The greatest inventors and their inventions. Great inventions of mankind 1 invention

CHAPTER 3 Outstanding Designers

The history of mankind is closely connected with constant progress, the development of technology, new discoveries and inventions. Some technologies are outdated and history, others, such as the wheel or the sail, are still in use today. Countless discoveries were lost in the whirlpool of time, others, not appreciated by contemporaries, were waiting for recognition and implementation for tens and hundreds of years.

Editorial Samogo.Net conducted her own research, designed to answer the question of what inventions are considered by our contemporaries to be the most significant.

Processing and analysis of the results of Internet surveys showed that there is simply no consensus on this matter. Nevertheless, we managed to form a general unique rating of the greatest inventions and discoveries in the history of mankind. As it turned out, despite the fact that science has long gone forward, the basic discoveries in the minds of our contemporaries remain the most significant.

First place indisputably ranked Fire

People early discovered the beneficial properties of fire - its ability to illuminate and warm, to change plant and animal food for the better.

The "wild fire" that flared up during forest fires or volcanic eruptions was terrible for a person, but by bringing fire into his cave, a person "tamed" him and "put" him at his service. Since that time, fire has become a constant companion of man and the basis of his economy. In ancient times, it was an indispensable source of heat, light, a means for cooking, a hunting tool.
However, further cultural gains (ceramics, metallurgy, steelmaking, steam engines, etc.) are due to the comprehensive use of fire.

For long millennia, people used "domestic fire", maintained it from year to year in their caves, before they learned how to get it themselves using friction. This discovery probably happened by chance, after our ancestors learned how to drill wood. During this operation, the wood was heated and, under favorable conditions, ignition could occur. Paying attention to this, people began to widely use friction to make fire.

The simplest method was to take two sticks of dry wood, in one of which a hole was made. The first stick was placed on the ground and pressed against the knee. The second was inserted into the hole, and then they began to quickly rotate between the palms. At the same time, it was necessary to press hard on the stick. The inconvenience of this method was that the palms gradually slipped down. Every now and then I had to lift them up and again continue to rotate. Although, with a certain skill, this can be done quickly, nevertheless, due to constant stops, the process was greatly delayed. It is much easier to make fire by friction, working together. At the same time, one person held the horizontal stick and pressed on top of the vertical one, and the second quickly rotated it between the palms. Later, they began to clasp the vertical stick with a strap, moving which to the right and left, you can speed up the movement, and for convenience, they began to put a bone cap on the upper end. Thus, the entire device for making fire began to consist of four parts: two sticks (fixed and rotating), a strap and a top cap. In this way, it was possible to make fire alone, if you press the lower stick with your knee to the ground, and the cap with your teeth.

And only later, with the development of mankind, other methods of obtaining an open fire became available.

Second place in the responses of the Internet community took Wheel and Wagon

It is believed that its prototype may have been skating rinks, which were placed under heavy tree trunks, boats and stones when they were dragged from place to place. Perhaps at the same time the first observations on the properties of rotating bodies were made. For example, if for some reason the log-skating rink was thinner in the center than at the edges, it moved under the load more evenly and did not drift to the side. Noticing this, people began to deliberately burn the rinks in such a way that the middle part became thinner, while the side ones remained unchanged. Thus, a device was obtained, which is now called a "ramp". In the course of further improvements in this direction, only two rollers at its ends remained from a single log, and an axis appeared between them. Later, they began to be made separately, and then rigidly fastened together. So the wheel was opened in the proper sense of the word and the first wagon appeared.

In subsequent centuries, many generations of craftsmen worked to improve this invention. Initially, solid wheels were rigidly fastened to the axle and rotated with it. When moving on a flat road, such wagons were quite suitable for use. On a bend, when the wheels must turn at different speeds, this connection creates great inconvenience, since a heavily laden wagon can easily break or roll over. The wheels themselves were still very imperfect. They were made from a single piece of wood. Therefore, the wagons were heavy and clumsy. They moved slowly and were usually harnessed to slow but powerful oxen.

One of the oldest carts of the described design was found during excavations in Mohenjo-Daro. A major step forward in the development of locomotion technology was the invention of a wheel with a hub mounted on a fixed axle. In this case, the wheels rotated independently of each other. And so that the wheel would rub less against the axle, they began to lubricate it with grease or tar.

In order to reduce the weight of the wheel, cutouts were cut out in it, and for rigidity they were strengthened with transverse braces. Nothing better could have been invented in the Stone Age. But after the discovery of metals, wheels with a metal rim and spokes began to be made. Such a wheel could rotate ten times faster and was not afraid of hitting stones. Harnessing swift-footed horses to the wagon, a person significantly increased the speed of his movement. Perhaps it is difficult to find another discovery that would give such a powerful impetus to the development of technology.

Third place rightfully occupied Writing

There is no need to talk about the great significance of the invention of writing in the history of mankind. It is impossible to even imagine what path the development of civilization could have taken if, at a certain stage of their development, people had not learned to fix the information they needed with the help of certain symbols and thus transmit and store it. It is obvious that human society in the form in which it exists today simply could not have appeared.

The first forms of writing in the form of signs inscribed in a special way appeared about 4 thousand years BC. But long before that, there were various ways of transmitting and storing information: with the help of branches, arrows, smoke from fires, and similar signals, folded in a certain way. From these primitive warning systems, more sophisticated ways of capturing information later emerged. For example, the ancient Incas invented the original system of "recording" with the help of knots. For this, wool laces of different colors were used. They were tied with various knots and attached to a stick. In this form, the "letter" was sent to the addressee. There is an opinion that the Incas, with the help of such a "knot letter", fixed their laws, wrote down chronicles and poems. "Knot writing" is also noted among other nations - it was used in ancient China and Mongolia.

However, writing in the proper sense of the word appeared only after people invented special graphic signs to fix and transmit information. The most ancient type of writing is pictographic. A pictogram is a schematic drawing that directly depicts the things, events, and phenomena in question. It is assumed that pictography was widespread among various peoples at the last stage of the Stone Age. This letter is very visual, and therefore it does not need to be specially studied. It is quite suitable for transmitting small messages and for recording simple stories. But when there was a need to convey some complex abstract thought or concept, the limited possibilities of the pictogram were immediately felt, which is completely unsuitable for recording what is not amenable to a picturesque image (for example, such concepts as cheerfulness, courage, vigilance, good sleep, heavenly azure, etc.). Therefore, already at an early stage in the history of writing, pictograms began to include special conventional icons denoting certain concepts (for example, the sign of crossed arms symbolized exchange). Such icons are called ideograms. Ideographic writing also arose in pictographic writing, and one can quite clearly imagine how this happened: each pictorial sign of a pictogram became more and more isolated from others and associated with a certain word or concept, denoting it. Gradually, this process developed so much that primitive pictograms lost their former visibility, but gained clarity and certainty. This process took a long time, perhaps several millennia.

Hieroglyphic writing became the highest form of the ideogram. It first appeared in ancient Egypt. Later, hieroglyphic writing became widespread in the Far East - in China, Japan and Korea. With the help of ideograms, it was possible to reflect any, even the most complex and abstract thought. However, for the hieroglyphs not dedicated to the secret, the meaning of what was written was completely incomprehensible. Anyone who wanted to learn how to write had to memorize several thousand icons. In reality, it took several years of constant practice. Therefore, few people knew how to write and read in antiquity.

Only at the end of 2 thousand BC. the ancient Phoenicians invented the alphabetic sound alphabet, which served as a model for the alphabets of many other peoples. The Phoenician alphabet consisted of 22 consonants, each representing a different sound. The invention of this alphabet was a great step forward for mankind. With the help of the new letter, it was easy to convey graphically any word without resorting to ideograms. It was very easy to learn from him. The art of writing has ceased to be the privilege of the enlightened. It has become the property of the whole society, or at least most of it. This was one of the reasons for the rapid spread of the Phoenician alphabet around the world. It is believed that four-fifths of all alphabets known today originated from the Phoenician.

So, Libyan developed from a variety of Phoenician writing (Punic). The Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek writing came directly from the Phoenician. In turn, on the basis of the Aramaic script, Arabic, Nabataean, Syriac, Persian and other scripts developed. The Greeks made the last important improvement to the Phoenician alphabet - they began to designate with letters not only consonants, but also vowels. The Greek alphabet formed the basis of most European alphabets: Latin (from which, in turn, French, German, English, Italian, Spanish and other alphabets originated), Coptic, Armenian, Georgian and Slavic (Serbian, Russian, Bulgarian, etc.).

Fourth place, after writing takes Paper

Its creators were the Chinese. And this is no coincidence. Firstly, China already in ancient times was famous for book wisdom and a complex system of bureaucratic management, which required constant accountability from officials. Therefore, there has always been a need for inexpensive and compact writing material. Before the invention of paper in China, people wrote either on bamboo boards or on silk.

But silk was always very expensive, and bamboo was very bulky and heavy. (An average of 30 hieroglyphs was placed on one board. It is easy to imagine how much space such a bamboo “book” should have taken up. It is no coincidence that they write that a whole cart was required to transport some works.) Secondly, only the Chinese for a long time knew the secret of production silk, and paper business just developed from one technical operation of processing silk cocoons. This operation was as follows. Women engaged in sericulture boiled silkworm cocoons, then, spreading them on a mat, lowered them into water and ground them until a homogeneous mass was formed. When the mass was taken out and the water was strained, silk wool was obtained. However, after such mechanical and heat treatment, a thin fibrous layer remained on the mats, which, after drying, turned into a sheet of very thin paper suitable for writing. Later, women workers began to use defective silkworm cocoons for purposeful papermaking. At the same time, they repeated the process already familiar to them: they boiled the cocoons, washed and crushed them to obtain paper pulp, and finally dried the resulting sheets. Such paper was called "cotton" and was quite expensive, since the raw material itself was expensive.

Naturally, in the end, the question arose: is it possible to make paper only from silk, or can any fibrous raw material, including vegetable origin, be suitable for the preparation of paper pulp? In 105, a certain Cai Lun, an important official at the court of the Han emperor, prepared a new grade of paper from old fishing nets. It was not as good as silk, but was much cheaper. This important discovery had enormous consequences not only for China, but for the whole world - for the first time in history, people received first-class and affordable writing material, an equivalent replacement for which is not to this day. The name of Cai Lun is therefore rightfully included among the names of the greatest inventors in the history of mankind. In the following centuries, several important improvements were made to the paper-making process, which allowed it to develop rapidly.

In the 4th century, paper completely replaced bamboo planks from use. New experiments have shown that paper can be made from cheap vegetable raw materials: tree bark, reed and bamboo. The latter was especially important, since bamboo grows in China in large quantities. Bamboo was split into thin slivers, soaked with lime, and the resulting mass was then boiled for several days. The filtered thick was kept in special pits, carefully ground with special beaters and diluted with water until a sticky, mushy mass was formed. This mass was scooped up using a special form - a bamboo sieve, mounted on a stretcher. A thin layer of the mass along with the form was placed under the press. Then the form was pulled out and only a paper sheet remained under the press. The pressed sheets were removed from the sieve, folded into a pile, dried, smoothed and cut to size.

Over time, the Chinese have achieved the highest art in paper making. For several centuries, they, as usual, carefully kept the secrets of paper production. But in 751, during a clash with the Arabs in the foothills of the Tien Shan, several Chinese masters were captured. From them, the Arabs learned to make paper themselves and for five centuries sold it very profitably to Europe. The Europeans were the last of the civilized nations to learn how to make paper themselves. The Spaniards were the first to adopt this art from the Arabs. In 1154, paper production was established in Italy, in 1228 in Germany, in 1309 in England. In subsequent centuries, paper has received the widest distribution throughout the world, gradually conquering more and more new areas of application. Its significance in our life is so great that, according to the well-known French bibliographer A. Sim, our era can rightly be called the "paper era."

Fifth place occupied Gunpowder and Firearms

The invention of gunpowder and its distribution in Europe had enormous consequences for the further history of mankind. Although the Europeans were the last of the civilized peoples to learn how to make this explosive mixture, it was they who were able to derive the greatest practical benefit from its discovery. The rapid development of firearms and the revolution in military affairs were the first consequences of the spread of gunpowder. This, in turn, led to profound social changes: knights clad in armor and their impregnable castles were powerless before the fire of cannons and arquebuses. Feudal society was dealt a blow from which it could no longer recover. In a short time, many European powers overcame feudal fragmentation and turned into powerful centralized states.

There are few inventions in the history of technology that would lead to such grandiose and far-reaching changes. Before gunpowder became known in the West, it already had a long history in the East, and was invented by the Chinese. Saltpeter is the most important component of gunpowder. In some areas of China, it was found in its native form and looked like flakes of snow that powdered the ground. Later it was discovered that saltpeter is formed in areas rich in alkalis and decaying (nitrogen-supplying) substances. When kindling a fire, the Chinese could observe flashes that arose during the burning of saltpeter with coal.

For the first time, the properties of saltpeter were described by the Chinese physician Tao Hong-jing, who lived at the turn of the 5th and 6th centuries. Since that time, it has been used as an ingredient in some medicines. Alchemists often used it when conducting experiments. In the 7th century, one of them, Sun Si-miao, prepared a mixture of sulfur and saltpeter, adding to them a few shares of the locust tree. While heating this mixture in a crucible, he suddenly received a violent flash of flame. He described this experience in his treatise Dan Ching. It is believed that Sun Si-miao prepared one of the first samples of gunpowder, which, however, did not yet have a strong explosive effect.

Later, the composition of gunpowder was improved by other alchemists, who experimentally established its three main components: coal, sulfur and potassium nitrate. The medieval Chinese could not scientifically explain what kind of explosive reaction occurs when gunpowder is ignited, but they soon learned to use it for military purposes. True, in their lives gunpowder did not at all have that revolutionary influence that it later had on European society. This is explained by the fact that the masters have been preparing a powder mixture from unrefined components for a long time. Meanwhile, crude saltpeter and sulfur containing foreign impurities did not give a strong explosive effect. For several centuries, gunpowder was used exclusively as an incendiary agent. Later, when its quality improved, gunpowder was used as an explosive in the manufacture of land mines, hand grenades and explosives.

But even after that, for a long time they did not guess to use the power of the gases that arose during the combustion of gunpowder to throw bullets and nuclei. Only in the XII-XIII centuries, the Chinese began to use weapons that very vaguely resembled firearms, but they invented firecrackers and rockets. The Arabs and Mongols learned the secret of gunpowder from the Chinese. In the first third of the 13th century, the Arabs achieved great skill in pyrotechnics. They used saltpeter in many compounds, mixing it with sulfur and coal, adding other components to them and making fireworks of amazing beauty. From the Arabs, the composition of the powder mixture became known to European alchemists. One of them, Mark the Greek, already in 1220 wrote down in his treatise a recipe for gunpowder: 6 parts of saltpeter to 1 part of sulfur and 1 part of coal. Later, Roger Bacon wrote quite accurately about the composition of gunpowder.

However, about a hundred years passed before this recipe ceased to be a secret. This second discovery of gunpowder is associated with the name of another alchemist, the Feiburg monk Berthold Schwarz. Once he began to grind a crushed mixture of saltpeter, sulfur and coal in a mortar, as a result of which an explosion occurred that scorched Berthold's beard. This or another experience gave Berthold the idea to use the power of powder gases to throw stones. It is believed that he made one of the first artillery pieces in Europe.

Gunpowder was originally a fine floury powder. It was not convenient to use it, because when charging guns and arquebuses, the powder pulp stuck to the walls of the barrel. Finally, it was noticed that powder in the form of lumps was much more convenient - it was easily loaded and, when ignited, gave off more gases (2 pounds of powder in lumps gave a greater effect than 3 pounds in pulp).

In the first quarter of the 15th century, for convenience, they began to use grain gunpowder, which was obtained by rolling powder pulp (with alcohol and other impurities) into dough, which was then passed through a sieve. So that the grains do not fray during transportation, they learned how to polish them. To do this, they were placed in a special drum, during the spinning of which the grains hit and rubbed against each other and compacted. After processing, their surface became smooth and shiny.

Sixth place ranked in the polls : telegraph, telephone, internet, radio and other types of modern communication

Until the middle of the 19th century, the only means of communication between the European continent and England, between America and Europe, between Europe and the colonies, was steamship mail. Incidents and events in other countries were learned with a delay of whole weeks, and sometimes even months. For example, news from Europe to America was delivered in two weeks, and this was not the longest time yet. Therefore, the creation of the telegraph met the most urgent needs of mankind.

After this technical novelty appeared in all parts of the world and telegraph lines circled the globe, it took only hours, and sometimes minutes, for the news on electrical wires from one hemisphere to rush to the other. Political and stock reports, personal and business messages on the same day could be delivered to interested parties. Thus, the telegraph should be attributed to one of the most important inventions in the history of civilization, because with it the human mind won the greatest victory over distance.

With the invention of the telegraph, the problem of transmitting messages over long distances was solved. However, the telegraph could only send written dispatches. Meanwhile, many inventors dreamed of a more perfect and communicative method of communication, with the help of which it would be possible to transmit the live sound of human speech or music over any distance. The first experiments in this direction were undertaken in 1837 by the American physicist Page. The essence of Page's experiments was very simple. He assembled an electrical circuit, which included a tuning fork, an electromagnet, and galvanic cells. During its oscillations, the tuning fork quickly opened and closed the circuit. This intermittent current was transmitted to an electromagnet, which just as quickly attracted and released a thin steel rod. As a result of these vibrations, the rod produced a singing sound similar to that of a tuning fork. Thus, Page showed that it is possible in principle to transmit sound using electric current, it is only necessary to create more advanced transmitting and receiving devices.

And later, as a result of long searches, discoveries and inventions, a mobile phone, television, the Internet and other means of communication of mankind appeared, without which it is impossible to imagine our modern life.

Seventh place in the top 10 according to the polls Automobile

The automobile is one of those greatest inventions, which, like the wheel, gunpowder or electric current, had a colossal influence not only on the era that gave birth to them, but also on all subsequent times. Its multifaceted impact goes far beyond the transport sector. The automobile shaped modern industry, spawned new branches of industry, arbitrarily rebuilt production itself, for the first time giving it a mass, serial and in-line character. It transformed the appearance of the planet, which was surrounded by millions of kilometers of highways, put pressure on the environment and even changed human psychology. The influence of the car is now so multifaceted that it is felt in all spheres of human life. He became, as it were, a visible and visual embodiment of technical progress in general, with all its advantages and disadvantages.

There were many amazing pages in the history of the car, but perhaps the brightest of them dates back to the first years of its existence. One cannot help but be struck by the speed with which this invention went from appearance to maturity. It took only a quarter of a century for the car to turn from a capricious and still unreliable toy into the most popular and widespread vehicle. Already at the beginning of the 20th century, it was basically identical to a modern car.

The immediate predecessor of the gasoline car was the steam car. The first practical steam car is considered to be a steam cart built by the Frenchman Cugnot in 1769. Carrying up to 3 tons of cargo, she moved at a speed of only 2-4 km / h. She also had other shortcomings. The heavy vehicle did not obey the helm very well, constantly ran into the walls of houses and fences, causing destruction and suffering considerable damage. The two horsepower that her engine developed was hard to come by. Despite the large volume of the boiler, the pressure dropped rapidly. Every quarter of an hour, to maintain pressure, it was necessary to stop and kindle the firebox. One of the trips ended in a boiler explosion. Fortunately, Kuno himself survived.

Cugno's followers were more fortunate. In 1803, Trivaitik, already known to us, built the first steam car in Great Britain. The car had huge rear wheels about 2.5 m in diameter. A cauldron was attached between the wheels and the rear of the frame, which was served by a stoker standing on the back. The steam car was equipped with a single horizontal cylinder. From the piston rod through the connecting rod-crank mechanism, the drive gear rotated, which was engaged with another gear mounted on the axis of the rear wheels. The axis of these wheels was pivotally connected to the frame and turned with a long lever by the driver, sitting on a high irradiation. The body was suspended on high C‑shaped springs. With 8-10 passengers, the car reached speeds of up to 15 km / h, which, of course, was a very good achievement for that time. The appearance of this amazing car on the streets of London attracted a lot of onlookers who did not hide their delight.

The car in the modern sense of the word appeared only after the creation of a compact and economical internal combustion engine, which made a real revolution in transport technology.
The first gasoline-powered car was built in 1864 by the Austrian inventor Siegfried Markus. Fascinated by pyrotechnics, Marcus once set fire to a mixture of gasoline and air vapors with an electric spark. Struck by the force of the ensuing explosion, he decided to create an engine that would use this effect. In the end, he managed to build a two-stroke gasoline engine with electric ignition, which he installed in an ordinary wagon. In 1875, Marcus created a more advanced car.

The official glory of the inventors of the car belongs to two German engineers - Benz and Daimler. Benz designed two-stroke gas engines and was the owner of a small plant for their production. The engines were in good demand and Benz's business flourished. He had enough funds and leisure for other developments. Benz's dream was to create a self-propelled carriage with an internal combustion engine. Benz's own engine, like Otto's four-stroke engine, was not suitable for this, since they had a low speed (about 120 revolutions per minute). With a slight decrease in the number of revolutions, they stalled. Benz understood that a car equipped with such an engine would stop in front of every bump. What was needed was a high-speed engine with a good ignition system and an apparatus for the formation of a combustible mixture.

Cars improved rapidly Back in 1891, Edouard Michelin, the owner of a rubber products factory in Clermont-Ferrand, invented a removable pneumatic tire for a bicycle (a Dunlop tube was poured into the tire and glued to the rim). In 1895, the production of removable pneumatic tires for cars began. For the first time these tires were tested in the same year at the Paris-Bordeaux-Paris race. The Peugeot equipped with them hardly reached Rouen, and then was forced to retire, as the tires were constantly punctured. Nevertheless, experts and motorists were amazed at the smoothness of the car and the comfort of driving it. Since that time, pneumatic tires have gradually come into life, and all cars began to be equipped with them. The winner of these races was again Levassor. When he stopped the car at the finish line and stepped on the ground, he said: “It was crazy. I was doing 30 kilometers per hour!” Now at the finish line there is a monument in honor of this significant victory.

Eighth place - Light bulb

In the last decades of the 19th century, electric lighting entered the life of many European cities. Appearing first on the streets and squares, it very soon penetrated into every house, into every apartment and became an integral part of the life of every civilized person. It was one of the most important events in the history of technology, with enormous and manifold consequences. The rapid development of electric lighting led to mass electrification, a revolution in energy and major shifts in industry. However, all this might not have happened if the efforts of many inventors had not created such a common and familiar device for us as an electric light bulb. Among the greatest discoveries of human history, she undoubtedly belongs to one of the most honorable places.

In the 19th century, two types of electric lamps became widespread: incandescent and arc lamps. Arc light bulbs appeared a little earlier. Their glow is based on such an interesting phenomenon as the voltaic arc. If you take two wires, connect them to a sufficiently strong current source, connect them, and then push them a few millimeters apart, then something like a flame with a bright light is formed between the ends of the conductors. The phenomenon will be more beautiful and brighter if two pointed carbon rods are used instead of metal wires. With a sufficiently large voltage between them, a light of dazzling power is formed.

For the first time, the phenomenon of a voltaic arc was observed in 1803 by the Russian scientist Vasily Petrov. In 1810, the English physicist Devi made the same discovery. Both of them obtained a voltaic arc, using a large battery of cells, between the ends of charcoal rods. Both of them wrote that the voltaic arc can be used for lighting purposes. But first it was necessary to find a more suitable material for the electrodes, since the charcoal rods burned out in a few minutes and were of little use for practical use. Arc lamps had another inconvenience - as the electrodes burned out, it was necessary to constantly move them towards each other. As soon as the distance between them exceeded a certain permissible minimum, the light of the lamp became uneven, it began to flicker and went out.

Foucault, a French physicist, designed the first manually adjustable arc lamp in 1844. He replaced charcoal with hard coke sticks. In 1848, he first used an arc lamp to illuminate one of the Parisian squares. It was a short and very expensive experience, since a powerful battery served as a source of electricity. Then various devices were invented, controlled by a clockwork, which automatically shifted the electrodes as they burned.
It is clear that from the point of view of practical use, it was desirable to have a lamp that was not complicated by additional mechanisms. But was it possible to do without them? It turned out that yes. If two coals are placed not opposite each other, but in parallel, moreover, so that an arc can form only between their two ends, then with this device the distance between the ends of the coals is always kept unchanged. The design of such a lamp seems very simple, but its creation required great ingenuity. It was invented in 1876 by the Russian electrical engineer Yablochkov, who worked in Paris in the workshop of Academician Breguet.

In 1879, the famous American inventor Edison took up the improvement of the electric light bulb. He understood that in order for the light bulb to shine brightly and for a long time and have an even, unblinking light, it is necessary, firstly, to find a suitable material for the thread, and, secondly, to learn how to create a very rarefied space in the balloon. A lot of experiments were done with various materials, which were set up with Edison's characteristic scope. It is estimated that his assistants tested at least 6,000 different substances and compounds, while more than 100 thousand dollars were spent on experiments. At first, Edison replaced the brittle paper charcoal with a more durable one made from coal, then he began to experiment with various metals, and finally settled on a thread of charred bamboo fibers. In the same year, in the presence of three thousand people, Edison publicly demonstrated his electric light bulbs, illuminating his house, laboratory and several adjacent streets with them. It was the first long life light bulb suitable for mass production.

penultimate, ninth place in our top 10 are antibiotics, and in particular - penicillin

Antibiotics are one of the most remarkable inventions of the 20th century in the field of medicine. Modern people are far from always aware of how much they owe to these medicinal preparations. Mankind in general very quickly gets used to the amazing achievements of its science, and sometimes it takes some effort to imagine life as it was, for example, before the invention of television, radio or steam locomotive. Just as quickly, a huge family of various antibiotics entered our lives, the first of which was penicillin.

Today it seems surprising to us that back in the 30s of the 20th century, tens of thousands of people died every year from dysentery, that pneumonia in many cases ended in death, that sepsis was a real scourge of all surgical patients, who died in large numbers from blood poisoning, that typhus was considered the most dangerous and incurable disease, and pneumonic plague inevitably led the patient to death. All these terrible diseases (and many others, previously incurable, such as tuberculosis) were defeated by antibiotics.

Even more striking is the effect of these drugs on military medicine. It is hard to believe, but in previous wars, most soldiers died not from bullets and shrapnel, but from purulent infections caused by wounds. It is known that in the space around us there are myriads of microscopic organisms of microbes, among which there are many dangerous pathogens.

Under normal conditions, our skin prevents their penetration into the body. But during the injury, dirt entered the open wounds along with millions of putrefactive bacteria (cocci). They began to multiply with tremendous speed, penetrated deep into the tissues, and after a few hours no surgeon could save a person: the wound festered, the temperature rose, sepsis or gangrene began. A person died not so much from the wound itself, but from wound complications. Medicine was powerless before them. At best, the doctor managed to amputate the affected organ and thus stopped the spread of the disease.

To deal with wound complications, it was necessary to learn how to paralyze the microbes that cause these complications, to learn how to neutralize the cocci that got into the wound. But how can this be achieved? It turned out that it is possible to fight against microorganisms directly with their help, since some microorganisms in the course of their life activity secrete substances capable of destroying other microorganisms. The idea of ​​using microbes to fight germs dates back to the 19th century. Thus, Louis Pasteur discovered that anthrax bacilli die under the action of some other microbes. But it is clear that the solution of this problem required a lot of work.

Over time, after a series of experiments and discoveries, penicillin was created. Penicillin seemed like a real miracle to seasoned field surgeons. He cured even the most seriously ill patients who were already ill with blood poisoning or pneumonia. The creation of penicillin turned out to be one of the most important discoveries in the history of medicine and gave a huge impetus to its further development.

Well, the last tenth place in the survey results took Sail and ship

It is believed that the prototype of the sail appeared in ancient times, when a person just started building boats and dared to go to sea. In the beginning, the sail was simply a stretched animal skin. The person standing in the boat had to hold it with both hands and orient it relative to the wind. When people came up with the idea of ​​strengthening the sail with the help of a mast and yards, it is not known, but already on the oldest images of the ships of the Egyptian Queen Hatshepsut that have come down to us, you can see wooden masts and yards, as well as stays (cables that keep the mast from falling back), halyards (tackle for lifting and lowering sails) and other rigging.

Therefore, the appearance of a sailing ship must be attributed to prehistoric times.

There is much evidence that the first large sailing ships appeared in Egypt, and the Nile was the first deep river on which river navigation began to develop. Every year from July to November, the mighty river overflowed its banks, flooding the entire country with its waters. Villages and cities were cut off from each other like islands. Therefore, ships were a vital necessity for the Egyptians. In the economic life of the country and in communication between people, they played a much greater role than wheeled carts.

One of the earliest types of Egyptian ships, which appeared about 5 thousand years BC, was the barge. It is known to modern scientists from several models installed in ancient temples. Since Egypt is very poor in forests, papyrus was widely used to build the first ships. The features of this material determined the design and shape of ancient Egyptian ships. It was a sickle-shaped boat, bound from bundles of papyrus, with a bow and stern curved upward. To give the ship strength, the hull was pulled together with cables. Later, when regular trade with the Phoenicians was established and Lebanese cedar began to arrive in Egypt in large quantities, the tree began to be widely used in shipbuilding.

An idea of ​​what types of ships were built at that time is given by the wall reliefs of the necropolis near Saqqara, dating back to the middle of the 3rd millennium BC. These compositions realistically depict individual stages in the construction of a plank ship. The hulls of the ships, which had neither a keel (in ancient times it was a beam lying at the base of the bottom of the vessel), nor frames (transverse curved beams that ensure the strength of the sides and bottom), were recruited from simple dies and caulked with papyrus. The hull was strengthened by means of ropes that fitted the vessel along the perimeter of the upper plating belt. Such vessels hardly had good seaworthiness. However, they were quite suitable for swimming on the river. The straight sail used by the Egyptians allowed them to sail only with the wind. The rigging was attached to a bipedal mast, both legs of which were set perpendicular to the ship's midline. At the top, they were tightly bound. The beam device in the ship's hull served as a step (nest) for the mast. In the working position, this mast was held by stays - thick cables that went from the stern and bow, and legs supported it towards the sides. The rectangular sail was attached to two yards. With a side wind, the mast was hastily removed.

Later, by about 2600 BC, the bipedal mast was replaced by the one-legged one that is still used today. The one-legged mast made sailing easier and for the first time gave a ship the ability to maneuver. However, a rectangular sail was an unreliable means that could only be used with a fair wind.

The main engine of the ship was the muscular strength of the rowers. Apparently, the Egyptians own an important improvement of the oar - the invention of oarlocks. They did not yet exist in the Old Kingdom, but then the oar began to be fastened with rope loops. This immediately allowed to increase the power of the stroke and the speed of the vessel. It is known that the elite rowers on the ships of the pharaohs did 26 strokes per minute, which allowed them to reach a speed of 12 km / h. They controlled such ships with the help of two steering oars located at the stern. Later, they began to be attached to a beam on the deck, by rotating which it was possible to choose the desired direction (this principle of steering the ship by turning the rudder blade remains unchanged to this day). The ancient Egyptians were not good sailors. On their ships, they did not dare to go to the open sea. However, along the coast, their merchant ships made long journeys. So, in the temple of Queen Hatshepsut there is an inscription reporting on a sea voyage made by the Egyptians around 1490 BC. to the mysterious country of incense Punt, located in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bmodern Somalia.

The next step in the development of shipbuilding was taken by the Phoenicians. Unlike the Egyptians, the Phoenicians had an abundance of excellent building material for their ships. Their country stretched in a narrow strip along the eastern shores of the Mediterranean. Extensive cedar forests grew here almost at the very shore. Already in ancient times, the Phoenicians learned how to make high-quality dugout single-deck boats from their trunks and boldly went out to sea on them.

At the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC, when maritime trade began to develop, the Phoenicians began to build ships. A marine vessel is significantly different from a boat; its construction requires its own design solutions. The most important discoveries along this path, which determined the entire subsequent history of shipbuilding, belong to the Phoenicians. Perhaps the skeletons of animals led them to the idea of ​​installing stiffening ribs on one-poles, which were covered with boards on top. So for the first time in the history of shipbuilding, frames were used, which are still widely used.

In the same way, the Phoenicians first built a keel ship (originally, two trunks connected at an angle served as a keel). The keel immediately gave the hull stability and made it possible to establish longitudinal and transverse bracing. Sheathing boards were attached to them. All these innovations were the decisive basis for the rapid development of shipbuilding and determined the appearance of all subsequent ships.

Other inventions in various fields of science, such as: chemistry, physics, medicine, education and others, were also recalled.
After all, as we said earlier, this is not surprising. After all, any discovery or invention is another step into the future, which improves our life, and often prolongs it. And if not every, then very, very many discoveries deserve to be called great and are extremely necessary in our life.

Alexander Ozerov, based on the book by Ryzhkov K.V. "One Hundred Great Inventions"

The greatest discoveries and inventions of mankind © 2011

The history of inventions includes everything that has been created by man over thousands of years of existence, but we want to highlight the most important inventions of mankind. Along with the physiology of man, his intellect has also evolved. Of course, it is very difficult to choose the most important and necessary from the huge number and variety of human inventions, but we still made our rating of the 12 most important inventions in the history of mankind.

12

There are many persistent opinions that gunpowder was invented in China. Its appearance led to the invention of fireworks and early firearms. Since the beginning of time, people have divided territories and defended them, and for this they always needed some kind of weapon. First there were sticks, then axes, then bows, and after the advent of gunpowder, firearms. Now many types of weapons have been created for military purposes, from simple pistols to the latest intercontinental missiles that are launched from a submarine. In addition to the army, weapons are also used by civilians both for their own protection and protection of anything, and for hunting.

11

It is difficult to imagine the modern world without cars. People ride them to work, to the country, on vacation, for groceries, to movies and restaurants. Different types of cars are used to deliver goods, build structures and for many other purposes. The first cars looked like carriages without horses and did not move at a very high speed. Now there are both simple cars for the middle class, and those standing like a house, accelerating to 300 kilometers per hour. The modern world simply cannot be imagined without a car.

10

Mankind has been going to the creation of the Internet for many years, inventing new and new means of communication. Even 20 years ago, a little more than 100,000 people had the Internet, and now it is available in almost all more or less large settlements. Through the Internet, you can communicate both by letters and visually, you can find almost any information on the Internet, you can work through the Internet, order products, things and services. The Internet is a window to the world through which you can not only receive information, communicate and play, but also earn money, make purchases and read this site. ;)

9

Even some 15 years ago, in order to communicate with someone at a distance, you had to go home and call a landline phone or look for the nearest phone booth and coins or tokens for a call. If you were on the street, and you urgently needed to call an ambulance or firefighters, you had to scream in the hope that someone from the nearest houses would hear and call the right place, or quickly run and look for a phone to call. Even children always had to go around friends and personally find out if they would go for a walk or not, since even at home many did not have a telephone. Now, almost anywhere you can call anywhere. A mobile phone is the freedom to communicate, wherever you are.

8

The computer has now replaced for many such items as a TV, video or DVD player, telephone, books and even a ballpoint pen. Now with the help of a computer you can write books, communicate with people, watch movies, listen to music, find the information you need. What am I telling you, you yourself know everything! In addition to domestic use, computers are used for various research and development, facilitating and improving the work of many enterprises and mechanisms. The modern world is simply impossible to imagine without computers.

7

The invention of cinema was the beginning of the cinema and television that we have today. The first ones were black and white and without sound, they appeared only a few decades after photography. Cinema today is an incredible spectacle. Thanks to the hundreds of people working on it, the CGI, the sets, the make-up, and so many other ways and technologies, cinema can now feel like a fairy tale. Television, portable video cameras, surveillance cameras, and in general everything connected with video exists thanks to the invention of cinema.

6

A simple landline phone is higher than a mobile phone in our ranking because for the time when the phone was invented, it was a huge breakthrough. Prior to the telephone, communication was possible only by letters by mail, telegraph or carrier pigeons. :) Thanks to the phone, people no longer had to wait several weeks for an answer to a letter, they didn't have to go somewhere or go somewhere to say or find out something. Creating a telephone not only saved time, but also energy.

5

Before the invention of the electric light bulb, people sat in the dark in the evenings or lit candles, oil lamps, or some kind of torches, as in ancient times. The invention of the light bulb made it possible to get rid of the danger posed by lighting “devices” using fire. Thanks to the electric bulb, the rooms began to be illuminated well and evenly. Now we understand how important a light bulb is only when we turn off the electricity.

4

Before the invention of antibiotics, some diseases that are now treated at home could kill a person. The development and production of antibiotics began actively at the end of the 19th century. The invention of antibiotics has helped man overcome many diseases that were previously considered incurable. Back in the 30s of the 20th century, dysentery claimed tens of thousands of human lives every year. There was also no cure for pneumonia, sepsis, typhoid. A person could not defeat pneumonic plague in any way, it always led to death. With the invention of antibiotics, many serious diseases are no longer afraid of us.

3

At first glance, you can’t say that the wheel is a very important invention, but it was thanks to this device that many other inventions, such as the car or train, were created. The wheel significantly reduces the energy costs for moving the load. Thanks to the invention of the wheel, not only transport was improved. Man began to build roads, the first bridges appeared. Everything, from carts to, moves thanks to the wheel. Even elevators and mills work thanks to the wheel. If you think a little, you can understand the full scale of the use of this simple ancient invention and all its importance.

2

In second place in our rating is the second most ancient and frequency of use method of transmitting information. Thanks to writing, we can learn history, read books, write SMS, learn new information and learn. Ancient writings found in Egyptian and Mexican pyramids provide insight into the way of life of ancient civilizations. Now we need writing for almost everything. Working in the office, relaxing with an interesting book, having fun at the computer, learning - all this is possible thanks to writing.

1

The first place is occupied by the most ancient and frequently used method of transmitting information. Without language, there would be nothing. People simply could not understand each other, as it was many thousands of years ago, when humanity was still at the first stages of its development. Today exist with dozens of dialects in each. Most of them are no longer used, many are used in distant corners of the world by various tribes. Thanks to language we understand each other, thanks to it we develop as a civilization and thanks to it you can learn about the 12 most important inventions of man! ;)

You can argue for a long time about who is the greatest inventor in the history of mankind. Many people claim this title without actually inventing anything of their own, but only improving other people's inventions. The inclusion of such persons in the list of the most-most would be wrong.

Let's try to abstract from personal predilections and create a truly objective list. For those who got into it, it was not necessary to create a significant number of discoveries. After all, there are inventors who have thousands of patents, but they all involve minor variations on the same device or are concentrated in one narrow area.

We tried to select those representatives of science whose inventions turned out to be the most significant, having had the maximum impact on society. At the same time, the ideas of scientists were often ahead of the technical capabilities of their time.

Archimedes. Why was the ancient Greek scientist in the first place? First of all, because he is considered one of the greatest mathematicians of all time, coming close to calculating the number "Pi". Today, all schoolchildren and students daily study and use the discoveries of this Greek. Archimedes was also famous for inventing many useful machines. These include siege weapons and mirrors that set fire to the sails on Roman ships by focusing the sun's rays. Archimedes was the first theoretician of mechanics. For example, he laid out a complete theory of leverage, putting it into practice. The scientist also developed an Archimedean screw (auger), with the help of which water is scooped out to this day. The primacy of this inventor is deserved - after all, all this was discovered more than two thousand years ago, when there were neither computers nor the technologies that inventors have today. Archimedes may have studied in the libraries of Alexandria, but most of his knowledge was acquired by himself.

Nikola Tesla. Recently, there has been a surge of interest in this scientist, who was little known during his lifetime and died almost in oblivion. The Serbian, who was something of a recluse and mad scientist, can be considered today the most responsible for the emergence of commercial electricity on the planet. Although Tesla's fame is associated with his work in the field of electromagnetism, he has patents and theoretical works that formed the basis of modern alternating current and electrical systems, including the polyphase system. It was this part of the scientist's discoveries that ushered in the second industrial revolution. Tesla is associated with the foundations of robotics, laid the foundations for remote control, radar and computer science, his works relate to ballistics, nuclear and theoretical physics. Some believe that the scientist was even able to discover anti-gravity and teleportation, but this, of course, remains unproven. In any case, Tesla, with 111 patents, remains one of the best and most innovative minds in history, recognized only by posterity.

Thomas Edison. It will surprise many that the most prolific inventor in modern history, with over a thousand patents, is not ranked first. We know Edison as the inventor of the electric light bulb, the phonograph, and the kinetoscope (a device for showing moving pictures). The inventor electrified the whole of New York, and he is not the first on our list? No one denies Edison's talents, however, many of his famous discoveries were developed by other organizations or engineers working for him. As a result, Thomas was responsible for the work of a whole team of researchers, but he still cannot be called the main inventor. However, Edison had the unpleasant property of breaking agreements without paying employees, but was it possible to be perfect at that time? Although the inventor was not personally responsible for everything that came out of his laboratory in Menlo Park, he was undoubtedly a master [email protected] and oversaw the creation and production of many of the greatest discoveries of the nineteenth century. Edison himself was distinguished by extreme efficiency and dedication, right up to his very old age, he worked 16-19 hours a day. The inventor himself noted that he sought to discover only what could later have commercial benefits.

Alexander Graham Bell. It would seem that only the invention of the telephone brought fame to this man. However, if you look at all the achievements of this man over 75 years of his life, his place on our list becomes clear. Bell himself invented the telephone as a result of his work with deaf people. However, few people know that Alexander also invented devices for detecting hearing impaired people (an audiometer), for finding treasures (a modern metal detector), a hydrofoil boat, and even one of the first airplanes. With the funds received from the creation of the telephone company, Bell created the Volta Institute, in which the inventors improved telephony, the phonograph and electrical communications. We can thank Mr. Bell also for creating the National Geographic Foundation in 1888.

George Westinghouse. Although Edison contributed the most to his inventions, it is hard to argue that Westinghouse's monetary contributions were almost as great. George's inventions were based on an electrical system that basically used alternating current (this was the result of the work of Nikola Tesla). Ultimately, this approach prevailed over Edison's insistence on the use of direct current and laid the foundation for the modern power system. But Westinghouse was quite versatile - he was able to surpass Edison, inventing not only the AC power system, but also the air brake for the railroad. This discovery markedly improved safety in this mode of transport. Like Edison, George also experimented with perpetual motion machines. Such work can hardly be called serious, if only because this machine would violate the laws of physics, but the inventor cannot be blamed for an unsuccessful attempt. The prolific engineer eventually received 361 patents for his inventions.

Jerome "Jerry" Hal Lemelson. How have you never heard of such a person? But it was one of the most prolific inventors in history, collecting as many as 605 patents. What did he invent? Lemelson is credited with creating automated warehouses, industrial robots, cordless phones, fax machines, video cameras, VCRs, and magnetic tape cassettes such as those used in the Sony Walkman. But Jerome's inventions also apply to medical instrumentation, cancer detection and treatment, diamond plating technology, consumer electronics, and television. Lemelson became the most famous of his time, but he was an active champion of the rights of independent inventors. This made him a controversial figure, he was disliked by large companies and patent offices, but Jerome was a real champion among the community of independent craftsmen like himself.

Hero of Alexandria. If this person would understand what he invented, and even if there was an opportunity to make the appropriate tools and materials, then the industrial revolution could begin not in 1750, but in the 50th! Alas, Heron thought that he had invented another toy, and was there a need to use steam engines in those days if there was no shortage of slaves around? Heron is considered one of the best minds in the Roman Empire and is credited with creating such useful things as the pump, the first syringe, the hydrostatic fountain, the wind-powered organ, and even the first coin-operated machine. Geron developed a device for measuring the length of roads (the first taximeter), automatic doors and the first programmable devices. However, his discoveries were created in the pre-industrial era, he eventually became someone like the Thomas Edison of antiquity. It is a pity that Geron, like Leonardo da Vinci, could not develop his inventions more seriously and develop their ideas further. Then we might live in a completely different world.

Benjamin Franklin."Really?" many will ask. Yes, absolutely! Few people know that among the diverse skills of Franklin (and he was a polymath, author and writer, satirist, political scientist, scientist, civic activist, diplomat and statesman) is also a passion for inventions. Among Benjamin's many discoveries are the lightning rod, which saved countless homes and lives from lightning strikes and subsequent fires, a glass harmonica (not to be confused with a metal one), a Franklin oven, bifocal glasses, and even a flexible urinary catheter. The scientist himself never patented any of his discoveries, so his inventions have many features in common with others, which led to the belittling of Franklin's creative abilities. In his autobiography, he wrote: "Just as we enjoy the benefits bestowed on us by the inventions of others, we should rejoice at the opportunity to serve others in the same way. Any of our inventions should be open and free of charge." Such a noble approach makes Franklin a worthy representative of our ten.

Edwin Land. Connecticut physicist and inventor Edwin Land is not the inventor of photography, but he was the one who invented and perfected almost everything else that has to do with it. Already in the first year of his studies at Harvard in 1926, a young man developed a new type of polarizer, combining crystals into a plastic sheet, calling it "Polaroid". Later, joining other young scientists, he developed the principle of polarizing filters, optical devices and video recording processes, founding the Polaroid company based on his discoveries. Edwin owns at least 535 US patents, and Land is credited with inventing the fully autonomous camera. This made it possible to view the footage on the spot, rather than waiting for a long time to develop the film.

Leonardo da Vinci. It will seem strange to many that one of the greatest minds of the Renaissance in our ranking took only tenth place. However, the reason lies not in himself, but in the time in which he lived. The technology of Leonardo's era simply couldn't implement most of his ideas, so, technically, he didn't invent much at all. The scientist was more of a futurist who came up with various innovations faster than the mechanics of that time could bring it to life. Yes, and Da Vinci's interests were so broad that he usually did not delve into any one of his ideas, leaving only a description in general terms, and a few sketches. Although the Italian foresaw the emergence of such things as gliders, tanks, submarines, he did not foresee the emergence of such future great inventions as electricity, telephone, photography. Among the creations of the scientist are called a catapult, a robot, a searchlight and a parachute. Leonardo da Vinci was undoubtedly a great mind. If he could concentrate on one idea long enough to bring it to fruition, we would undoubtedly call him the greatest inventor in history.

The most famous inventor in our opinion is Archimedes. This ancient Greek scientist is still considered one of the greatest mathematicians in the history of mankind. He managed to get very close to the exact calculation of the well-known number Pi. Archimedes invented a huge number of machines, including siege weapons, and even a miracle unprecedented for those times - a device capable of setting fire to the sails of Roman ships, focusing the sun's rays on them. In addition to all this, the scientist was able to penetrate the theory of mechanics and became the author of the theory of the lever, applying it in practice. Among other inventions of the ancient genius is the so-called "Archimedean screw", which people still use today. But the most important and incredible thing is that all his inventions and discoveries appeared almost 2000 years ago, at a time when no one could even dream of modern computers and technologies. And although it is quite possible that Archimedes had the opportunity to study in the Library of Alexandria, he acquired his main knowledge from his own experience, ahead of the science of his time by hundreds of years.

We owe this talented inventor the existence of electric light bulbs, the phonograph and the kinescope. Thanks to him, huge New York was electrified. Having received more than 1000 patents for his discoveries, Edison does not take the first place in the list only because many inventions belonged to engineers and organizations working for him, whose work, by the way, was often not paid, and the scientist himself only took part and led the development process. He was also famous for his amazing performance, however, he never hid that he was most interested in inventions that could become commercially profitable.

This amazing man, so little known in his lifetime, is more involved in the emergence of commercial electricity than anyone else. Today, he owes a revival of interest to his theoretical work and patents, which became the basis for the creation of modern devices that operate on alternating current, an electric motor and polyphase systems. To a certain extent, the scientist contributed to the foundations of robotics, his inventions were used to create radar, remote control and the development of computer science. He worked in the field of theoretical and nuclear physics, ballistics. It is believed that he had unique knowledge about teleportation, anti-gravity and the creation of lasers. Tesla received 111 patents and remains one of the most brilliant minds in history to this day.

Many consider him the inventor of the telephone. In fact, Alexander Bell made a lot of discoveries in other areas, including the invention of an audiometer used to detect hearing problems, a metal detector, an electric piano, one of the earliest airplanes, and even experimented with the use of a light beam in telecommunications. He paid great attention to supporting talented inventors and scientists, and at the Bell-funded institute, other inventors worked to improve electrical communications, the telephone, and the phonograph.

His most significant inventions are considered to be work on the creation of brake systems for trains. Westinghouse designed a steam pressure brake, the first air brake, and a little later, an automatic brake. Today, his improved designs are used in large buses, trucks and road trains. He invented a traction tram engine, an electric locomotive, and a shock absorber. Conducted experiments on the creation of a perpetual motion machine. In total, the inventor registered more than 400 patents.

Jerome "Jerry" Hal Lemelson

Unfortunately, few people have heard of this man, who was one of the outstanding inventors and had more than 600 patents. He is considered to be the creator of automated warehouses, VCRs and video cameras, faxes and cordless phones, industrial robots and audio cassettes. Other developments of Jerome have found application in the creation of medical devices, the detection and treatment of cancer, the development of television and electronics. He defended the rights of other independent inventors, for which he earned the dislike of patent offices and large companies.

Thanks to this man, at the beginning of the millennium, an industrial revolution could have occurred, if at that time the necessary materials and tools, and most importantly, if he himself understood how important his inventions were. One of the greatest minds of the Roman Empire, he is the author of such necessary things as a syringe, a pump, a fountain, automatic doors, a steam turbine. Heron developed a device that measured the length of roads, created the first simple programmable devices. It is a pity, but in the Middle Ages, most of his inventions were forgotten or rejected.

Not everyone knows that in addition to his other talents, Franklin had a great passion for inventions. It was he who invented the lightning rod that saved many lives, the glass harmonica, bifocal glasses, the small and economical Franklin stove. The scientist did not patent his discoveries, since they had much in common with earlier inventions, and in addition, he believed that they should be open to everyone.

This American physicist and inventor created the legendary "Polaroid" - an apparatus for instantaneous photographs. While still a 17-year-old student at Harvard, he invented polarizing lenses for car headlights, and later in his company began to create polarizing attachments for Kodak cameras. He was engaged in the development of the polarization principle of light filters and photography processes, and in 1937 he created the Polaroid company. During his long life, he received at least 535 patents. As is commonly believed, Edwin became famous thanks to the invention of his unique stand-alone camera, which allows you to take photos immediately after shooting.

Closes the list of the most famous inventors - Leonardo da Vinci. It is strange that this outstanding scientist of the Renaissance is ranked last in the ranking. The reason lies not in the genius itself, but in the fact that the time in which he lived prevented the implementation of most of his ideas. The only invention that was recognized during da Vinci's lifetime was the wheeled pistol lock. It turned out to be so perfect that it was found in the 19th century. The great Italian scientist foresaw the creation of gliders, submarines, tanks, but he could not even think about the appearance of electricity and telephone. Leonardo is credited with inventing the parachute, crossbow, searchlight, and even the automobile. By realizing at least one of his many ideas, Leonardo could become the greatest inventor in the entire history of mankind.

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