List of inventors

See also: list of scientists, List of inventions named after people, timeline of invention, and inventor.

A

• Thomas Ahearn, inventor of the electric stove in 1892
• Archimedes, (circa 287 BC-212 BC), Greece -- euclidean geometry
• William George Armstrong -- hydraulic crane, Armstrong breech-loading gun
• Edward Asselbergs, of the Canadian Ministry of Agriculture -- instant mashed potato flakes

B

• Charles Babbage, (1791-1871), England -- Analytical engine
• Leo Baekeland (1863) - (1944), Belgium -- plastic
• John Logie Baird, (1888-1946), Scotland -- television
• John Bardeen, (1908-1991) -- co-inventor of the transistor
• Alexander Graham Bell, (1847-1922), Scotland and USA -- telephone
• Karl Benz, Germany -- automobile
• Emile Berliner, (1851-1929) Germany and USA -- gramophone
• Henry Bessemer, (1813-1898) -- Bessemer process
• Tim Berners-Lee -- World Wide Web
• Ruđer Bošković (1711-1787) -- ring-micrometer, water telescope
• Walter Houser Brattain, (born 1902), co-inventor of the transistor
• Louis Braille, (1809-1852)
• Karl Ferdinand Braun, (1850-1918), Germany -- cathode ray tube
• Wernher von Braun, (1912-1977), Germany and USA -- rocket technology
• Edwin Beard Budding, (1795-1846) -- lawnmower and adjustable spanner
• Robert Bunsen, (1811-1899), Germany -- Bunsen burner

C

• Marvin Camras -- magnetic recording
• Chester Carlson, (1906-1968) USA -- electrophotography
• George Washington Carver, (1860-1943), plant scientist
• Arthur C. Clarke, (born 1917), geostationary satellite
• Christopher Cockerell, (1910-1999) -- hovercraft
• Henri Coandă (1886-1972) -- Jet aircraft
• Jacques Cousteau, France -- aqualung
• Charles Cros, (1842-1888) -- phonograph... almost
• Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot (1725-1804) -- automobile
• William Cullen -- mechanical / chemical refrigeration
• Ward Cunningham -- wiki

D

• Gustav Dahlén, (1869-1937) -- invented the AGA Lighthouse
• Gottlieb Daimler, (1834-1900), Germany -- automobile
• Salvino D'Armate -- eyeglasses
• Leonardo DaVinci, (1452-1519), Italy -- euclidean geometry
• Lee DeForest, (1873-1961) -- triode, amongst others
• Sir James Dewar, (1842-1923) -- Thermos bottle
• William Kennedy Laurie Dickson, motion picture camera
• Rudolf Diesel, (1858-1913), Germany -- Diesel engine
• Karl Drais, (1785-1851), Germany -- bicycle (Draisine)
• Richard Drew -- Scotch (or cellophane) tape

E

• George Eastman, (1854-1932), USA -- roll film
• Thomas Edison, (1847-1931), USA -- phonograph, amongst others
• Douglas Engelbart - the computer mouse [1]
• Barry Ethridge - High-Speed Data communications via Optical Fiber, amongst others
• Oliver Evans (1755-1819) - amphibious vehicle, amongst others

F

• Philo Farnsworth, (1906-1971) -- vacuum tube television display
• James Fergason -- liquid crystal display
• Reginald Fessenden -- two-way radio
• John Ambrose Fleming, (1848-1945), England -- vacuum diode
• Henry Ford, (1863-1947), USA -- modern assembly line
• Samuel Fox -- steel ribbed umbrella
• Benjamin Franklin, (1706-1790), USA -- lightning rod, bifocals
• William Friese-Greene, (1855-1921) -- cinematography
• Buckminster Fuller, (1895-1983) -- geodesic domes, others
• Robert Fulton, (1765-1815) -- steamboat engine

G

• Galileo Galilei, (1564-1642), Italy -- thermometer
• Hans Geiger, (1882-1945)
• Robert Goddard, (1882-1945), USA -- liquid fuel rocket
• Heinrich Goebel -- light bulb
• Gordon Gould -- laser
• Bette Nesmith Graham -- Liquid Paper
• James Gregory, (1638-1675) -- reflecting telescope
• Harry Grindell-Matthews, (1880-1941) -- various products, & supposed death ray
• Sir William Grove -- fuel cell
• Otto von Guericke, (1602-1686) -- vacuum pump
• Johann Gutenberg, (circa 1390s-1468), Germany -- movable type press

H

• John Hadley -- quadrant
• William Hamilton, jet boat in 1957
• James Hargreaves, (1720-1778)
• John Harrison, (1693-1776) -- marine chronometer
• Robert Heinlein, (1907-1988), waterbed
• Rudolf Hell, (1901-2002)
• John Philip Holland, (1840-1914) -- "true" submarine

I

J

• Karl Jatho -- airplane

K

• William Kelly
• Mary Dixon Kies -- method for weaving straw with silk for hat-making.
• Fritz Klatte -- invented vinyl chloride, forerunner to polyvinyl chloride
• Margaret Knight -- (1838-1914) American, machine that completely constructs box-bottom brown paper bags.
• Stephanie Kwolek -- Kevlar

L

• Edwin H. Land, (1909-1991), USA -- Polaroid polarizing filters and the Land Camera
• Håkan Lans, (1942-) -- Developed the Computer mouse by adding a heavy rubber ball to the underside of it.
• Irving Langmuir, (1851-1957), gas filled incandescent lamp, hydrogen welding
• Lewis Latimer -- worked with Thomas Edison and patented an improved lightbulb manufacturing process.
• Gottfried Leibniz -- binary numeral system
• Justus von Liebig, (1803-1873) -- fertilizer

M

• Guglielmo Marconi, (1874-1937), Italy -- radio
• Jack Marks -- boxer's gumshield
• Elijah McCoy, born in Colchester, Ontario, Canada, was one of 12 children of former Kentucky slaves, who escaped through the Underground Railroad, patented more than 50 inventions, from tire treads, ironing boards and lawn sprinklers to the McCoy lubricator that earned the reputation of being the only worthwhile product of it's kind of the market, or "The Real McCoy", hence the popular phrase.
• Lise Meitner -- nuclear chainreaction
• Narcis Monturiol i Estarriol, (1819-1885) -- steam powered submarine
• Robert Moog -- music synthesizer
• Montgolfier brothers, (1740-1810) and (1745-1799), France -- hot-air balloon
• Samuel Morey, (1762-1843) -- internal combustion engine
• Garrett A. Morgan, (1877-1963) -- African-American Inventor of the gas mask, and traffic signal.
• Samuel Morse, (1791-1872), USA -- telegraph

N

• Alfred Nobel, (1833-1896), Sweden -- dynamite
• Thomas Newcomen, (ca. 1664-1729)
• Isaac Newton, (1642-1727) -- reflecting telescope (which reduces chromatic aberration)

O

• Hans von Ohain -- co-founder of the jet engine
• Elisha Otis -- passenger elevator and concommitant safety device
• Nikolaus Otto, (1832-1891), Germany -- four-stroke cycle engine

P

• Spede Pasanen, Finnish inventor
• Blaise Pascal, (1623-1662) -- adding machine
• Steve Pasjack, Canadian who invented the tuck-away beer carton handle in 1957
• Stephen Perry -- rubber band
• Ashwin Kochiyil Philips -- personal audio recorder
• Olivia Poole, Mother of 7, invented the Jolly Jumper baby harness with her husband, circa. 1959

Q

R

• Johann Philipp Reis, (1834-1874), Germany -- telephone
• Norbert Rilleaux, (1806-1894), USA -- sugar processing
• Willhelm Röntgen (1845-1923), Germany -- x-ray machine
• Otto Frederick Rohwedder, USA -- automatic bread-slicing machine
• James Russell -- compact disc

S

• Alberto Santos-Dumont, (1873-1932) -- non-rigid airship and airplane
• Adolphe Sax, (1814-1894) -- saxophone
• Claude E. Shannon, (1916-2001) -- information theory
• William Bradford Shockley, (1910- ) -- co-inventor of transistor
• Werner von Siemens, (1816-1892), Germany -- dynamo (electrical generator), electrical railroad, electrical elevator
• Percy Shaw -- cat's eyes
• Henry Miller Shreve, (1785-1854) -- sidewheeler, snagboat, various other steamboat and steam engine improvements
• Lucien B. Smith -- barbed wire
• George Stephenson, (1781-1848), England -- civil engineer, inventor
• Levi Strauss, (1829-1902), USA -- blue jeans
• John Stringfellow -- airplane
• Joseph Swan, (1828-1914), England -- inventor, physicist

T

• Nikola Tesla, (ca. 1856-1943), Serbian-American inventor of the induction motor, alternating current polyphase power distribution system, wireless communication, robotics, logic gates, the bladeless turbine, and VTOL aircraft (among others).
• Edward Teller -- fusion bomb
• Ray Tomlinson -- Internet-based e-mail
• Leonardo Torres y Quevedo, (1852-1936), Spanish inventor

U

V

• Johann Vaaler, Paper clip
• Alessandro Volta, (1745-1827), Italy -- battery
• Faust Vrančić (1551-1617), parachute

W

• Erik Wallenberg, -- invented the Tetra Pak
• Robert Watson-Watt, (1892-1973) -- microwave radar
• James Watt, (1736-1819), Scotland -- practical steam engine
• George Westinghouse, (1846-1914), USA -- air brake
• Eli Whitney, (1765-1825) -- cotton gin
• Frank Whittle, (1907-1996) -- co-inventor of the jet engine
• A. Baldwin Wood, (December 1879-1956), US inventor & engineer
• Granville Woods, synchronous multiplex railway telegraph and other railroad-related technology

X

Y

Z

• Ferdinand von Zeppelin, (1838-1917), Germany -- rigid airship
• Konrad Zuse, (1910-1995), Germany -- computers
• Vladimir Zworykin (1889-1982), Russia -- television

Referenced By