Eye Wonder

4-5 How to be an inventor

6-7 From then to now

8-9 Early inventions

10-11 The Industrial Revolution

12-13 On the water

14-15 Full steam ahead

16-17 On the road

18-19 In the air

20-21 Blast off!

22-23 In the kitchen

24-25 Everyday things

26-27 A new material

ContentsLONDON, NEW YORK, MUNICH,

MELBOURNE, and DELHI

Written and edited by Caroline BinghamDesigned by Laura Roberts

Additional design Jane Horne and Helen Chapman

Editorial assistance Fleur Star

Publishing Manager Susan LeonardManaging Art Editor Clare Shedden

Jacket design Chris DrewPicture Researcher Harriet Mills

Production Shivani PandreyDTP Designer Almudena DíazDTP Assistant Pilar MoralesConsultant Roger Bridgman

First published in Great Britain in 2005 byDorling Kindersley Limited

80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL

A Penguin Company

2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1

Copyright © 2004 Dorling Kindersley Limited, London

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may bereproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in

any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior

written permission of the copyright owner.

ISBN 1-4053-0599-1

Colour reproduction by Colourscan, SingaporePrinted and bound in Italy by L.E.G.O.

Discover more atwww.dk.com

28-29 Electricity

30-31 The telephone

32-33 Photography

34-35 A world of sound

36-37 ... and vision

38-39 Medicine

40-41 Write it down!

42-43 Computers

44-45 Into the future

46-47 Glossary and Inventors

48 Index

4

1911 19861920

Have you ever thought of somethingthat would make your life easier, or morefun? A time machine? A robot? Whateveryour invention is, to be successful, lots ofother people will have to want it too.

How to be an inventor

One invention sparks anotherYour invention doesn’t have to be a new idea.You could improve on something that alreadyexists. James Dyson didn’t invent the vacuumcleaner. He invented the bagless vacuumcleaner – one that many people want to buy.

Never give up!The electric light bulb is an invention that

really changed the world. But it didn’t comeeasily. Thomas Edison thought it would take

six weeks to develop, but instead it tookmore than a year. He famously claimed:

“I have not failed... I have just found10,000 ways that will not work.”

Small beginningsSome inventions seem accidental.Take the Post-it® note. Art Fryneeded something to bookmark hischurch hymn book. He hit on theidea of using paper notes with a new glue a colleague, Dr Spencer Silver, had developed.

Many people tried to invent thelight bulb. Edison and JosephSwan were the most successful.

The Dyson baglesscleaner was ahuge development.

The Star waslightweight,but it stillneeded handpumping.

19081902

Earlyvacuumcleanerswere huge.

This cleanerhad to bepumped byhand – anawkwardoperation.

The firstupright cleanercollected dustin its canvassack.

Another wayDraw a diagram of your invention and writeall about it, then post all the information toyourself. The letter will get a datestamped on it in the post, which provesyou thought of it before that

date. But remember, donot open it!

Eureka?

The bat restssafely on twoplastic clips whilea hook holds theglove and ball.

Protect your inventionOnce you have a brilliantinvention, you must patent it toshow that it was your invention, so no one else can say it was theirs.Patent applications are granted for a certain number of years.

This is a model ofthe Wright Flyer.

Patent for theWright Flyer –

the first granted fora flying machine.

Austin called hisinvention the“glove and battiecaddie”.

A child inventorAt the age of nine,Austin Meggittinvented a device to hold his baseball equipment on the front of his bike. He filed his inventionat the US PatentOffice in 1998.

•Many patent applicationsare never developed, like theone for a ladder to help spidersclimb out of the bath.

•Other patents include anappy for a pet bird, andone for an inflatable rug.You can file a patent forall sorts of ideas.

5

Remember, keep the envelope

sealed and keep it safe!

It is fascinating to take a look at the inventionsthat have changed our lives over the centuries.Just imagine life without wheels, or light bulbs, orany of the other things that make life easier.

From then to now

Where it all beganEarly humans had very little. Theylearnt to use stones as tools, and usedfire – though nobody knew how tomake it until about 9,000years ago. But peopleare quick learners.

Fossils suggest that earlyhumans used tools.

Making firepage 8

The microprocessorThe microprocessor was yet another

huge leap for humankind. Without its invention, personal computers would

have been an impossible dream.

ElectricityPeople had known about electricity for

some time before its use really took off inthe late 1800s. It was another key step

to the modern world.

1895 18851900

1926

1957

1903

Paperpage 40

Printing presspage 41

Petrol-poweredcar page 16

X-raypage 39

Personal computerpage 43

Wright Flyerpage 18

Sputnik 1page 21

1455

Microprocessor

Brownie camerapage 32

1977

1971

From the first steps humans took,

Televisorpage 36

c 2000 BC c 50 BC

Wheel page 9

c 3500 BCc 7000 BCc 2,000,000 BC

1878

Light bulbpage 29

6

First shipspage 12

What’s next?All sorts of people invent objects thatmake our lives comfortable, or more fun.Some inventions are simple, others theresult of years of research by huge companies. We canonly imagine what thefuture holds.

The Industrial RevolutionThe modern world really beganwith the birth of the factoryduring the Industrial Revolution.The factory brought togetherworkers and powered machinery,and so speeded up production.

7

1764

18761877

18261769 1783

19791981 1982 1983

Spinning jenny page 10

Hot-air balloonpage 18

Phonographpage 35

Mobile phonepage 31

Compact discpage 35

Firstphotographicimage page 32

Stephenson’sRocketpage 14

Box telephonepage 30

Spaceshuttlepage 20

Internetpage 43

IndustrialRevolution

1700s

people have never stopped inventing.

Electricity1800s

Refrigeratorpage 22

1834

1829

Improved steamengine page 10

Making fireEarliest example found in Europe

7000 BC

Axe Earliest example found in Sweden

6000 BC

PloughFirst used in Sumeria

4000 BC

WheelEarliest example found in Mesopotamia

3500 BC

Early inventions

8

From an open fire...

Stone saws didn’t work very well.

Serrated edge

ChangesThe long-

handled axe hasn’tchanged much since

its first appearance. The obviousdifferent is that a stone head hasbeen replaced with forged metal.

It’s all in the edgeLike the axe, the mainimprovement to the sawcame with a metal blade.

But the basic design, with its serrated,jagged edge, stayed the same.

Many of the things around us were inventedthousands of years ago. These are the things

whose invention was essential to life aswe know it: the control of fire,farming, clothing, tools,

and transport.

to fire ina box.

At first, fire came

from sparks.

Strike a lightFire has been used for thousands of years,but it was not until the invention of thematch in the 1800s that people had aportable, safe, and easy source of fire.

Getting lighterSpokes firstappeared whensections were cutout to lighten theweight. It madelightweightchariots possible.

Spoked wheelEarliest example found in Mesopotamia

2000 BC

SawEarliest example found in Egypt

2000 BC

ShoesEarliest example found in Mesopotamia

1500 BC

MatchesJohn WalkerEngland

1827

That’s more comfortable!Do you wear trainers? They are probably madefrom plastics and rubber. Early people used thematerials around them to protect their feet –such as the reeds used for these Egyptian sandals.

Solid and smallSome early wheelswere made fromsolid discs ofwood. Beforethat logs hadsometimes beenused as rollers.

Power brings changeFarmers used ploughs in ancient Egyptto turn the soil ready for planting, butthey used wooden ploughs pulled byoxen. Today’stractor has thepower ofhundreds of oxen.

Strong but heavyWheels made ofthree planks heldtogether by strutsbecame morecommon, and arestill used in someareas of the world.

9

Ploughs like this were used

Today’s ploughsare made frommetal.

The firstploughs weremade of wood.

4,000 years ago.

New materialsThe discovery thatrubber and metal could be used forwheels brought about a wheel strong enough to carry a car.

Keep on weavingSteam-powered looms first appeared in the1780s. Edmund Cartwright, inventor of thepower loom, actually had no experience ofweaving. He just saw a way to improve it.

The Industrial Revolution began in Britain inthe 1700s and gradually spread to Europe,taking new ideas and methods of doing things. It was an important time. One areaof huge change was the cloth industry.

We need more threadThe 1700s saw theinvention of machines thatwove cloth more quickly.The water frame, poweredby water, speeded up themaking of the thread.

Steam enginesgraduallyappeared inthe clothindustry.

The thread was spun onto bobbins.

Cloth is wovenon looms.

An injection of powerThe discovery that steam could beharnessed and used to powermachines speeded up industry. Thefirst steam engine sucked floodwaterout of mines,allowing morecoal to be mined.

The Industrial Revolution

Flying shuttleJohn KayEngland

1733Spinning jennyJames HargreavesEngland

1764Improved steam engineJames WattScotland

1769Water frameRichard ArkwrightEngland

1769

10

The steamturns wheelsand cogs.

A changing landscapeThe Industrial Revolutionalso saw huge changes ineveryday structures. Thisiron bridge, the first in theworld, is still in use today.The first iron buildingswere also put up.

Spinningmachines

This factory is poweredby water driving a bigwaterwheel.

Factories created pollutio

n.

An important metalAnother major invention

in the 1700s was theincreased production ofiron. Iron could now be

used in ways never before dreamed of.

FactoriesRichard ArkwrightEngland

1770Spinning muleSamuel CromptonEngland

1779Iron bridge: Abraham Darby(builder) & Thomas Pritchard(designer), England

1779Power loomEdmund CartwrightEngland

1785

The rise of the factoryAs machines were invented thatneeded power sources, so factorieswere built to put them in. Peoplehad to come to the factory insteadof working from home.

11

SMASH IT UP!Not everybody welcomed the newmachines. In the early 1800s a group of people went around smashingthem up. Theywere known asthe Luddites. By 1816 they had given up. The machines were here to stay!

Thousands of years ago, someone wove a largebasket, covered it with animal hide, and used it

as a boat. This was a coracle. Thatperson would be amazed at the

variety of boats and ships that sail the seas today.

On the water

12

Reed boatSome of the earliest boats weremade from reeds. People making

these boats did so where therewas no supply of wood.

Slow-moving coraclesare still in use today.

Chinese junksamazed explorers

with their singlesteering oar rudders.

Speed it up The Phoenicians are believed to havedeveloped thedouble-decked“bireme”, a ship thatallowed for twice asmany oars as before.

Even the sail wasmade of reeds.

Reed boatEgypt

6000 BC

First shipsEgypt

2000 BC

OarsPhoeniciansEastern Mediterranean

1100 BC

RudderChina

1200

A fast-moving jet-ski is justone of today’s smaller craft.

13

Big for its timeIf you’d lived in the1200s, your firstsighting of a Chinese junk wouldhave left youspeechless. Thesewere the largest ships in the world.

SS Great BritainThis incredible shipwas the first of itskind. It was atriumph for itsdesigner, Brunel.It was the firststeamship built ofiron, and the first shipbuilt as a luxury liner.

SS Great Britain had a six-bladepropeller. Previous ocean-goingships had side paddle wheels.

The

Que

enM

ar

y 2 is the largest ship afloat.

A modern giantThis gigantic ship cancarry 2,620 passengers,with 1,253 crew. It ismore than three and ahalf times the length ofthe SS Great Britain.

The ClermontRobert FultonUSA

1807SS Great BritainIsambard Kingdom BrunelEngland

1845HovercraftChristopher CockerellEngland

Jet-skiClayton JacobsenUSA

1955 1973

A man of visionIsambard Kingdom Brunel designed threeextraordinary ships in the1800s, using the latesttechnology of the time.

Efficient steam engineJames WattScotland

1769The first steam locomotiveRichard Trevithick England

1804The RocketGeorge & Robert StephensonEngland

1829

The RocketGeorge Stephensonand his son Robert

built the Rocket – theengine that finally

proved to peoplethat trains were

faster and strongerthan horses. It went

a record-smashing 48 kph (30 mph),easily beating any

other locomotives atthe time. The railway

age had arrived!

The first steam trainHistory was made as Richard

Trevithick’s steam locomotive chuffed slowly along a cast-iron

track. The train managed 8 kph (5 mph), but it was so

heavy it broke the rails.

Steam travelsalong this pipe tothe pistons.

The pistons move upand down as steamis forced in and out.

The wheels move roundas the pistons pump upand down.

The driverstands hereand shovelscoal into the firebox.Firebox – fire

heats water inthe boiler.

Boiler – water boils andmakes steam.

Chimney

George StephensonGeorge Stephensoninvented a train and railway line that really worked; not bad for a man who had no schoolingand couldn’t read until he was 19.

Full steam aheadHorses had been pulling wagons alongtracks since the 1550s. As steam powerdeveloped, some forward-thinkinginventors began to imagine the benefits ofsteam locomotives replacing the horses.

14

First railway – Stockton and DarlingtonEngland

1825

Woodburning trainBaldwin locomotive worksUSA

1832Electric locomotive Werner von Siemens Germany

1879Diesel engine Rudolf Diesel Germany

1897The Bullet train Central and West JapanRailways, Japan

1964

US use woodEarly US steamlocomotives burntwood instead of coal.The frame at thefront of this trainpushed cattle offthe track.

The futureHigh-speed electrictrains are already usedinstead of planes forshort journeys inJapan, France, andGermany. People tendto prefer them.

Making tracksThe first railway opened in 1825. It ranfor 43 km (27 miles). You can now travel10,214 km (6,346 miles) from Russia toNorth Korea without changing trains!

How does it work?Steam pumps the pistons up and down. The pistons are joined to the front wheels, so this makesthem turn.

It’s electricThis electriclocomotive is anearly version oftoday’s high-speedtrains. Overheadcables or a third railsupply the power.

Diesel powerDiesel-electric enginesneed less servicingthan steam trains.They also don’tneed overheadcables like electrictrains do.

Coal is stored here.

Water barrel

The Japanese Bullet train

15

A train wheel’s lip, or flange,helps to prevent derailment.

The Burlington Zephyr

An 1880s woodburning train

Early electric train

Before the invention of the car, people usedhorses to move any great distance – or theywalked. Yet today many people could not leadthe lives they do without this machine.

On the road

First carThe first “horseless carriage”,the steam tractor, was nevergoing to be a success. Its steamengine was just too heavy for a road-bound vehicle.

Karl BenzThis man sold the first evercar. By 1896, about 130 Benzcars were chugging about.Benz never looked back.

The steam tractor wasthe first self-propelledroad vehicle, but itwas unstable.

How it worksA practical car was onlydeveloped because of oneimportant invention:Étienne Lenoir’s internalcombustion engine.

What a strange carThe first true cars hadthree lightweightwheels, no roof, andcould only reach 13 kph (8 mph)!

16

Steam tractorNicolas CugnotFrance

1769Internal combustion engineJean Joseph Étienne LenoirFrance

1859Petrol-powered carKarl BenzGermany

1885Four-wheel carÉmile LevassorFrance

1891

The spokedwheels werebasically bicycle wheels.

A new crazeThe Benz Velowas the first car to sell insignificantnumbers. Itlooked a little likea horse carriage.

A car for allFord introduced themass production ofcars, which madethem cheaper. By1927 more than 15 million Model Tshad been sold.

Internal combustion engineAn internal combustion engine burnsfuel inside cylinders after an electricalspark is sent to start the fuel burning.Its invention led to smaller engines.

A sparkignites themixture of fueland air.

The fourpistons suck in a mixture of fuel and air.

A possible alternativeThis car has fuel cells that arepowered by hydrogen. Theowner has to buy tanksof liquid orgaseoushydrogen.

On the road nowThe cars we use today are poweredby petrol, but one day petrolwill run out so weneed to find analternativesource ofpower.

17

Licence plateFrance

1893Model T FordHenry FordUSA

1908Modern seat beltsNils BohlinSweden

1959Fuel-cell (hydrogen) carDaimler-ChryslerUSA

1999

WARNING! CAR COMING!The Red Flag Act of 1865 saidthat three people had to be incharge of a “horse-less vehicle”in England: two on board andone in front with a red flag. The vehicle could only travelat 3 kph (2 mph) in towns.

18

Cluck, quack, baaThe first creatures tofly in a man-madecraft were a duck, acockerel, and a sheep.They were sent up in a hot-air balloon by the FrenchMontgolfier brothers.

An early dreamWilbur and Orville Wright grew upfascinated by flight. They longed tofind a way that theycould achieve it.

Let’s try again!This is a replica of the

Wright Brothers’ Flyer, the firstaeroplane. The Flyer was the result

of years of experiments and failures. Yet the Wrights refused to give up.

The pilot lay onthe lower wing.

The long narrowwings had aslight curve.

An elevator movedthe nose up or down.

A movablerudder helpedthe steering.

The first flight lasted for 12 seconds. The Flyer rose about 3 m (10 ft).

The Flyer was madeof wood and cloth.

Leonardo da Vinci drawsflying machinesItaly

1505Hot-air balloonMontgolfier brothersFrance

1783GliderGeorge CayleyEngland

1853Wright FlyerOrville and Wilbur WrightUSA

1903

People dreamed of taking to the skies forhundreds of years, but the first aeroplane did nottake off until the 1900s. Imagine how incrediblethat first flight was for its inventors, the Wrights.

In the air

19

Sikorski R-41945

Speed queenConcorde’s appearance in

the 1970s was exciting because itwas the fastest passenger aeroplane in the

world. It has travelled from New York to London in less than three hours.

A jet successThis little aircraftwas one of the firstaeroplanes to be fitted with ajet engine. Jet engines speeded up airtravel and paved the way for longer flights.

It works on paper...The first idea for a helicopter wassketched by Leonardo da Vinci 500 yearsago, but it took until 1940 to make asuccessful machine. Today’s helicopterscan fly at speeds of up to 400 kph (250 mph).

A380 (Superjumbo)

Concorde

Gloster E28/39

Boeing 747 (jumbo jet)

First jet engineFrank Whittle, England,Hans von Ohain, Germany

1930Single rotor helicopterIgor SikorskyRussia/USA

1940Concorde, British AircraftCorporation (UK) &SudAviation (France)

1969Superjumbo A380Airbus consortiumEurope

2006

The first successful single-rotor helicopter flight.

Getting biggerThe Superjumbo is far larger than thejumbo jet, currently the world’s largestpassenger plane. It will seat up to 555passengers, on two decksrunning its full length.

Glance into the night sky and youmay be lucky enough to see a satellite as it passes overhead. Yet the discovery that we can blast into space is a recent one.

Blast off!

Return tripsThe launch ofthe space shuttleColumbia in1981 waswatched bymillions. Thiswas the firstspacecraft thatcould be reused.

• The first living creature inspace was a dog called Laika.She was sent up in 1957.

• Many of the inventionsaround us were developed foruse in space. Smoke detectorswere first used on Skylab!

• Sputnik 1 was 58 cm (23 in) wide.

Rocket facts

Rocket manRobert Goddard got little praise whenhis liquid-fuelled rocket shot upwardsin 1926, but it was a key moment in the history of space travel.

Igniter

Rocket motor

Liquid oxygenline

The rocket onlyreached the heightof an 11-storeybuilding.

Pipe leading tooxygen cylinder

Fueltank

Pullcord

Alcoholburner

RobertGoddard

20

Liquid-fuelled rocketRobert GoddardUSA

1926Sputnik 1Valentin Glushko & SergeyKorolyov, USSR

1957Space suitB.F. Goodrich CompanyUSA

1959Space stationNASAUSA

1973

Fuel line

Let’s get closer!Hubble was designed to send back clearerimages of far-off planets and galaxies thancould be obtained from Earth. The idea wasfirst suggested in 1946 by Dr Lyman Spitzer.

Sputnik 1Sputnik 1 was the world’s

first man-made satellite.At little more than

the weight of anadult human, this

Russian inventionwas tiny – yet it took

just 98 minutes to orbit the Earth.

A life in spaceThe first people to live

successfully in space werethose on board the space

station Skylab. Skylab waslaunched in May 1973.

Getting dressed for spaceBefore people could travel into

space, they needed specialclothing. The first space suitwas invented in 1959. It was

hard and uncomfortably heavy.

The Hubble space telescopehas more than 400,000 parts.

Nine astronauts livedon Skylab before it wasabandoned in 1974.

Sputnik sent acontinuous “beep,beep” signal backto Earth.

One of fourradio antennae.

Skylab collected powerfrom the sun by means ofits solar panels.

21

Space shuttleNASAUSA

1981Manned maneuvering unit(MMU), NASAUSA

1984Hubble telescope NASAUSA

1990Pathfinder on MarsNASAUSA

2004

22

Canned foodNicolas Appert, France, Peter Durand, England

1810Gas stoveJames SharpEngland

1826RefrigeratorJacob PerkinsUSA

1834MargarineHippolyte Mège-MouriésFrance

A cold startThe first practicalrefrigerator was built byJacob Perkins in 1834, butlike many inventors, hedidn’t push his machine,and others developed it.

A happy accidentPercy Spencer was studyingradar when he felt a stickymess in his pocket. The radarmicrowaves had melted apeanut bar, and he’d found a new way of cooking.

A slow startZachaus Winzler gavedinner parties in Austriain 1802 using a gas cooker,but the idea didn’t spreaduntil James Sharp beganmaking cookers in 1826.

Have a good look in your kitchen.When do you think the cooker wasinvented, and what about the fridge?What about things like tea bags, or margarine? Everythinghas a history!

In the kitchen

1869

CAN IT

Most people have a store of tinned food.Canning began as a means offeeding French soldiers, withsealed glass jars of food being placed in boiling water. In 1810 a Britishinventor began to use tincans. It was ideal. In fact, acan he sealed in 1818 wasopened, still fresh, in 1938.

Electricrefrigerator, 1934Gas stove, c 1910

You could buy anexpensive car for

the price of the firstmicrowave.

23

Tea bagThomas SullivanUSA

Pop-up toasterCharles StriteUSA

Sliced breadOtto RohwedderUSA

Microwave ovenPercy LeBaron SpencerUSA

1946

A shaky startFancy eating a mixture of beef fat,cow’s udder, milk, and pig’s stomach?Well, that’s what went into the first margarine. It got a prize for being the firstbutter substitute!

Fancy a cuppa?It is believed thattea bags wereinvented when a teamerchant begansending out tea samplesin silk bags. Peoplepoured boiling waterover the bag... andordered more.

Has it popped yet?Charles Strite was so fed up of

burnt toast that he invented a pop-up toaster in 1919, butthe first toasters didn’t appearin the home until 1926.People loved them.

A long waitIt took 16 years for OttoRohwedder to produce a

sliced bread that didn’t go stale. He invented a

machine that sliced andwrapped the loaf.

The first toasterfor the home

was called theToastmaster.

At one point, theinventor of sliced breadtried holding the slicestogether with hat pins!

192819191908

“Now!Ato

aste

r so

sim

ple, even a child canoperate

it!”

24

Take a look around you. What thingsdo you use every day? We all washand clean our teeth, and perhaps youhave a pair of jeans. Where do youthink these things first came from?

Everyday things

No dirt on me!Soap was originallymade from a boiledmixture of animal fatand wood ashes. Itcertainly didn’t smellvery good. Many soapsstill contain animal fat,but the ashes havebeen replaced – andperfume added.

Bone handle

Animalbristles

The name “zip” came from the sound of the zip being opened

andclosed.

Soap Romans Italy

c AD 150Spectacles China or Italy

c 1280Jigsaw John Spilsbury England

1767JeansJacob Davis and Levi StraussUSA

1873

Zip it up!Whitcomb Judson

got so bored of lacing hisboots that he invented a boot

fastener. This early zip didn’t workproperly, but Gideon Sundback improvedit, and the zip as we know it was born.

A pig has its usesHave you ever felt the back ofa pig? Pig hair is stiff andscratchy, and before the 1930sit was ideal for making thebristles of a toothbrush. Thehandle was made from bone.

Soap helps oiland water mix.

25

I see more clearly nowLike many things, it’s

hard to know whoinvented spectacles,but we do knowthat they were in use in the 1200s.

I didn’t know that!That ridged rubber sole on yourtrainers began life in 1971 whenan American athlete pouredmolten rubber into a waffle iron.Don’t try this at home!

That goes thereThe first jigsawpuzzle was madefrom a handpaintedmap. It was used toteach childrengeography.

First teddy“Teddy’s bears” werefirst sold by a New Yorkshop owner after anAmerican president,Theodore “Teddy”Roosevelt, refusedto shoot and kill a bear cub.

Down... up, down... upThe yo-yo is believed to bethe world’s second oldest toyafter the doll, but it’s so oldthat nobody really knows

when it first appeared. Like thedoll, it is popular everywhere.

Early spectacles had noarms and were hinged.

A pair for life?Hardwearing andtough, jeans weredeveloped as a resultof a rush for gold inthe USA in the1800s. This pictureshows one of the firstpairs produced.

Teddy bear Morris MichtomUSA

1902ZipGideon SundbackSweden

1914Trainers Adolf “Adi” DasslerGermany

1949LEGO®

Godtfred ChristiansenDenmark

1958

What shall we make?These colourful plasticbricks have only beenaround for about 50years. The name LEGO®

comes from the Danishwords leg godt,meaning “play well”.

Stripes provided sidesupport to theworld’s first trainer,launched in 1949.

26

How many things can you think of thatare made of plastic? Did you know thatthere are many different varieties ofman-made, or synthetic, plastics? Their invention changed the world.

A new material

PolystyreneEduard SimonGermany

CelluloidJohn Wesley-HyattUSA

1869PVC (polyvinyl chloride)Eugen BaumannGermany

1872Bakelite™Leo BaekelandBelgium/USA

1905

It started with a ball…The discovery of the first usableplastic, celluloid, happenedbecause of the search for a newmaterial to make billiard balls.

+ +Oil Salt Water

Celluloidbilliard balls

tended toexplode on

impact.

=

1839

The basic ingredients of PVC are...

A slow starter It took 100 years to find apolystyrene that was stableenough to use. Most peopleknow things made fromexpanded polystyrene,

but did you know thatcd cases are

polystyrene inits pure form?

Expanded polystyrene ismade from foam pellets.

Expanded polystyrene keeps heatin, stopping burnt fingers.

Ready for rainThe material used for your raincoat,

PVC, was first created in 1872, but the real leap forward was made

by Waldo Semon in the 1920s. He found a way to make it flexible.

These PVC dollsdate from theearly 1950s.

PVC plastic

•Plastics take differentforms. For example, vinyl isused to make hard pipes, but itis also used for plastic wrap.

•Man-made spandex fibres(Lycra™) will stretch to fivetimes their length, then returnto their original form.

Plastic facts

From saucepans to space Teflon’s heat-resistance and

slipperiness makes it ideal for non-stick saucepans. It was also used

to coat the Apollo spacesuits. It was discovered by chemistRoy Plunkett when the gas hewas testing wouldn’t comeout of its container. He

found it had coatedthe inside.

27

Polyethylene (polythene)Eric Fawcett & ReginaldGibson, ICI, England

1933NylonWallace CarothersUSA

1934Teflon™Roy PlunkettUSA

1938Spandex fibre (Lycra™)Joseph C ShiversUSA

1959

+ =Better than pig hair!

Invented by an Americanchemist called Wallace

Carothers, nylon was first used

for toothbrush bristles. Nylon

has been a hugely successful plastic.

A real winnerMost plastics softenwith heat, others, likeBakelite™, set rock hard.After its discovery,Bakelite was mouldedinto all sorts of items,including thermosflasks, clocks, statues,

and telephones.

PolytheneThis was formed in anexperiment that wentwrong. Its inventorswere delighted – herewas a new plastic thatwas a perfect insulatorand could be easilymoulded. This largeballoon is polythenesheet tubing.

Polythenebags don’tdecomposewhen thrownaway.

“Dr West’s MiracleToothbrush” was the first

with nylon bristles.Th

e slipp

eriest

, strangest plastic ever?

Fluoride

Natural gasTeflon™

Don’t try this!In 1752, BenjaminFranklin flew a kiteduring a thunderstorm, having tied a key tothe kite string, to testhis idea that lightningwas electricity. Luckilyhe survived!

The inventions surrounding thediscovery of electricity have changedour world. In some areas of the world itis hard to imagine life without electriclighting, or without the power fortelephones, televisions, and computers.

Electricity

A safe routeFranklin’s experiment led to his

invention of the lightningconductor. This is basically a

metal rod placed at the top ofbuildings to attract lightning

and divert it to the ground.

Volta’s inventionwas known as the

Voltaic pile.

Lightning conductorBenjamin FranklinUSA

1752Voltaic pile (the first battery)Alessandro VoltaItaly

1800Electric motorMichael FaradayEngland

1821Generator and transformerMichael FaradayEngland

1831

28

The metal EiffelTower in Franceis a magnet forlightning strikes.

A pile of energyOnce scientistslearned more aboutelectricity, they triedto make it themselves.Alessandro Voltamanaged to invent ameans of producingand storing electricity.It was the first battery.

Discs of wet paperwere sandwichedbetween twodifferent metals.

Volta presented hisideas to Napoleon.

Modernbattery

Iron

Coils ofcopper wire

Calico

Light bulbJoseph Swan, England,Thomas Edison, USA

1878Hydroelectric powerEngland

1881Commercial power station,and electricity meterThomas Edison, USA

1882Wind turbineCharles BrushUSA

1888

29

Whose bulb?Light bulbs were inventedat about the same time intwo di�erent countries, by

Thomas Edison in Americaand Joseph Swan in England.

It was a long process.

Getting saferMichael Faraday inventedthe transformer. Thisimportant piece of equipmentconverts high voltageelectricity to low voltage,making it safer to use.

Power for allPower stations make

enormous quantities ofelectricity to run all the

things we need electricity for.

• When electricity passesthrough a conductor, theconductor can glow. In a bulb,this is called a �lament.

• Edison tried and rejectedmany materials for his�lament, including wood, cork,grass, rubber, and human hair.

Light facts

ThomasEdison

warning: “Do not attempt

Edison’s light came with a

to light with a match”!

Swan invented theglass bulb. Edisonfound a �lamentthat would last for a long time.

The telephoneBefore the invention of the telephone, people

got in touch by letters that were carried byhorses. With the telephone, people were

able to talk instantly for the first time. But it didn’t happen overnight.

The first telephoneEarly telephones used a combinedmouthpiece and earpiece. Someonespoke into the horn and their voicewas changed into electrical signals.

Bell’s first words were to hisassistant, Mr Watson.

Box telephoneAlexander Graham BellScotland

1876Wall-mounted phoneThomas Edison USA

1879Automatic telephoneexchangeAlmon B Strowger, USA

1889Candlestick phonesEurope/USA

1900

Who invented it?Alexander GrahamBell has always beencredited with theinvention of thetelephone, but there is a lot of evidence that an Italian-American, AntonioMeucci, got there first.

Where did the voice go?The messages were carried along anetwork of wires, at first held awayfrom the ground by telegraph poles.Some were later routed underground.Before this, telegraph poles had beenused to transmit tapped messages.

Horn-shapedmouthpiece and earpiece.

Bell got peopleinterested in hisbox telephone by giving manytalks anddemonstrations.

“Mr Watson,

30

Telegraph polesconnected cities.

The back wasoriginally hidden in a box.

Is that the operator?In the 1880s, anybody making a telephone callhad to go through an operator at a telephoneexchange. This made private calls impossiblebecause the operator could listen in. The firstautomatic telephone exchange appeared in 1891.

Cradle phones (bakelite)Europe/USA

1925Mobile phone Bell TelephoneLaboratories, USA

1979US Congress Statutedeclares Antonio Meucci’spart in telephone invention

2001Camera phonesFinland

2002

Cradle telephone Telephones like this becamepopular in the1930s. Manyphones weremade of woodor metal, but plasticwas appearing.

Mobile telephone Recognize this? The first mobile phones were so large and heavy that theywere called “car phones”.They certainly weren’t pocket-sized!

Wall-mounted telephoneBy 1879, Thomas Edisonhad perfected atelephone that had aseparate mouthpieceand earpiece. Theuser turned a handleto ring the operatorand make it work.

Candlestick telephone Many telephones of theearly 1900s still had nodial: the connection wasmade via a telephoneexchange. The user liftedthe receiver to callthe operator.

A single fibre cancarry thousands oftelephone circuits.

All wired up Early telephone cables

contained lots ofpaper-insulated wirescontained in a metal

casing. Manytelephone circuits are

now connected byfibre-optic cables.

come here, I want you.”

31

In 1826 Joseph Niépce took the world’s firstphotograph. The problem was that he hadto leave the camera still for eight hours.Nonetheless, photography had been invented!

Photography

Daguerre’s cameraNiépce’s colleague, Louis Daguerre, developed

his invention and produced an image that did not fade. He called his photographs

Daguerreotypes. One problem was that youcould only make one copy of the picture.

William Fox TalbotTalbot only looked intophotography because hewas frustrated by his poor artwork.

His discovery was the path to the future of photography.

The first photograph shows aview of roofs and chimneys.

The camera hadto rest on atripod to keep itsteady.

Early Daguerreotypesneeded a 3–15-minute

exposure time. That’s along time to sit still!

The Daguerreotypewas used for a good20 years beforebeing abandoned.

A new wayAt the same time anEnglishman, WilliamFox Talbot discovereda means of takingnegatives. Thesecould then be used tomake unlimited copiesof photographs.

32

First photographic imageJoseph NiépceFrance

1826DaguerreotypeLouis DaguerreFrance

1839Roll filmGeorge EastmanUSA

1889The BrownieGeorge EastmanUSA

1900

A plate was put intothe back

of thecamera.

Speed it up a little!Photography still took time andcould be uncomfortable to sitfor, but in 1851 Frederick Scott Archer introduced thewet-plate process. It madephotography far faster.Photographs could be taken injust 30 seconds in bright light.

One rather large problemIn 1900, enlargements could not be made.If you wanted a big picture, the camera hadto be big! In 1900, George Lawrence built amega-sized camera to take shots of a train.

No need for filmDigital cameras work in the same

way as television cameras; they don’t use film, but make electronicpictures. These pictures are loaded

onto a computer, where they can be altered and printed out.

The first Kodakcamera weighed justover 1 kg (2 lbs).

Lawrence’s camera needed15 people to work it.

33

Electronic flashHarold EdgertonUSA

1931Colour filmKodakUSA

1935Polaroid cameraEdwin LandUSA

1948Photo of Earth from MoonCrew of Apollo 11USA

1969

Just point and snap.

Photography for allIn 1888 George Eastmaninvented film that could

be rolled and placedinside a simple camera.He called it the Kodak(a word he made up).

Digitalcameras do not use film.

First message sent fromEngland to AustraliaGuglielmo Marconi

1924PhonographThomas EdisonUSA

1877GramophoneEmile BerlinerUSA

1887First radio transmissionacross the Atlantic OceanGuglielmo Marconi

1901

Who’s he?Guglielmo Marconisent the world’s firstradio messages whenhe was just 20 yearsold. He has longbeen seen as the inventor of radio.

The wire-less stationOne of Marconi’s earliestradio stations, at Wellfleet,Massachusetts, showshow high the mastshad to be to sendand receive the signals.

A world of sound

Let’s go “wire-less”The key moment for theinvention of radio was thediscovery that messages couldbe sent without the need forwires running from thetransmitter to the receiver.

34

Today’s portableradios show howbulky early radios were.

What is a radio? It brings us music,news, and comedy, and all with theflick of a switch. It is an incredibleinvention because it keeps everybodyin touch with what is happening in the world.

Radio

waves

wer

e sen

t fro

m th

ese w

ires.

Marconi’s radiostation was pulleddown many years ago.

Tall wooden towersheld up the wires that

sent and received the messages.

LPs (Long-playing records)Peter GoldmarkUSA

1948Compact audio cassettePhilips ElectronicsNetherlands

1962Compact disc Philips, Netherlands, andSony Corporation, Japan

1982 MP3 Fraunhofer GesellschaftGermany

1989

to tapes...A cassette tapestores sound in magneticpatterns. A taperecorder reads these.

to cds...A compact disc, a cd, stores soundin tiny pits on itssurface. It is read by a laser.

Sound wasrecorded onthe cylinder.

Early discs were madeof shellac, a gummysubstance that oozesfrom some insects.

The user hadto turn ahandle.

Edison turnedthe handle towork thephonograph.

Say that again, pleaseProgress with recorded sound camea little earlier than that with radio.The first recorded words, “Mary hada little lamb”, were made by ThomasEdison on his phonograph.

Play that againThe gramophone was invented byGerman engineer Emile Berliner. Music could berecorded onto flat discs and played back,again and again.

35

ofth

e gramophone’s horn.

Rec

orde

d music cameout

MP3 player

From records...A vinyl record stores

sound in grooves. Therecord can be played

using a needle, whichvibrates between thewalls of the groove.

A recordplayer has aneedle on theend of an arm.

Compactdisc

Audio cassette tape

to MP3MP3 allows music tobe copied from theInternet, organised,and stored in a computer’s memory.

Nipkow discPaul NipkowGermany

1884Cathode ray tubeFerdinand Braun Germany

1897TelevisorJohn Logie BairdScotland

1926First colour TV broadcastUSA

1953

Imagine that you have never seen television.One day, in a large shop, you see a “televisor”.On its tiny screen is a flickering image of a face.

This is what greeted amazedshoppers in a famous

shop in London,England, in 1926.

Baird-visionScotsman John LogieBaird televised the firstmoving image with histelevisor. Although thismachine was not usedfor long, Baird’s publicdemonstrations firedpeople’s enthusiasm for television.

Stooky BillThe first image that John Logie Bairdtransmitted was that of a dummy’shead that he called Stooky Bill. Hisfirst machine was made from ahatbox, torch batteries, bits of oldwood, and knitting needles.

... and vision

Let’s buy a televisor!About 1,000 televisors were

made between 1926 and 1934.However, one of its problems

was that the picture and thesound could not be seen andheard together. Many peoplethought television had no future.

Stooky Bill

Baird used aspinning Nipkow disc in his televisor.

36

Inside the televisor’swooden casing was alarge spinning disc.

First portable TVEkco England

1955Remote controlRobert AdlerUSA

1956Pocket TVClive SinclairEngland

1977LCD televisionSharpJapan

1988

New developmentsToday’s flat-screen

televisions don’t usedcathode ray tubes. Instead,

liquid crystals display thepicture on the screen.

With just 30 scan lines,the televisorproduced aweak image.

This is a television from the 1950s, when colourtelevisions were beginning to appear.

Inside a televisionThe cathode ray tube has

been at the heart ofelectronic televisions since

they began to replacetelevisors in 1936. This

strange-looking objectchanges electricity into

the pictures that we see on the screen.

37

“The biggest time-waster of alltime?”

Cathode ray tube

Coloured dotsThe picture you seeon your televisionscreen is made up of 625 lines. Thecolour comes fromthousands of tinyred, green, and bluedots. The light fromthese blends togetherto form all thecolours you see on the screen.

People have always practised medicine.Early people used herbs, and the ancientChinese invented acupuncture. But many of the medical instruments we use were notinvented until surprisingly recently.

Medicine

Get the pointVaccines aremedicines thatstop people fromcatching diseases.Today we injectvaccines, but whenfirst discovered they weresimply wiped onto a cut becausesyringes had not been invented.

Numb that painBefore the discovery ofanaesthetic to knocksomebody out, manypatients having surgery had

to be tied or held down.The first anaesthetic wasa liquid called ether.

38

VaccineEdward JennerEngland

1798StethoscopeRené LaënnecFrance

1819AnaestheticWilliam MortonUSA

1846Clinical thermometerThomas AllbuttEngland

1866

Preventing infectionDoctors in the mid-1800s did notknow that germs on dirty clothes,hands, and equipment caused disease.Fortunately, along came Joseph Listerwith his antiseptic spray, which killed germs.

Lister’s use ofantiseptic sprayhelped to keepoperating theatres germ-free.

This 19th-centuryinhaler was used to send patients to sleep beforesurgery.

Ether-soakedsponges.

The surgeon sees inside the patient andcontrols the robotic armsfrom this workstation.

X-raysThe German physicist who produced the x-ray image above of his wife’s hand wasstaggered by his accidental invention. Here was a way of seeing through skin.

39

AntisepticJoseph ListerScotland

1867X-raysWilhelm RöntgenGermany

1895Band aidsEarle DicksonUSA

1921Robotic surgical systemIntuitive Surgical, Inc.USA

1999

It began with a mouldPenicillin, the first antibiotic,was discovered by Alexander

Fleming. He was growingbacteria when he noticedsome had been killed by a

mould. He used the mould tomake penicillin. It was later

developed by Ernst Chainand Howard Florey.

A particular penicilliu

mm

ould

is used to make the

The robotic arms areoperated by remotecontrol.

Robotic helpSome surgeons today use robotsto perform operations. Thesurgeon then has three, steadyrobot hands to use, which canwork through smaller cuts in thepatient. This means that there isless pain for the patient, and ittakes less time to heal.

Dead bacteriasurround thepenicillium.

Penicilliummould

penicillin antibiotic.

This is amagnifiedpicture of thepenicilliummould.

Write it down!

Strip by stripAbout 5,000 yearsago the ancientEgyptiansdiscovered how touse papyrus, awaterside reed, tomake parchment.Strips of the innerfibres were laiddown, then a secondlayer was pressed ontop. The result wasdried in the sun.

Bushytop

Do you keep a diary? You certainly write notes atschool. Keeping records in this way is somethingthat would be impossible without the invention ofsomething to write on – paper – and something towrite with – pencils and pens.

We have paperPaper was invented inChina some 2,000 yearsago, but its invention wasactually kept a secret for700 years. Paper can bemade from the fibres ofcertain plants, and fromcotton or linen rags.

The tip wassharpenedand slit.

Reed pens weredipped in an inkmade of soot and glue.

The inner fibresare used to makepapyrus sheets.

Greenouter rind

It flies across the page!Believe it or not, some earlypens were made from goose

feathers and called quills.The tip was sharpened to a point, and the quill pen

dipped in ink. Quill scribesproduced beautiful writing.

The hollow featheronly held a smallamount of ink.

First writing Sumeria

c 3100 BC

PapyrusEgypt

c 3000 BC

Standardised ChinesewritingChina

c 220 BC

PaperChina

c 50 BC

40

Setting type Printing press

Movable type isreversed. It prints theright way around.

Printing nowMost books and

newspapers todayare printed on

massive machinescalled web presses.A book is designed

on a computer, andthen printed on a

large sheet of paper,which is later cut up

into pages. It ismuch faster thanhand lettering or

using movable type!

Printing thenHand lettering was slow.Things speeded up with theinvention of the printing press.Whole pages of a book couldnow be set up and inked from movable type.

Ballpoint penThe tiny ball insidea ballpoint pen’s nibrolls as you write,taking ink from thepen onto the page.

Felt-tip penThe nib of a felt-tip pen is made ofnylon fibres, whichsoak up ink fromthe pen’s body.

PencilThe “lead” inside a pencil is actuallymade of graphite (a form of carbon),combined with clay.

41

Quill penEurope

c AD 500Letterpress printingJohann GutenbergGermany

1455PencilConrad GesnerGermany

1565Ballpoint penLadislao and Georg BiróHungary

1938

Difference EngineCharles BabbageEngland

ENIACUnited States ArmyUSA

TransistorJ. Bardeen, W. Brattain,and W. Shockley, USA

Integrated circuitJack Kilbey, USA

42

Charles BabbageBabbage is sometimescalled the “father ofcomputing”. His plans for calculatingmachines were veryadvanced, but theywere never fully built because he ran out of money.

Moving onThe DifferenceEngine would havehad an estimated25,000 parts.Babbage went on to invent amachine that did have manycharacteristics of amodern computer.

Computers are special machines and theirinvention has changed our world. They are usedfor numerous tasks, from booking holidays anddesigning books to guiding aeroplanes.

Computers

A part of Babbage’sDifference Engine No. 2was built in 1991. It worked perfectly.

Was this the first computer?

194719451832 1958

The first computer?In 1832 Charles Babbage

drew up plans for acalculating machine called

a Difference Engine. It wasn’t a computer,

but it was a beginning.

Computer mouseDoug EngelbartUSA

MicroprocessorTed HoffUSA

Personal computer Stephen Wozniak and Steve Jobs, USA

InternetJ. C .R. Licklider, Larry Roberts, USA

43

A new solutionThe invention of the transistor gotaround the problem of valves. It isbasically an electronic on-offswitch, and it led the way tomaking things smaller, and cheaper.

The InternetThe Internet allowscomputers all around theworld to link up to eachother. It provides an easy,quick, and cheap methodof communication.

The Internetbegan as a meansof linking militarycomputers.

The birth of EniacThe first all-purposeelectronic computer,Eniac, filled a largeroom. It depended on 18,000 glass tubescalled valves, whichled to overheatingproblems.

Silicon chipToday’s computerscontain millions of transistors placed ontiny slices of silicon. With the inventionof the silicon chip, or integrated circuit,computers got even smaller.

Some siliconchips are so tinythat an ant canpick them up.

This will sell it!It’s an interesting fact thatthe first computer game,Space War, was inventedto help sell a computer.

The computer had acircular screen.

1983197719711965

Firsttransistor

The Internetnow linksmillions ofcomputers.

What inventions will appear in the nexthundred years? What would you like to see?The inventions of the future are ready andwaiting for somebody to come along andunlock their secrets.

• Imagine pressing a buttonon the spine of a book tochange the text inside. It’scalled electronic text, and it’sbeing developed right now.

• How about a computer sotiny that it’s built into a pair ofsunglasses. Be online in theblink of an eye!

Future facts

Into the future

It looks so real!Scientists are working on aTV image that can bewatched in 3D. You’d be ableto walk around the image andsee it from different angles.

An intelligent kitchenThese cooks are actuallyscientists. They are tryingout a computer “nose” thatcan tell how fresh a food isand suggest things to add

to cook up a dish.

Make me invisibleThis clever invention makes it

appear as if its wearer is see-through.A tiny camera films what is going on

behind the wearer’s back, and this is shown on the front.

Results of a “smell” testare printed on acomputer screen.

Teeny tiny robotsNanorobots may be oneof the major inventions tocome in medicine. Thesewill be so tiny that theycan attack infectionsfrom inside the body.

The future of transport?One hundred years ago, thefirst aeroplane had just takento the skies. Who knowswhat the future of transportwill be – perhaps we willhave traffic jams in the sky!

Help at any cost?One day, robot companionsmay be a part of every home... butnot yet. This little helper may be ableto walk and sing and kick a ball, butit would cost as much as a luxury car.

45

Diseased human cellNanorobot

Inth

e future we could be

dr

iving flying cars!

kph this stands for “kilometresper hour”, a measurement of an object’s speed.

Orbit the path an object takesas it circles a larger body. Man-made satellites orbit Earth.

Paddlewheel huge wheels withpaddles that were used to moveboats and ships before theinvention of the propeller.

Patent a document granted by a country’s government statingthat a person is the first toinvent something. It protectstheir rights to that invention.

Propeller a shaft fitted withblades that spins to move a shipor propeller plane.

Radar a way of using radio to detect objects that are not in sight.

Receiver the part of a machinethat collects sound or signals.

Antibiotics medicines thatwork by killing bacteria.

Battery a container that useschemicals to store electricity.

Electricity a form of energy thatis used to provide heat andlight, and to power all sorts of machines.

Fuel something that can beburned to give heat, such aspetrol for a car engine.

Industrial Revolution a periodof rapid change, which began inthe 1760s and saw the birth offactories, powered machinery,and an increasing use of iron.

Internal combustion engine amachine inside which fuel burnsto create power.

Jet engine an engine that takesin air from outside, heats it up,and pumps it out again to push itself forwards.

Here are the meanings of some words it is usefulto know when learning about inventions.

GlossaryRocket a machine thatcarries its own fuel andoxygen so that it can propelitself through space.

Silicon a dark grey, hardsubstance that looks rather likemetal but is not a metal. It isused to make silicon chips.

Steam-powered a machine that works because of the power of steam, produced when water boils.

Technology themethods used to make objects andmachines.

Transmitter the part of a machine that sends sound or signals.

47

Archer, FrederickScott 331813-1857 Wet-platephotography

Babbage, Charles 421791-1871 Calculatingmachines

Baird, John Logie 361888-1946 Televisor

Bell, AlexanderGraham 301847-1922 Telephone

Berliner, Emile 351851-1929 Gramophone

Brunel, IsambardKingdom 131806-1859 New uses of iron,including ships and bridges

Carothers, Wallace 271896-1937 Nylon

Cartwright, Edmund101743-1823 Steam-poweredloom

da Vinci, Leonardo 191452-1519 Artist, inventor,and scientist

Daguerre, Louis 321787-1851 Daguerreotype

Dyson, James 41947- Bagless vacuumcleaner

Eastman, George 331854-1932 Roll film

Edison, Thomas 4, 29,31, 351847-1931 Edison patentedmore than 1200 inventions,including the electric light bulband the phonograph

Faraday, Michael 291791-1867 Transformer

Fleming, Alexander 391881-1955 Penicillin

Franklin, Benjamin 281706-1790 Lightning conductor

Goddard, Robert H 201882-1945 Liquid-fuelled rocket

Lenoir, Étienne 161822-1900 Internal combustion engine

Lister, Joseph 381827-1912 Antiseptic

Marconi, Guglielmo 341874-1937 Radiotransmissions

Meggitt, Austin 51988- Glove & battie caddie

Meucci, Antonio, 301808-1896 Telephone

Montgolfier, Josephand Etienne 181740-1810 (Joseph); 1745-1799 (Etienne) Hot-air balloon

Niépce, JosephNicéphore 321765-1833 First photographic image

Perkins, Jacob 221766-1849 Refrigerator

Röntgen, Wilhelm 391845-1923 X-rays

Spencer, Percy 221894-1970 Microwave oven

Stephenson, George 141781-1848 The Rocket

Swan, Joseph 4, 291828-1914 Electric light bulb

Talbot, William Fox 321800-1877 Negative photographic images

Trevithick, Richard 141771-1833 Steam locomotive

Volta, Alessandro 281745-1827 Voltaic pile (the first battery)

Walker, John 91781-1859 Matches

Watt, James 101736-1819 Improved steam engine

Wright, Wilbur andOrville 181867-1912 (Wilbur); 1871-1948(Orville) First aeroplane

Most of the inventors found in this book are listed here, along with the page number onwhich they can be found, the dates of their birth and death, and their invention.

Inventors

aeroplanes 18-19anaesthetic 38antiseptic 38audio cassette 35

battery 28boats 12-13

camera 6, 32-33canned food 22car 6, 16-17, 44-45compact disc 7, 35

Difference Engine 42

electricity 7, 28-29

factory 10-11fire 6, 8

gas stove 22Gramophone 34, 35

helicopter 19hot-air balloon 7, 18hovercraft 13Hubble 21

Industrial Revolution 7, 10-11

internal combustion engine 16, 17

Internet 7, 43iron 11

jeans 24, 25jet-ski 12, 13jigsaw puzzle 24, 25

LEGO™ 25light bulb 4,

6, 29LPs 35

margarine 22, 23

matches 8, 9microprocessor

6, 43mobile phone

7, 31

paper 6, 40patent 5pen 41

pencil 41penicillin 39personal computer 6, 43phonograph 7, 34, 35photograph 7, 32plastic 26-27plough 8, 9printing press 6, 41

radio 34refrigerator 7, 22

robots 39, 45

ships 6, 13shoes 9

space shuttle 7, 20, 21space suit 20, 21spectacles 24, 25spinning jenny 7, 10Sputnik 1 6, 21steam engine 7, 10, 14Stephenson’s Rocket 7, 14

telephone 7, 30-31television 36-37televisor 6, 36toaster 23tools 8toothbrush 24, 27trainers 25trains 14-15

vaccine 38vacuum cleaner 4

wheel 6, 8, 9Wright Flyer 5, 18-19

x-ray 6, 39

zip 24, 25

Index

48

Aibo, a robot doginvented by Sony, Japan

The publisher would like to thank the following for their kind permission to reproducetheir photographs:

(Key: a=above; c=centre; b=below; l=left; r=right; t=top)

adidas-Salomon AG: 25clb, 25bcr; Alvey & Towers: 15ca; Amazing Kids!: AnneMeggitt 5br; Associated Press AP: 44c; aviation-images.com: Mark Wagner 19crb;Bridgeman Art Library, London/New York: British Museum 40cl, 40bcl; PrivateCollection 10cl; Roger Bridgman: 37tr; Corbis: 8(background), 15cla, 30br, 39tr;Paul Almasy 33car; Bettmann 4bl, 11crb, 18ca, 19bcl, 19tl, 28cl, 28bl, 29tr, 33cl, 35c,37cl, 39tl, 39bc; Clouds Hill Imaging Ltd 39r(background); W. Cody14l(background); Gianni Dagli Orti 8bcr, 9tl; Digital Art 31cl; Robert Estall 11clb,11bcr; Dennis Galante 26-27(background); Richard Hamilton Smith 12tr; Hulton-Deutsch Collection 13tcl, 14tl, 33tc, 36tl, 36ca; Polak Matthew/Sygma 25crb, 25br;W. Perry Conway 28tl, 28tr; Sergio Pitamitz 12-13(background); BobRowan/Progressive Image 12crb, 12br; Sygma 19br, 19bra, 21br; Jim West/ZUMA17crb, 17br; William Whitehurst 35br; John Wilkes Studio 23cr, 23bcr; DK Images:American Museum of Natural History 39cr; Beaulieu Motor Museum 9crb, 16tl, 17tr,17cra, 17bcl, 47clb, 47bc; British Airways 19cr, 47tr; British Library: 40cr, LawrencePardes 40clb; British Museum 40cb,40bl, Peter Hayman 9clb, 9bcr; Stephen Conlin7tr; Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum 2tl, 31cr, 31bcl; Dyson Museum 4crr;Gables 29br; Simon Miles 6-7cb; NASA/Finley Holiday Films 43r(background);National Maritime Museum 12cl, 12bl, 12cbl; National Railway Museum,York 14-15c, 14br, 46b; Stephen Oliver 28cbr; Robert Opie 4cl, 4c, 4cr, 22bc, 22l, 24car, 32br;Saint Bride Printing Library 41bc; Saxon Village Crafts 24bcl, 27tl; Science Museum8clb, 8br, 8bcl, 9tr, 10bcr, 10cbr, 12bcl, 14bl,18tl, 18bcl, 24(background), 25clb,28crb, 28bcl, 28bcr, 29bcr, 31clb, 36bcl, 38c, 38bcr, 46tl; Dave King 9br, 22bl, 34bl,34bc, 35tl, 35bc; Clive Streeter 28br; Matthew Ward 6bl; Mary Evans PictureLibrary: 13bl, 28cb; Ford Motor Company Ltd: 17cr,47bcr; Hulton Archive/Getty

Images: 32tl, 32bcl, 38clb; Kawasaki (UK)/Jet Skier & PW Magazine 13br; LeviStrauss & Co: 24br, 25cl; Marconi Corporation Plc 34b; Marshall Editions: 15tr,15cra, 15crb, 15bl, 15bc, 15bcl, 15bcr; NASA: 20c, 20clb, 20br, 21c, 21bl; JohnsonSpace Center 21bcl, 27crb; Langley Research Center 21tr; National GeographicImage Collection: George Grall 30(background); Nikon: 33bl; Novosti (London):21br; Robert Opie Collection: 24cb, 24bcr, 25tr; Philips Consumer Electronics:37crb, 37br; Picture Desk: Advertising Archive 23cl, 23bcl; National PlasticsCenter and Museum: 26cr, 26bcr, 27cl, 27bcl; www.popperfoto.com: 22cr, 23br;Powerstock: age fotostock/Liane Cary 33crb; SuperStock 7crb, 45(background);www.railimages.co.uk 15br cla; Rex Features: Alain Lockyear 12tl; Sipa Press 13cr;Science & Society Picture Library: National Museum of Photography Film &Television 30bcr, 31tl, 32cl, 32cr, 32bc, 32bcr, 33cra, 33bcr; Science Museum 4cll,5tc, 6bc(detail), 6cbl, 10cla, 10bl, 10br, 10-11c, 10bcl, 11bc, 11br, 11bcl, 12c, 12cr-13cl, 12bcr, 13bcl, 16bcl, 18c, 18br, 19cra, 19bl, 22c, 22bcr, 27tl, 26br, 31crb, 31bc,33br, 34tl, 34cb, 34br, 36clb, 36bl, 37bcl, 38cla, 38bc, 42tl, 42bl, 42b, 42bcr, 43cl,43bc, 43bcr, 47tl; Science Photo Library: 16tr, 30tl, 32bl; George Bernard 31bcr; Dr.Jeremy Burgess 26bl; Jean-loup Charmet 28cra; Christian Darkin 45t; Roger Harris17cl; James Holmes/Zedcor 27tr; Chris Knapton 11l, Los Alamos NationalLaboratory 42bcl, 43tl; Peter Menzel 38-39b, 39br, 44bl; Hank Morgan 44tr; SusumuNishinaga 35ca; David Parker 28-29; Andrew Syred 41cla, 41ca, 41cra, 43c; SonyCorporation: 34tl1, 45br, 48c; Sony Ericsson: 31br; SS Great Britain Trust: 13cbr;Getty Images: Eryk Fitkau 17bcr; Hulton Archive 13bcr, Fox Photos 36-37b; ImageBank 37c(inset); Klaus Lahnstein 38tl; Taxi/B C Moller 41crb; David Zelick 3r;Texas Instruments Limited: 42br; www.tvhistory.tv: 36br, 37cr, 37bcr; SpecialCollections and Archives, Wright State University: 5tr; www.yoyospin.com: 25c;Zefa Picture Library: Masterfile/J. A. Kraulis 16, 46-47(background).Timeline pages 6 - 7 Chronological image nos 1 - 26: 1) DK Images: HunterianMuseum/Harry Taylor; 2) DK Images: Dave King; 3) DK Images: Science Museum;4) DK Images: Science Museum; 5) DK Images: Dave King; 6) DK Images: SaintBride Printing Library; 7) & 8) Science & Society Picture Library: Science Museum;9) DK Images: Science Museum; 10) Hulton Archive/Getty Images; 11) DKImages: National Railway Museum, York/Mike Dunning; 12) Science & SocietyPicture Library: Science Museum; 13) & 14) DK Images; 15) DK Images: ScienceMuseum; 16) DK Images: Beaulieu Motor Museum; 17) Corbis: Bettmann; 18) DKImages: Robert Opie; 19) Science & Society Picture Library: Science Museum; 20)DK Images: Glasgow Museum; 21) DK Images; 22) & 23) Science & SocietyPicture Library: Science Museum; 24) NASA; 25) & 26) DK Images.

All other images © Dorling Kindersley www.dkimages.com

Picture credits

Dorling Kindersley would like to thank:Louise Halsey for original artwork, Pilar Morales for digital artworks, PennyArlon and Elinor Greenwood for editorial assistance, and Sarah Mills, KarlStange, and Hayley Smith for picture library assistance.

Acknowledgements