idea was that disparate groups of data could be combined using common fields. However, IBM management supported a more primitive system. However, the relational database is now the standard and the foundation of Larry Ellison's Oracle fortune.
1970 - CD.
James T. Russell (1931), a laboratory physicist at the Battelle Memorial Institute (Richland, Washington) and an audio enthusiast, tried in every possible way to improve the sound of his old vinyl records. He came up with the idea of digitizing music and recording it on a photosensitive disk using light flashes. This would allow the computer to read music without physical contact with the source, which would immediately solve the problem of aging and wear. The first compact discs were from phonograph records. Russell went on to develop CD-ROM (memory reader) technologies, which are now widespread and allow the creation of not only music, but also DVD and software discs. Last year, 3 billion recording discs were sold.
1971 – Microprocessor.
Robert Noyce, a member of Fairchild's integrated circuit design program, co-founded the chip manufacturing company Intel. A group of specialists from this company, led by Marcyan (Ted) Hoff (1937), took another step in the miniaturization of computers by placing the CPU on a single chip. The first model of microprocessor, developed for the Japanese calculator company Busicom, could perform 60 thousand operations per second, just like the 30-ton ENIAC computer created two decades earlier. Try today to give Intel a loan for the development of a microcircuit with the expectation of subsequently buying all the rights (except for the rights to microcircuits for calculators) for $60 thousand.
1971 – Answering machine.
In the 90s of the 19th century, Waldemar Paulsen patented the prototype of a modern answering machine - a telegraph, consisting of a telephone set, a steel wire and an electromagnet. However, a commercial model of the device suitable for sale on the market appeared 7 decades later. PhoneMate's first answering machine, the Model 400, weighed 4 kg and could store up to 20 messages on a reel-to-reel tape. Today, 67% of American households use lighter, cheaper models from PhoneMate.
1972 - Computed tomographic imaging.
For more than 7 decades, doctors used X-rays to penetrate the human body, but could only see the skeleton. Godfrey Honesfield and Allan Cormack, working separately, created a method in which crystals were used instead of X-ray film, a camera rotated around a person, and a computer compared the resulting multiple images. As a result, it was possible to obtain a detailed image of the internal organs of the human body. Shortly thereafter, chemistry professor Paul Lauterber published a paper proposing nuclear magnetic resonance imaging, which led to the development of nuclear magnetic resonance imaging, which provides three-dimensional images of internal organs.
1972 - Ethernet technology.
Robert Metcalfe, an employee at Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center, was responsible for organizing a single, high-speed network. His term (<стандарт локальных сетей>) refers to a system of wires and chips that allow computer systems to communicate with each other locally without jamming each other. His real achievement was Xerox's technology collaboration with Digital Equipment and Intel, which made Ethernet an industry standard and is now the most widely used technology for local area networks. In 1979, Metcalfe founded 3Com to implement Ethernet technology.
1972 - UNIX/C operating system.
The first operating system written in C that is still in use throughout the world. Bell Labs researchers Dennis Ritchie (1941) and Kenneth Thompson (1943) developed a system based on simple discrete commands that was used in multitasking devices and was supported by users: one user could run a spell check while another created a document. Currently, C programming exists in various forms and implementations. Today, UNIX continues to be used to manage most Internet servers and large economic systems.
1972 – Video games.
Nolan Bushnell (1943) came up with another way to keep young people busy: he created Pong, a crude electronic tennis game, a home version of which was released later. Bushnell's Atari game became the top seller in the video game market, but ultimately lost to the game<Пиццерия>. Now Sony and Microsoft have monopolies in the industry that Bushnell started, and their income in the United States exceeds that of the film industry.
1974 - Catalytic exhaust afterburner.
After the US Congress passed the Air Pollution Control Act (1970), Corning scientists Rodney Bagley, Irwin Lachman and Ronald Lewis began developing an idea that allowed automakers to reduce emissions. As a result, scientists have created a ceramic honeycomb coating that is used in car exhaust systems and converts 95% of pollutants into water vapor and carbon dioxide.
1976 - Recombinant DNA.
Robert Swanson, a 29-year-old entrepreneur, and Herbert Boyer, a professor at the University of California (San Francisco), have teamed up to commercialize Boyer's major advances in “recombinant DNA,” a technology that creates combinations of DNA molecules that can be of great benefit to humanity, like insulin. for diabetics, growth hormones for children and antibodies for cancer patients. Two members founded the first biotechnology company, Genentech. The company gained fame in 1980, when its profits amounted to $35 million. Swanson died in 1999. Today the company's market value is $17 billion and sales are $2.2 billion.
1976 - Personal computer.
Apple co-founders Steven P. Jobs (1955) and Stephen Wozniak (1950) made the PC as popular as sports cars, ushering in the PC era. But because the company never seriously pursued the business market, its successes were much more modest than those of its larger competitors, which always adopted Apple's innovations in design and marketing. Wozniak resigned in 1985. That same year, Jobs was forced to leave the company, but in 1997 he was invited to lead the company's transformation.
1977 - Cash management accounts.
After meeting with members of the Stanford Research Institute, Thomas Christie, chief accountant<Мерил Линч>, proposed the idea of a single account, which included the issuance of a checkbook, foreign exchange market services, a Visa credit card and brokerage services. The idea remained without development, and the company<Мерил>I almost forgot about her. Ultimately, the idea spread widely, inspiring those who dreamed of creating megabanks.
1979 - Spreadsheet
Daniel Bricklin (1951) and Bob Frankston (1949) invented the computer program VisiCalc, which freed accountants and other professionals from hours of paperwork by making it easier to record financial data and speed up comparative analysis. The VisiCalc program was in some way a contribution to the computerization process, as it showed the real possibilities of using a PC. Due to legal problems, the VisiCalc program was sold to Lotus, which used a spreadsheet in version 1-2-3 of the program.
1984 - Liquid crystal display.
Liquid crystals, which exist between solid and liquid states, were discovered by the Austrian botanist Friedrich Reinitzer in 1888. After 80 years, two independent groups of scientists from RCA Labs and Kent (Utah) created the first liquid crystal display based on a generalization of the results of the action of electric charges on crystals. In the early days, LCD screens were used in watches. By 1984, it was possible to improve the resolution of liquid crystals, which made it possible to transmit images, and not just text, and laptops and portable computers appeared.
1987 - Mevacor (“Mevacor”).
It took Merck scientists more than 35 years to create Mevacor, a drug that reduces cholesterol in the body. The tablet blocks the enzyme that is responsible for the formation of mevalonic acid, the acid does not affect the liver, and cholesterol is not produced. Led by P. Roy Vagelos, a Merck executive, scientists created Zocor, a second-generation drug, and showed that taking all cholesterol-lowering drugs reduces the risk of heart attack. In 1995, the US Food and Drug Administration approved Zocor as a heart attack preventative, greatly increasing demand for the drug from people who had already suffered a heart attack.
1991 - World Wide Web.
Tim Berners-Lee, a software consultant, developed the Enquire program, which provided a documented connection of computers around the world, making travel through cyberspace a reality. In 1993, Marc Andreessen created the Mosaic program, which allowed you to view images and text. Two years later, Netscape's search engine ushered in the era of Internet advertising.
1995 - Internet business.
Seduced by this new form of business, Jeffrey Bezos began selling books online on Amazon.com, and Pierre Omidyar launched Ebay, an online marketplace. Hundreds of other entrepreneurs followed suit, selling everything from bicycles to chewing gum.
2000 - Automated sequence determination device.
Using 300 high-speed DNA sequencing instruments, genetics guru J. Craig Venter revolutionized the scientific world: his company Celera Genomics managed to decipher the complete human genetic code in just over two years with a budget of $270 million. Studying genetic differences among people will allow scientists to better diagnose and ultimately treat diabetes and schizophrenia.
