List of inventions named after people
Encyclopedia
This is a list of invention
s followed by name of the inventor (or whom it is named after). For other lists of eponyms (names derived from people) see Lists of etymologies.
Invention
An invention is a novel composition, device, or process. An invention may be derived from a pre-existing model or idea, or it could be independently conceived, in which case it may be a radical breakthrough. In addition, there is cultural invention, which is an innovative set of useful social...
s followed by name of the inventor (or whom it is named after). For other lists of eponyms (names derived from people) see Lists of etymologies.
A to F
- Appertization – Nicolas AppertNicolas AppertNicolas Appert , was the French inventor of airtight food preservation. Appert, known as the "father of canning", was a confectioner.-Biography:...
- Aldis lampSignal lampA signal lamp is a visual signaling device for optical communication . Modern signal lamps are a focused lamp which can produce a pulse of light...
– Arthur C. W. Aldis - AldrinAldrinAldrin is an organochlorine insecticide that was widely used until the 1970s, when it was banned in most countries. It is a colourless solid. Before the ban, it was heavily used as a pesticide to treat seed and soil...
– Kurt AlderKurt AlderKurt Alder was a German chemist and Nobel laureate.-Biography:Alder was born in the industrial area of Königshütte, Silesia , where he received his early schooling... - Alexanderson alternatorAlexanderson alternatorAn Alexanderson alternator is a rotating machine invented by Ernst Alexanderson in 1904 for the generation of high frequency alternating current up to 100 kHz, for use as a radio transmitter...
– Ernst AlexandersonErnst AlexandersonErnst Frederick Werner Alexanderson was a Swedish-American electrical engineer, who was a pioneer in radio and television development.-Background:... - Archimedes' screwArchimedes' screwThe Archimedes' screw, also called the Archimedean screw or screwpump, is a machine historically used for transferring water from a low-lying body of water into irrigation ditches...
– ArchimedesArchimedesArchimedes of Syracuse was a Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, inventor, and astronomer. Although few details of his life are known, he is regarded as one of the leading scientists in classical antiquity. Among his advances in physics are the foundations of hydrostatics, statics and an... - Anderson shelter – John Anderson, 1st Viscount WaverleyJohn Anderson, 1st Viscount WaverleyJohn Anderson, 1st Viscount Waverley, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCIE, PC, PC was a British civil servant then politician who served as a minister under Neville Chamberlain and Winston Churchill as Home Secretary, Lord President of the Council and Chancellor of the Exchequer...
- Anderton Shearer Loader – James Anderton
- Argand lampArgand lampThe Argand lamp is home lighting oil lamp producing a light output of 6 to 10 candlepower which was invented and patented in 1780 by Aimé Argand...
– Aimé ArgandAimé ArgandFrançois Pierre Ami Argand was a Swiss physicist and chemist. He invented the Argand lamp, a great improvement on the traditional oil lamp. -Early years:... - Armstrong's acidArmstrong's acidArmstrong's acid is a strong acid which is related to toluenesulfonic acid and is used in chemical synthesis. It was named for British chemist Henry Edward Armstrong. It is sometimes used as a divalent counterion for forming salts of basic drug compounds, as an alternative to the related mesylate...
– Henry Edward ArmstrongHenry Edward ArmstrongHenry Edward Armstrong FRS was an English chemist. Although Armstrong was active in many areas of scientific research, such as the chemistry of naphthalene derivatives, he is remembered today largely for his ideas and work on the teaching of science... - AusteniteAusteniteAustenite, also known as gamma phase iron, is a metallic non-magnetic allotrope of iron or a solid solution of iron, with an alloying element. In plain-carbon steel, austenite exists above the critical eutectoid temperature of ; other alloys of steel have different eutectoid temperatures...
– William Chandler Roberts-AustenWilliam Chandler Roberts-AustenSir William Chandler Roberts-Austen, , was a metallurgist noted for his research on the physical properties of metals and their alloys. Austenite is named in his honor.... - Armstrong breech-loading gunRifled breech loaderA rifled breech loader is an artillery piece which, unlike the smooth-bore cannon and rifled muzzle loader which preceded it, has rifling in the barrel and is loaded from the breech at the rear of the gun....
– William Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong - Bailey bridgeBailey bridgeThe Bailey bridge is a type of portable, pre-fabricated, truss bridge. It was developed by the British during World War II for military use and saw extensive use by both British and the American military engineering units....
– Donald BaileyDonald BaileySir Donald Coleman Bailey, OBE was an English civil engineer who invented the Bailey bridge. Field Marshal Montgomery is recorded as saying that without the Bailey bridge, we should not have won the war. - Background :... - Barlow lensBarlow lensThe Barlow lens, named for its creator, the English engineer Peter Barlow, is a diverging lens which, used in series with other optics in an optical system, increases the effective focal ratio of an optical system as perceived by all components after it in the system...
, Barlow's wheelBarlow's Wheelthumb|An 1842 diagram of Barlow's wheelBarlow's wheel was an early demonstration of a homopolar motor, designed and built by English mathematician and physicist, Peter Barlow in 1822. An electric current passes through the hub of the wheel to a mercury contact on the rim; this is contained in a...
– Peter Barlow - Bath OliverBath OliverA Bath Oliver is a hard, dry biscuit or cracker made from flour, butter, yeast and milk; often eaten with cheese. It was invented by a Dr William Oliver of Bath, Somerset around 1750, giving the biscuit its name....
– William OliverWilliam Oliver (physician)William Oliver was an English physician and philanthropist, and inventor of the Bath Oliver. He was born at Ludgvan, Cornwall, and baptised on 27 August 1695, described as the son of John Oliver. His family, originally seated at Trevarnoe in Sithney, resided afterwards in Ludgvan, and the estate... - Bakelite – Leo BaekelandLeo BaekelandLeo Hendrik Baekeland was a Belgian chemist who invented Velox photographic paper and Bakelite , an inexpensive, nonflammable, versatile, and popular plastic, which marks the beginning of the modern plastics industry.-Career:Leo Baekeland was born in Sint-Martens-Latem near Ghent, Belgium,...
- Beecham's PillsBeecham's PillsBeecham's Pills were a laxative first marketed around 1842 in St Helens, Lancashire. They were invented by Thomas Beecham , grandfather of Thomas Beecham ....
– Thomas BeechamThomas BeechamSir Thomas Beecham, 2nd Baronet CH was an English conductor and impresario best known for his association with the London Philharmonic and the Royal Philharmonic orchestras. He was also closely associated with the Liverpool Philharmonic and Hallé orchestras... - Belisha beaconBelisha beaconA Belisha beacon is an amber-coloured globe lamp atop a tall black and white pole, marking pedestrian crossings of roads in the United Kingdom, Ireland and in other countries historically influenced by Britain...
– Leslie Hore-Belisha, 1st Baron Hore-BelishaLeslie Hore-Belisha, 1st Baron Hore-BelishaIsaac Leslie Hore-Belisha, 1st Baron Hore-Belisha PC was a British Liberal, then National Liberal Member of Parliament and Cabinet Minister. He later joined the Conservative Party... - Benson raftBenson raftThe Benson raft was a huge sea-going log raft designed to reliably transport millions of board feet of timber at one time through the open ocean. This practical transportation method was first used on the Pacific coast in 1906 by Simon Benson, a lumber baron of Portland, Oregon, in the United...
– Simon BensonSimon BensonSimon Benson was a noted businessman and philanthropist from Portland, Oregon.-Background:Simon Benson was born Simon Iversen in Norway, one of seven children in the Berger Iversen family. His eldest brother Jon immigrated to the United States in 1861, followed by his sister Mathea in 1865... - Bessemer converterBessemer processThe Bessemer process was the first inexpensive industrial process for the mass-production of steel from molten pig iron. The process is named after its inventor, Henry Bessemer, who took out a patent on the process in 1855. The process was independently discovered in 1851 by William Kelly...
– Henry BessemerHenry BessemerSir Henry Bessemer was an English engineer, inventor, and businessman. Bessemer's name is chiefly known in connection with the Bessemer process for the manufacture of steel.-Anthony Bessemer:... - Bird's CustardBird's CustardBird's Custard is the original version of what is known generically as custard powder. It is a cornflour -based powder which thickens to form a custard-like sauce when mixed with milk and heated to a sufficient temperature...
– Alfred BirdAlfred BirdAlfred Bird was a British food manufacturer and chemist. He was born in Nympsfield, Gloucestershire, England in 1811 was the inventor of a series of food products mostly now taken for granted... - Biro – László BíróLászló BíróLászló József Bíró was the inventor of the modern ballpoint pen.Bíró was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1899. He presented the first production of the ball pen at the Budapest International Fair in 1931...
- Blacker BombardBlacker BombardThe Blacker Bombard, also known as the 29mm Spigot Mortar, was an infantry anti-tank weapon devised by Lieutenant-Colonel Stewart Blacker in the early years of the Second World War.-Development:...
– Stewart BlackerStewart BlackerLieutenant-Colonel Latham Valentine Stewart Blacker OBE was a British Army officer and inventor of weapons.He invented the Blacker Bombard, laid the basis of the PIAT - both based on the spigot mortar - and the Ayre Petard... - BloomersBloomers (clothing)Bloomers is a word which has been applied to several types of divided women's garments for the lower body at various times.-Fashion bloomers :...
– Amelia BloomerAmelia BloomerAmelia Jenks Bloomer was an American women's rights and temperance advocate. Even though she did not create the women's clothing reform style known as bloomers, her name became associated with it because of her early and strong advocacy.-Early life:Bloomer came from a family of modest means and... - Botts' dotsBotts' dotsBotts' dots are round nonreflective raised pavement markers. In many U.S. states and in several other countries, Botts' dots are used to mark lanes on highways and arterial roads. They provide tactile feedback to drivers when they move across designated travel lanes, and are analogous to rumble...
– Elbert Dysart BottsElbert Dysart BottsDr. Elbert Dysart Botts was the California Department of Transportation engineer credited with overseeing the research that led to the development of Botts' dots and the epoxy used to attach them to the road.Botts was born in Missouri in 1893 and was a professor of chemistry at San Jose State... - Bowie knifeBowie knifeA Bowie knife is a pattern of fixed-blade fighting knife first popularized by Colonel James "Jim" Bowie in the early 19th Century. Since the first incarnation was created by James Black, the Bowie knife has come to incorporate several recognizable and characteristic design features, although its...
– James Bowie - Bowden cableBowden cableA Bowden cable is a type of flexible cable used to transmit mechanical force or energy by the movement of an inner cable relative to a hollow outer cable housing...
– Ernest Monnington BowdenErnest Monnington BowdenErnest Monnington Bowden was an Irishman who invented the Bowden mechanism.He lived at 35 Bedford Place, London, W.C. His first patent was granted in 1896... - Bowler hatBowler hatThe bowler hat, also known as a coke hat, derby , billycock or bombin, is a hard felt hat with a rounded crown originally created in 1849 for the English soldier and politician Edward Coke, the younger brother of the 2nd Earl of Leicester...
– Thomas and William Bowler - Bradshaw's Railway Guide – George BradshawGeorge BradshawGeorge Bradshaw was an English cartographer, printer and publisher. He is best known for developing the most successful and longest published series of combined railway timetables.-Biography:...
- Brannock DeviceBrannock DeviceThe Brannock Device is a measuring instrument invented by Charles F. Brannock for measuring a person's shoe size. The son of a shoe industry entrepreneur, Brannock attended Syracuse University, New York, U.S.A. where he became a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon Fraternity. Brannock spent two years...
– Charles F. BrannockCharles F. BrannockCharles F. Brannock was the inventor and manufacturer of the familiar Brannock Device for measuring overall length, width, and heel-to-ball length of the foot. Brannock, proprietor of the successful Park-Brannock Shoe Store in Syracuse, New York, developed the device in 1925... - BrailleBrailleThe Braille system is a method that is widely used by blind people to read and write, and was the first digital form of writing.Braille was devised in 1825 by Louis Braille, a blind Frenchman. Each Braille character, or cell, is made up of six dot positions, arranged in a rectangle containing two...
– Louis BrailleLouis BrailleLouis Braille was the inventor of braille, a system of reading and writing used by people who are blind or visually impaired... - Bramah PressHydraulic pressA hydraulic is a machine using a hydraulic cylinder to generate a compressive force. It uses the hydraulic equivalenta mechanical lever, and was also known as a Bramah press after the inventor, Joseph Bramah, of England. He invented and was issued a patent on this press in 1795...
– Joseph BramahJoseph BramahJoseph Bramah , born Stainborough Lane Farm, Wentworth, Yorkshire, England, was an inventor and locksmith. He is best known for having invented the hydraulic press... - Bourdon gauge – Eugene Bourdon
- M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle – John BrowningJohn BrowningJohn Moses Browning , born in Ogden, Utah, was an American firearms designer who developed many varieties of military and civilian firearms, cartridges, and gun mechanisms, many of which are still in use around the world...
- Büchner flaskBüchner flaskA Büchner flask, also known as a vacuum flask, filter flask, side-arm flask or Kitasato flask, is a thick-walled Erlenmeyer flask with a short glass tube and hose barb protruding about an inch from its neck. The short tube and hose barb effectively acts as an adapter over which the end of a...
– Ernst BüchnerErnst BüchnerErnst Wilhelm Büchner was an industrial chemist and the inventor of the Büchner funnel and Büchner flask. Ernst was the nephew of the playwright Georg Büchner.-External links:... - BroughamBrougham (carriage)A brougham was a light, four-wheeled horse-drawn carriage built in the 19th century. It was either invented for Scottish jurist Henry Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain, or simply made fashionable by his example...
– Henry Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and VauxHenry Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and VauxHenry Peter Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux was a British statesman who became Lord Chancellor of Great Britain.As a young lawyer in Scotland Brougham helped to found the Edinburgh Review in 1802 and contributed many articles to it. He went to London, and was called to the English bar in... - Bunsen burnerBunsen burnerA Bunsen burner, named after Robert Bunsen, is a common piece of laboratory equipment that produces a single open gas flame, which is used for heating, sterilization, and combustion.- Operation:...
– Robert BunsenRobert BunsenRobert Wilhelm Eberhard Bunsen was a German chemist. He investigated emission spectra of heated elements, and discovered caesium and rubidium with Gustav Kirchhoff. Bunsen developed several gas-analytical methods, was a pioneer in photochemistry, and did early work in the field of organoarsenic... - CallaneticsCallaneticsThe Callanetics exercise programme was created by Callan Pinckney in the early 1980s. It is a system of exercise involving frequent repetition of small muscular movements and squeezes, designed to improve muscle tone...
– Callan PinckneyCallan PinckneyCallan Pinckney is an American fitness professional who created the exercise regime known as Callanetics.... - CardiganCardigan (sweater)A cardigan is a type of machine- or hand-knitted sweater that ties, buttons or zips down the front; by contrast, a pullover does not open in front but must be "pulled over" the head to be worn. The cardigan was named after James Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan, a British military commander,...
– James Brudenell, 7th Earl of CardiganJames Brudenell, 7th Earl of CardiganLieutenant General James Thomas Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan, KCB , was an officer in the British Army who commanded the Light Brigade during the Crimean War... - Carnot cycleCarnot cycleThe Carnot cycle is a theoretical thermodynamic cycle proposed by Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot in 1824 and expanded by Benoit Paul Émile Clapeyron in the 1830s and 40s. It can be shown that it is the most efficient cycle for converting a given amount of thermal energy into work, or conversely,...
, Carnot heat engineCarnot heat engineA Carnot heat engine is a hypothetical engine that operates on the reversible Carnot cycle. The basic model for this engine was developed by Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot in 1824...
– Nicolas Léonard Sadi CarnotNicolas Léonard Sadi CarnotNicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot was a French military engineer who, in his 1824 Reflections on the Motive Power of Fire, gave the first successful theoretical account of heat engines, now known as the Carnot cycle, thereby laying the foundations of the second law of thermodynamics... - Catherine WheelBreaking wheelThe breaking wheel, also known as the Catherine wheel or simply the wheel, was a torture device used for capital punishment in the Middle Ages and early modern times for public execution by bludgeoning to death...
– Catherine of AlexandriaCatherine of AlexandriaSaint Catherine of Alexandria, also known as Saint Catherine of the Wheel and The Great Martyr Saint Catherine is, according to tradition, a Christian saint and virgin, who was martyred in the early 4th century at the hands of the pagan emperor Maxentius... - ClerihewClerihewA clerihew is a whimsical, four-line biographical poem invented by Edmund Clerihew Bentley. One of his best known is this :* It is biographical and usually whimsical, showing the subject from an unusual point of view; it pokes fun at mostly famous people...
– Edmund Clerihew BentleyEdmund Clerihew BentleyE. C. Bentley was a popular English novelist and humorist of the early twentieth century, and the inventor of the clerihew, an irregular form of humorous verse on biographical topics... - Coade stoneCoade stoneLithodipyra , or Coade stone, was ceramic stoneware that was often described as an artificial stone in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It was used for moulding Neoclassical statues, architectural decorations and garden ornaments that were both of the highest quality and remain virtually...
– Eleanor CoadeEleanor CoadeEleanor Coade was a devout Baptist and remained unmarried until her death on 16 November 1821 in Camberwell Grove, Camberwell, London. Her obituary notice was published in The Gentleman's Magazine which declared her ‘the sole inventor and proprietor of an art which deserves considerable notice’... - Codd-neck bottle – Hiram CoddHiram CoddHiram Codd was an English engineer. In 1872, he patented a bottle filled under gas pressure which pushed a marble against a rubber washer in the neck, creating a perfect seal.-Early life:...
- Colt revolverColt PatersonA Colt Paterson is a revolver. It was the first commercial repeating firearm employing a revolving cylinder with multiple chambers aligned with a single, stationary barrel. Its design was patented by Samuel Colt on February 25, 1836, in the United States, France, and England, and it derived its...
– Samuel ColtSamuel ColtSamuel Colt was an American inventor and industrialist. He was the founder of Colt's Patent Fire-Arms Manufacturing Company , and is widely credited with popularizing the revolver. Colt's innovative contributions to the weapons industry have been described by arms historian James E... - Coffey stillColumn stillA column still, also called a continuous still, patent still or Coffey still, is a variety of still consisting of two columns invented in 1826 by Robert Stein, a Clackmannanshire distiller, and it was first used at the Cameron Bridge Grain Distillery in Fife, Scotland. The design was enhanced and...
– Aeneas CoffeyAeneas Coffey-Biography:Coffey was born in Calais, France, where he spent his early years. His family returned to Dublin , where he was educated at Trinity College, Dublin. He entered the excise service around 1799–1800 as a gauger... - Congreve rocketCongreve rocketThe Congreve Rocket was a British military weapon designed and developed by Sir William Congreve in 1804.The rocket was developed by the British Royal Arsenal following the experiences of the Second, Third and Fourth Mysore Wars. The wars fought between the British East India Company and the...
- Sir William Congreve, 1st BaronetSir William Congreve, 1st BaronetLieutenant General Sir William Congreve, 1st Baronet During the second half of the 18th century, the British government became increasingly concerned over the volume and quality of gunpowder produced by the private manufacturers... - Crookes tubeCrookes tubeA Crookes tube is an early experimental electrical discharge tube, invented by English physicist William Crookes and others around 1869-1875, in which cathode rays, that is electrons, were discovered....
– William CrookesWilliam CrookesSir William Crookes, OM, FRS was a British chemist and physicist who attended the Royal College of Chemistry, London, and worked on spectroscopy... - Crompton's muleSpinning muleThe spinning mule was a machine used to spin cotton and other fibres in the mills of Lancashire and elsewhere from the late eighteenth to the early twentieth century. Mules were worked in pairs by a minder, with the help of two boys: the little piecer and the big or side piecer...
– Samuel CromptonSamuel CromptonSamuel Crompton was an English inventor and pioneer of the spinning industry.- Early life :Samuel Crompton was born at 10 Firwood Fold, Bolton, Lancashire to George and Betty Crompton . Samuel had two younger sisters... - CunninghamCunningham (sailing)In sailing, a cunningham or cunningham's eye is a type of downhaul used on a Bermuda rigged sailboat to change the shape of a sail. Sailors also often refer to the cunningham as the "smart pig"....
– Briggs CunninghamBriggs CunninghamBriggs Swift Cunningham II was an American entrepreneur and sportsman, who raced automobiles and yachts. Born into a wealthy family, he became a racing car constructor, driver, and team owner as well as a sports car manufacturer and automobile collector.He skippered the victorious yacht Columbia... - DaguerreotypeDaguerreotypeThe daguerreotype was the first commercially successful photographic process. The image is a direct positive made in the camera on a silvered copper plate....
– Louis DaguerreLouis DaguerreLouis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre was a French artist and physicist, recognized for his invention of the daguerreotype process of photography.- Biography :... - Dalén lightDalén lightThe Dalén light was the predominant form of light source in lighthouses from the 1900s through the 1960s, when electric lighting had become dominant. The system was invented by Gustaf Dalén and marketed by his company AGA. Dalén later invented the AGA cooker in 1922. The Dalén light is notable...
– Gustaf DalénGustaf DalénNils Gustaf Dalén was a Swedish Nobel Laureate and industrialist, the founder of the AGA company and inventor of the AGA cooker and the Dalén light... - Daly detectorDaly detectorA Daly detector is a gas phase ion detector that consists of a metal "doorknob", a scintillator and a photomultiplier. It was named after its inventor Norman Richard Daly. Daly detectors are typically used in mass spectrometers....
– Norman Richard Daly - Daniell cellDaniell cellThe Daniell cell was invented in 1836 by John Frederic Daniell, a British chemist and meteorologist, and consisted of a copper pot filled with a copper sulfate solution, in which was immersed an unglazed earthenware container filled with sulfuric acid and a zinc electrode...
– John Frederic DaniellJohn Frederic DaniellJohn Frederic Daniell was an English chemist and physicist.Daniell was born in London, and in 1831 became the first professor of chemistry at the newly founded King's College London. His name is best known for his invention of the Daniell cell , an electric battery much better than voltaic cells... - Davenport deskDavenport deskA Davenport desk, is a small desk with an inclined lifting desktop attached with hinges to the back of the body. Lifting the desktop accesses a large compartment with storage space for paper and other writing implements, and smaller spaces in the forms of small drawers and pigeonholes...
– Captain John Davenport - Davy lampDavy lampThe Davy lamp is a safety lamp with a wick and oil vessel burning originally a heavy vegetable oil, devised in 1815 by Sir Humphry Davy. It was created for use in coal mines, allowing deep seams to be mined despite the presence of methane and other flammable gases, called firedamp or minedamp.Sir...
– Humphry DavyHumphry DavySir Humphry Davy, 1st Baronet FRS MRIA was a British chemist and inventor. He is probably best remembered today for his discoveries of several alkali and alkaline earth metals, as well as contributions to the discoveries of the elemental nature of chlorine and iodine... - DerringerDerringerThe term derringer is a genericized misspelling of the last name of Henry Deringer, a famous 19th-century maker of small pocket pistols. Many copies of the original Philadelphia Deringer pistol were made by other gun makers worldwide, and the name was often misspelled; this misspelling soon became...
– Henry DeringerHenry DeringerHenry Deringer was an American gunsmith. He invented, and gave his name to the Deringer pistol. Further development and copying of his design resulted in the derringer pistol that was generically manufactured widely by other companies.He was born in Easton, Pennsylvania on Oct... - DerrickDerrickA derrick is a lifting device composed of one tower, or guyed mast such as a pole which is hinged freely at the bottom. It is controlled by lines powered by some means such as man-hauling or motors, so that the pole can move in all four directions. A line runs up it and over its top with a hook on...
– Thomas DerrickThomas DerrickThomas Derrick was a notable English executioner from the Elizabethan era.In English history, executioner was not a commonly chosen career path because of the risk of friends and families of the deceased knowing who the executioner was and where to find him. Executioners were sometimes coerced into... - Dewar flaskVacuum flaskA vacuum flask is an insulating storage vessel which keeps its contents hotter or cooler than its surroundings. Invented by Sir James Dewar in 1892, the vacuum flask consists of two flasks, placed one within the other and joined at the neck...
– James DewarJames DewarSir James Dewar FRS was a Scottish chemist and physicist. He is probably best-known today for his invention of the Dewar flask, which he used in conjunction with extensive research into the liquefaction of gases... - Diesel engineDiesel engineA diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber...
– Rudolf DieselRudolf DieselRudolf Christian Karl Diesel was a German inventor and mechanical engineer, famous for the invention of the diesel engine.-Early life:Diesel was born in Paris, France in 1858 the second of three children of Theodor and Elise Diesel. His parents were Bavarian immigrants living in Paris. Theodor... - Dimroth condenser – Otto DimrothOtto DimrothOtto Dimroth was a German chemist. He is known for the Dimroth rearrangement, as well as a type of condenser with an internal double spiral, the Dimroth condenser....
- Dr. MartensDr. MartensDr. Martens is a traditional British footwear brand, which also makes a range of accessories – shoe care products, clothing, luggage, etc. In addition to Dr. Martens, they are known as Doctor Martens, Doc Martens, Docs or DMs...
– Klaus Märtens - Dolby noise-reduction system – Ray DolbyRay DolbyRay Dolby is the American engineer and inventor of the noise reduction system known as Dolby NR. He was also a co-inventor of video tape recording while at Ampex. He is the founder of Dolby Laboratories.-Biography:...
- Doppler radarDoppler radarA Doppler radar is a specialized radar that makes use of the Doppler effect to produce velocity data about objects at a distance. It does this by beaming a microwave signal towards a desired target and listening for its reflection, then analyzing how the frequency of the returned signal has been...
– Christian DopplerChristian DopplerChristian Andreas Doppler was an Austrian mathematician and physicist.-Life and work:Christian Doppler was raised in Salzburg, Austria, the son of a stonemason. Doppler could not work in his father's business because of his generally weak physical condition... - DraisineDraisineA draisine primarily refers to a light auxiliary rail vehicle, driven by service personnel, equipped to transport crew and material necessary for the maintenance of railway infrastructure....
– Karl DraisKarl DraisKarl Drais was a German inventor and invented the Laufmaschine , also later called the velocipede, draisine or "draisienne" , also nicknamed the dandy horse. This incorporated the two-wheeler principle that is basic to the bicycle and motorcycle and was the beginning of mechanized personal... - Edison screwEdison screwThe Edison screw fitting is a system of connectors used for light bulbs, developed by Thomas Edison and licensed starting in 1909 under the Mazda trademark. Most have a right-hand threading, so that it goes in when turned clockwise and comes out when turned counterclockwise, like a hardware screw...
– Thomas EdisonThomas EdisonThomas Alva Edison was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. In addition, he created the world’s first industrial... - Éolienne BolléeÉolienne BolléeThe Éolienne Bollée is an unusual wind turbine, unique for having a stator and a rotor, as a water turbine has. The eponymous invention was first patented in 1868 by Ernest Sylvain Bollée in France...
– Ernest Sylvain Bollée - Ericsson engine – John EricssonJohn EricssonJohn Ericsson was a Swedish-American inventor and mechanical engineer, as was his brother Nils Ericson. He was born at Långbanshyttan in Värmland, Sweden, but primarily came to be active in England and the United States...
- Erlenmeyer flaskErlenmeyer flaskAn Erlenmeyer flask, also known as a conical flask, is a widely used type of laboratory flask which features a flat bottom, a conical body, and a cylindrical neck. It is named after the German chemist Emil Erlenmeyer, who created it in 1861...
– Emil Erlenmeyer - Euclidean geometryEuclidean geometryEuclidean geometry is a mathematical system attributed to the Alexandrian Greek mathematician Euclid, which he described in his textbook on geometry: the Elements. Euclid's method consists in assuming a small set of intuitively appealing axioms, and deducing many other propositions from these...
– EuclidEuclidEuclid , fl. 300 BC, also known as Euclid of Alexandria, was a Greek mathematician, often referred to as the "Father of Geometry". He was active in Alexandria during the reign of Ptolemy I... - Faraday cageFaraday cageA Faraday cage or Faraday shield is an enclosure formed by conducting material or by a mesh of such material. Such an enclosure blocks out external static and non-static electric fields...
– Michael FaradayMichael FaradayMichael Faraday, FRS was an English chemist and physicist who contributed to the fields of electromagnetism and electrochemistry.... - Ferris wheelFerris wheelA Ferris wheel is a nonbuilding structure consisting of a rotating upright wheel with passenger cars attached to the rim in such a way that as the wheel turns, the cars are kept upright, usually by gravity.Some of the largest and most modern Ferris wheels have cars mounted on...
– George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr.George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr.George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr. was an American engineer. He is most famous for creating the original Ferris Wheel for the 1893 Chicago World's Columbian Exposition.-Early life:... - Foley catheterFoley catheterA Foley catheter is a flexible tube that is often passed through the urethra and into the bladder. The tube has two separated channels, or lumens, running down its length. One lumen is open at both ends, and allows urine to drain out into a collection bag...
– Frederic FoleyFrederic FoleyDr. Frederic Eugene Basil Foley, MD was an American urologist who is remembered for designing the Foley catheter.-Biography:Frederic Foley was born in St. Cloud, Minnesota in 1891... - Foucault pendulumFoucault pendulumThe Foucault pendulum , or Foucault's pendulum, named after the French physicist Léon Foucault, is a simple device conceived as an experiment to demonstrate the rotation of the Earth. While it had long been known that the Earth rotated, the introduction of the Foucault pendulum in 1851 was the...
– Léon FoucaultLéon FoucaultJean Bernard Léon Foucault was a French physicist best known for the invention of the Foucault pendulum, a device demonstrating the effect of the Earth's rotation... - Francis turbineFrancis turbineThe Francis turbine is a type of water turbine that was developed by James B. Francis in Lowell, Massachusetts. It is an inward-flow reaction turbine that combines radial and axial flow concepts....
– James B. FrancisJames B. FrancisJames Bicheno Francis was a British-American engineer, who invented the Francis turbine.-Early years:James Francis was born in South Leigh, near Witney, Oxfordshire in England, United Kingdom... - Franklin stoveFranklin stoveThe Franklin stove is a metal-lined fireplace named after its inventor, Benjamin Franklin. It was invented in 1741.L.W. Labaree, W. Bell, W.B. Willcox, et al., eds., The Papers of Benjamin Franklin , vol. 2, page 419...
– Benjamin FranklinBenjamin FranklinDr. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat... - Fresnel lensFresnel lensA Fresnel lens is a type of lens originally developed by French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel for lighthouses.The design allows the construction of lenses of large aperture and short focal length without the mass and volume of material that would be required by a lens of conventional design...
– Augustin-Jean FresnelAugustin-Jean FresnelAugustin-Jean Fresnel , was a French engineer who contributed significantly to the establishment of the theory of wave optics. Fresnel studied the behaviour of light both theoretically and experimentally.... - Friedrichs condenser – Fritz Walter Paul FriedrichsFritz Walter Paul FriedrichsFritz Walter Paul Friedrichs was a German chemist. He invented the spiral cold finger-type condenser, now most commonly known as a Friedrichs condenser, which he described in a 1912 article published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.-References:...
G to M
- IMI GalilIMI GalilThe Galil is a family of Israeli small arms designed by Yisrael Galil and Yaacov Lior in the late 1960s and produced by Israel Military Industries Ltd of Ramat HaSharon...
– Yisrael Galil - Gallup Poll – George GallupGeorge GallupGeorge Horace Gallup was an American pioneer of survey sampling techniques and inventor of the Gallup poll, a successful statistical method of survey sampling for measuring public opinion.-Biography:...
- GalvanometerGalvanometerA galvanometer is a type of ammeter: an instrument for detecting and measuring electric current. It is an analog electromechanical transducer that produces a rotary deflection of some type of pointer in response to electric current flowing through its coil in a magnetic field. .Galvanometers were...
, Galvanic cellGalvanic cellA Galvanic cell, or Voltaic cell, named after Luigi Galvani, or Alessandro Volta respectively, is an electrochemical cell that derives electrical energy from spontaneous redox reaction taking place within the cell...
– Luigi GalvaniLuigi GalvaniLuigi Aloisio Galvani was an Italian physician and physicist who lived and died in Bologna. In 1791, he discovered that the muscles of dead frogs legs twitched when struck by a spark... - Gatling gunGatling gunThe Gatling gun is one of the best known early rapid-fire weapons and a forerunner of the modern machine gun. It is well known for its use by the Union forces during the American Civil War in the 1860s, which was the first time it was employed in combat...
– Richard Jordan GatlingRichard Jordan GatlingDr. Richard Jordan Gatling was an American inventor best known for his invention of the Gatling gun, the first successful machine gun.-Life:... - Gatso camerasGatsoGatso is the brand that Gatsometer BV use on their traffic enforcement cameras, most notably their speed cameras and red light cameras. The most commonly encountered Gatso speed cameras emit radar beams to measure the speed of a passing vehicle...
– Maus Gatsonides - Geiger counterGeiger counterA Geiger counter, also called a Geiger–Müller counter, is a type of particle detector that measures ionizing radiation. They detect the emission of nuclear radiation: alpha particles, beta particles or gamma rays. A Geiger counter detects radiation by ionization produced in a low-pressure gas in a...
– Hans Geiger - Geiger–Müller tubeGeiger–Müller tubeA Geiger–Müller tube is the sensing element of a Geiger counter instrument that can detect a single particle of ionizing radiation, and typically produce an audible click for each. It was named for Hans Geiger who invented the device in 1908, and Walther Müller who collaborated with Geiger in...
– Hans Geiger and Walther MüllerWalther MüllerWalther Müller , was a German physicist, most well known for his improvement of Hans Geiger's counter for ionizing radiation, now known as the Geiger-Müller tube.... - M1 GarandM1 GarandThe M1 Garand , was the first semi-automatic rifle to be generally issued to the infantry of any nation. Called "the greatest battle implement ever devised" by General George S...
– John GarandJohn GarandJohn Cantius Garand was a designer of firearms best known for creating the first successful semi-automatic rifle to be widely used in active military service, the M1 Garand.... - Gillette safety razorSafety razorA safety razor is a razor that protects the skin from all but the very edge of the blade. These razors reduce the possibility of serious injury, which makes them more forgiving than a straight razor.-Cartridges introduced:...
– King Camp Gillette - Gladstone bagGladstone bagA Gladstone bag is a small portmanteau suitcase built over a rigid frame which could separate into two equal sections. Unlike a suitcase, a Gladstone bag is "deeper in proportion to its length." They are typically made of stiff leather and often belted with lanyards...
– William Ewart GladstoneWilliam Ewart GladstoneWilliam Ewart Gladstone FRS FSS was a British Liberal statesman. In a career lasting over sixty years, he served as Prime Minister four separate times , more than any other person. Gladstone was also Britain's oldest Prime Minister, 84 years old when he resigned for the last time... - Glauber's saltSodium sulfateSodium sulfate is the sodium salt of sulfuric acid. When anhydrous, it is a white crystalline solid of formula Na2SO4 known as the mineral thenardite; the decahydrate Na2SO4·10H2O has been known as Glauber's salt or, historically, sal mirabilis since the 17th century. Another solid is the...
– Johann Rudolf GlauberJohann Rudolf GlauberJohann Rudolf Glauber was a German-Dutch alchemist and chemist. Some historians of science have described him as one of the first chemical engineers... - Gore-TexGore-TexGore-Tex is a waterproof/breathable fabric, and a registered trademark of W. L. Gore and Associates. It was co-invented by Wilbert L. Gore, Rowena Taylor, and Gore's son, Robert W. Gore. Robert Gore was granted on April 27, 1976, for a porous form of polytetrafluoroethylene with a...
– Bill GoreBill GoreWilbert L. "Bill" Gore was a businessman and entrepreneur who co-founded W. L. Gore and Associates with his wife, Genevieve . He gained international attention and respect for nurturing the company from a home-based family business into a worldwide corporation while practicing a unique management... - Graham condenser – Thomas D. Graham
- Graham crackerGraham crackerThe graham cracker was developed in 1829 in Bound Brook, New Jersey, by Presbyterian minister Rev. Sylvester Graham. The true graham cracker is made with graham flour, a combination of fine-ground white flour and coarse-ground wheat bran and germ. Graham crackers are often used for making s'mores...
– Rev Sylvester GrahamSylvester GrahamThe Reverend Sylvester Graham was an American dietary reformer. He was born in Suffield, Connecticut as the 17th child of Reverend John Graham. Sylvester Graham was ordained in 1826 as a Presbyterian minister. He entered Amherst College in 1823 but did not graduate... - GuillotineGuillotineThe guillotine is a device used for carrying out :executions by decapitation. It consists of a tall upright frame from which an angled blade is suspended. This blade is raised with a rope and then allowed to drop, severing the head from the body...
– Joseph-Ignace GuillotinJoseph-Ignace GuillotinDr. Joseph-Ignace Guillotin was a French physician who proposed on 10 October 1789 the use of a device to carry out death penalties in France. While he did not invent the guillotine, and in fact opposed the death penalty, his name became an eponym for it... - Halkett boatHalkett boatA Halkett boat is a type of lightweight inflatable boat designed by during the 1840s. Halkett had long been interested in the difficulties of travelling in the Canadian Arctic, and the problems involved in designing boats light enough to be carried over arduous terrain, but robust enough to be...
– Peter Halkett - Hallidie ropewayHallidie ropewayIn mining history, a Hallidie ropeway is a cable system used to haul ore from a mine.-History:Andrew Smith Hallidie was a Scot who came to America to seek his fortune, with his father, in the goldfieldsof California...
– Andrew Smith HallidieAndrew Smith HallidieAndrew Smith Hallidie was the promoter of the Clay Street Hill Railroad in San Francisco, USA. This was the world's first practical cable car system, and Hallidie is often therefore regarded as the inventor of the cable car and father of the present day San Francisco cable car system, although... - Halligan barHalligan barA Halligan bar is a special forcible entry tool commonly used by firefighters and law enforcement. It was designed by and named after Hugh Halligan, a First Deputy Fire Chief in the New York City Fire Department, in 1948...
– Hugh Halligan - Hammond organHammond organThe Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company. While the Hammond organ was originally sold to churches as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven pipe organ, in the 1960s and 1970s it became a standard keyboard...
– Laurens HammondLaurens HammondLaurens Hammond , was an American engineer and inventor. His inventions include, most famously, the Hammond organ, the Hammond Clock, and the world's first polyphonic musical synthesizer, the Novachord.- Youth :... - Heimlich Maneuver – Henry HeimlichHenry HeimlichDr. Henry Jay Heimlich , an American physician, has received credit as the inventor of abdominal thrusts, more commonly known as the Heimlich maneuver, though debate continues over his role in the development of the procedure...
- Hele-Shaw clutchHele-Shaw clutchThe Hele-Shaw clutch was an early form of multi-plate wet clutch, in use around 1900. It was named after its inventor, Professor Henry Selby Hele-Shaw, who was noted for his work in viscosity and flows through small gaps between parallel plates...
– Henry Selby Hele-ShawHenry Selby Hele-ShawHenry Selby Hele-Shaw FRS was an English mechanical and automobile engineer. He was the inventor of the variable-pitch propeller, which contributed to British success in the Battle of Britain in 1940, and he experimented with flows through thin cells. Flows through such configurations are named in... - Henry rifleHenry rifleThe Henry repeating rifle was a lever-action, breech-loading, tubular magazine rifle.-History:The original Henry rifle was a .44 caliber rimfire, lever-action, breech-loading rifle designed by Benjamin Tyler Henry in the late 1850s. The Henry rifle was an improved version of the earlier Volcanic...
– Benjamin Tyler HenryBenjamin Tyler HenryBenjamin Tyler Henry was an American gunsmith and manufacturer. He was the inventor of the Henry rifle, the first reliable lever-action repeating rifle.... - Higgins boatLCVPThe Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel or Higgins boat was a landing craft used extensively in amphibious landings in World War II. The craft was designed by Andrew Higgins of Louisiana, United States, based on boats made for operating in swamps and marshes...
– Andrew HigginsAndrew HigginsAndrew Jackson Higgins was the founder and owner of Higgins Industries, the New Orleans-based manufacturer of "Higgins boats" during World War II. General Dwight Eisenhower is quoted as saying, "Andrew Higgins ... is the man who won the war for us. ..... - HooverThe Hoover CompanyThe Hoover Company started out as an American floor care manufacturer based in North Canton, Ohio. It also established a major base in the United Kingdom and for most of the early-and-mid-20th century, it dominated the electric vacuum cleaner industry, to the point where the "hoover" brand name...
– William Henry Hoover - Horsley–Clarke apparatus – Victor HorsleyVictor HorsleySir Victor Alexander Haden Horsley was an accomplished scientist and professor. He was born in Kensington, London. He was educated at Cranbrook School, Kent and studied medicine at University College London and in Berlin, Germany , and in the same year started his career as a house surgeon and...
and Robert H. Clarke - Horstmann suspensionHorstmann suspensionHorstmann suspension is a type of tracked suspension devised by the British engineer Sidney Horstmann in 1922.The system uses coil springs and has the advantages of a relatively long travel and, consisting of a self-contained bogie that is bolted to the hull, causing little or no encroachment on...
– Sidney HorstmannSidney HorstmannSidney Adolph Horstmann, OBE was a British automotive engineer and businessman.In 1913, Horstmann founded an automotive company that eventually became Horstman Defence Systems Ltd. He was responsible for developing a torsion bar suspension system known as the Horstmann bogie, which is used on... - Hutchinson Patent StopperHutchinson Patent StopperCharles G. Hutchinson invented and patented the Hutchinson Patent Stopper in 1879 as a replacement for cork bottle stoppers which were commonly being used as stoppers on soda water or pop bottles. His invention employed a wire spring attached to a rubber seal. Production of these stoppers was...
– Charles G. Hutchinson - Jacob's staffJacob's staffThe Jacob's staff, also called a cross-staff, a ballastella, a fore-staff, or a balestilha is used to refer to several things. This can lead to considerable confusion unless one clarifies the purpose for the object so named...
– JacobJacobJacob "heel" or "leg-puller"), also later known as Israel , as described in the Hebrew Bible, the Talmud, the New Testament and the Qur'an was the third patriarch of the Hebrew people with whom God made a covenant, and ancestor of the tribes of Israel, which were named after his descendants.In the...
or OrionOrion- Astronomy :* Orion * Orion Nebula, a nebula in the Orion Constellation* Orion Arm, a spiral arm of the Milky Way galaxy* Project Orion, a 1980 NASA astrometry study of a system of methods of detecting extrasolar planets using astronomical interferometry- Places :United States* Orion, California*... - JacuzziJacuzziJacuzzi is a company that produces whirlpool bathtubs and spas. Its first product was a bath with massaging jets. The term "jacuzzi" is now often used generically to refer to any bathtub with massaging jets.-History:...
– Candido JacuzziCandido JacuzziCandido Jacuzzi was an Italian immigrant to the United States of America. Candido Jacuzzi invented the Jacuzzi whirlpool bath for his son, Kenny Jacuzzi, 15-month-old son who was born with rheumatoid arthritis. He developed a pump that enabled a whirlpool to be created in a bath as a... - Jacquard loomJacquard loomThe Jacquard loom is a mechanical loom, invented by Joseph Marie Jacquard in 1801, that simplifies the process of manufacturing textiles with complex patterns such as brocade, damask and matelasse. The loom is controlled by punched cards with punched holes, each row of which corresponds to one row...
– Joseph Marie JacquardJoseph Marie JacquardJoseph Marie Charles dit Jacquard played an important role in the development of the earliest programmable loom , which in turn played an important role in the development of other programmable machines, such as computers.- Early life :Jean Jacquard’s name was not really... - Josephson junctionJosephson effectThe Josephson effect is the phenomenon of supercurrent across two superconductors coupled by a weak link...
– Brian David JosephsonBrian David JosephsonBrian David Josephson, FRS is a Welsh physicist. He became a Nobel Prize laureate in 1973 for the prediction of the eponymous Josephson effect.... - KalashnikovAK-47The AK-47 is a selective-fire, gas-operated 7.62×39mm assault rifle, first developed in the Soviet Union by Mikhail Kalashnikov. It is officially known as Avtomat Kalashnikova . It is also known as a Kalashnikov, an "AK", or in Russian slang, Kalash.Design work on the AK-47 began in the last year...
– Mikhail KalashnikovMikhail KalashnikovLieutenant General Mikhail Timofeyevich Kalashnikov is a Russian small arms designer, most famous for designing the AK-47 assault rifle, the AKM and the AK-74.-Early life:... - Kaplan turbineKaplan turbineThe Kaplan turbine is a propeller-type water turbine which has adjustable blades. It was developed in 1913 by the Austrian professor Viktor Kaplan, who combined automatically adjusted propeller blades with automatically adjusted wicket gates to achieve efficiency over a wide range of flow and...
– Viktor KaplanViktor KaplanViktor Kaplan was an Austrian engineer and the inventor of the Kaplan turbine.-Life:Kaplan was born in Mürzzuschlag, Austria into a railroad worker's family. He graduated from high school in Vienna in 1895, after which he attended the Technical University of Vienna, where he studied civil... - Kay's flying shuttleFlying shuttleThe flying shuttle was one of the key developments in weaving that helped fuel the Industrial Revolution. It was patented by John Kay in 1733. Only one weaver was needed to control its lever-driven motion. Before the shuttle, a single weaver could not weave a fabric wider than arms length. Beyond...
– John KayJohn KayJohn Kay may refer to:*John Kay , English inventor of textile machinery, notably the flying shuttle*John Kay , English developer of textile machinery, notably the spinning frame *John Kay , Scottish caricaturist*Sir John Kay... - Kelvin bridgeKelvin bridgeA Kelvin bridge is a measuring instrument invented by William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin. It is used to measure an unknown electrical resistance below 1 Ω. Its operation is similar to the Wheatstone bridge except for the presence of additional resistors...
– William Thomson, 1st Baron KelvinWilliam Thomson, 1st Baron KelvinWilliam Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin OM, GCVO, PC, PRS, PRSE, was a mathematical physicist and engineer. At the University of Glasgow he did important work in the mathematical analysis of electricity and formulation of the first and second laws of thermodynamics, and did much to unify the emerging... - Kilner jarKilner jarKilner jar is a rubber-sealed, screw-topped jar used for the storage of food, which was invented by the Kilner family and produced by John Kilner & Co., Yorkshire, England....
– John Kilner - Kipp's apparatusKipp's apparatusKipp's apparatus, also called Kipp generator, is an apparatus designed for preparation of small volumes of gases. It was invented around 1860 by the Dutch pharmacist Petrus Jacobus Kipp and widely used in chemical laboratories and for demonstrations in schools into the second half of the 20th...
– Petrus Jacobus KippPetrus Jacobus KippPetrus Jacobus Kipp was a Dutch apothecary, chemist and instrument maker. He became known as the inventor of the Kipp apparatus, chemistry equipment for the development of gases.-Biography:... - Krarup cable – Carl Emil KrarupCarl Emil KrarupCarl Emil Krarup was a Danish telegraph engineer who is chiefly known for the invention of a kind of loaded cable, eponymously called Krarup cable, which made improvements in the transmission of telephone signals, especially on submarine cables....
- Land CameraLand CameraLand cameras are instant cameras with self-developing film named after their inventor, Edwin Land, manufactured by Polaroid between the years of 1947 and 1983. Though Polaroid continued producing instant cameras after 1983, the name 'Land' was dropped from the camera name since Edwin Land retired...
– Edwin H. LandEdwin H. LandEdwin Herbert Land was an American scientist and inventor, best known as the co-founder of the Polaroid Corporation. Among other things, he invented inexpensive filters for polarizing light, a practical system of in-camera instant photography, and his retinex theory of color vision... - Langmuir probeLangmuir probeA Langmuir probe is a device named after Nobel Prize winning physicist Irving Langmuir, used to determine the electron temperature, electron density, and electric potential of a plasma. It works by inserting one or more electrodes into a plasma, with a constant or time-varying electric potential...
– Irving LangmuirIrving LangmuirIrving Langmuir was an American chemist and physicist. His most noted publication was the famous 1919 article "The Arrangement of Electrons in Atoms and Molecules" in which, building on Gilbert N. Lewis's cubical atom theory and Walther Kossel's chemical bonding theory, he outlined his... - Leigh lightLeigh lightThe Leigh Light was a British World War II era anti-submarine device used in the Second Battle of the Atlantic.It was a powerful carbon arc searchlight of 24 inches diameter fitted to a number of the British Royal Air Force's Coastal Command patrol bombers to help them spot surfaced...
– Humphrey de Verd LeighHumphrey de Verd LeighWing Commander Humphrey de Verd Leigh OBE, DFC, AFC was a Royal Air Force officer. During the Second World War his idea for an anti-submarine spotlight for Coastal Command was developed and named the Leigh Light after him.... - LeotardLeotardA leotard is a skin-tight one-piece garment that covers the torso but leaves the legs free. It was made famous by the French acrobatic performer Jules Léotard ....
– Jules LéotardJules LéotardJules Léotard , was a revolutionary French acrobatic performer who developed the art of trapeze. He also popularised the one-piece gymwear that now bears his name and was the inspiration for the 1867 song "The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze".... - Leslie speakerLeslie speakerThe Leslie speaker is a specially constructed amplifier/loudspeaker used to create special audio effects using the Doppler effect. Named after its inventor, Donald Leslie, it is particularly associated with the Hammond organ but is used with a variety of instruments as well as vocals. The...
– Donald LeslieDonald LeslieDonald James Leslie, created and manufactured the Leslie speaker that refined the sound of the Hammond organ and helped popularize electronic music.... - Lewis GunLewis GunThe Lewis Gun is a World War I–era light machine gun of American design that was perfected and widely used by the British Empire. It was first used in combat in World War I, and continued in service with a number of armed forces through to the end of the Korean War...
– Isaac Newton LewisIsaac Newton LewisIsaac Newton Lewis was an American soldier and inventor. He was graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1884 and was commissioned second lieutenant in the Second Artillery... - Littlejohn adaptorLittlejohn adaptorThe Littlejohn adaptor was a device that could be added to the British QF 2 pounder anti-tank gun. It was used to extend the service life of the 2-pounder during the Second World War by converting it to squeeze bore operation...
– František JanečekFrantišek JanečekFrantišek Janeček was the founder of Jawa motorcycles and an important figure in the development of the Czech motorcycle industry. He died on 4 June 1941.-Early life:... - LoganberryLoganberryThe loganberry is an hexaploid hybrid produced from crossing an octaploid blackberry and a diploid red raspberry. The plant and the fruit resemble the blackberry more than the raspberry, but the fruit colour is a dark red, rather than black...
– James Harvey LoganJames Harvey LoganJames Harvey Logan was a judge in Santa Cruz, California. He was District Attorney in the 1870s and a Superior Court Judge during the 1880s and 1890s. He is credited with the creation of the loganberry as a cross between the raspberry and the blackberry.-Biography:He was born on December 8, 1841... - MacadamMacadamMacadam is a type of road construction pioneered by the Scotsman John Loudon McAdam in around 1820. The method simplified what had been considered state-of-the-art at that point...
, TarmacTarmacTarmac is a type of road surface. Tarmac refers to a material patented by Edgar Purnell Hooley in 1901...
– John Loudon McAdamJohn Loudon McAdamJohn Loudon McAdam was a Scottish engineer and road-builder. He invented a new process, "macadamisation", for building roads with a smooth hard surface that would be more durable and less muddy than soil-based tracks.... - Mae West – Mae WestMae WestMae West was an American actress, playwright, screenwriter and sex symbol whose entertainment career spanned seven decades....
- MachmeterMachmeterA Machmeter is an aircraft pitot-static system flight instrument thatshows the ratio of the true airspeed to the speed of sound,a dimensionless quantity called Mach number...
– Ernst MachErnst MachErnst Mach was an Austrian physicist and philosopher, noted for his contributions to physics such as the Mach number and the study of shock waves... - MackintoshMackintoshThe Mackintosh or Macintosh is a form of waterproof raincoat, first sold in 1824, made out of rubberised fabric...
– Charles Macintosh - Mansard roofMansard roofA mansard or mansard roof is a four-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterized by two slopes on each of its sides with the lower slope at a steeper angle than the upper that is punctured by dormer windows. The roof creates an additional floor of habitable space, such as a garret...
– François MansartFrançois MansartFrançois Mansart was a French architect credited with introducing classicism into Baroque architecture of France... - Marconi rigBermuda rigThe term Bermuda rig refers to a configuration of mast and rigging for a type of sailboat and is also known as a Marconi rig; this is the typical configuration for most modern sailboats...
– Guglielmo MarconiGuglielmo MarconiGuglielmo Marconi was an Italian inventor, known as the father of long distance radio transmission and for his development of Marconi's law and a radio telegraph system. Marconi is often credited as the inventor of radio, and indeed he shared the 1909 Nobel Prize in Physics with Karl Ferdinand... - Mason jarMason jarA Mason jar is a glass jar used in canning to preserve food. They were invented and patented by John Landis Mason, a Philadelphia tinsmith in 1858. They are also called Ball jars, after Ball Corp., a popular and early manufacturer of the jars; fruit jars because they are often used to store...
– John Landis Mason - MausoleumMausoleumA mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or persons. A monument without the interment is a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type of tomb or the tomb may be considered to be within the...
– MausolusMausolusMausolus was ruler of Caria . He took part in the revolt against Artaxerxes Mnemon , conquered a great part of Lycia, Ionia and several Greek islands and cooperated with the Rhodians in the Social War against Athens... - Maxim gunMaxim gunThe Maxim gun was the first self-powered machine gun, invented by the American-born British inventor Sir Hiram Maxim in 1884. It has been called "the weapon most associated with [British] imperial conquest".-Functionality:...
– Hiram Stevens MaximHiram Stevens MaximSir Hiram Stevens Maxim was an American-born inventor who emigrated to England at the age of forty-one, although he remained an American citizen until he became a naturalized British subject in 1900. He was the inventor of the Maxim Gun – the first portable, fully automatic machine gun – and the... - McCormick reaper – Cyrus McCormickCyrus McCormickCyrus Hall McCormick, Sr. was an American inventor and founder of the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company, which became part of International Harvester Company in 1902.He and many members of the McCormick family became prominent Chicagoans....
- Mercator projectionMercator projectionThe Mercator projection is a cylindrical map projection presented by the Belgian geographer and cartographer Gerardus Mercator, in 1569. It became the standard map projection for nautical purposes because of its ability to represent lines of constant course, known as rhumb lines or loxodromes, as...
– Gerardus MercatorGerardus Mercatorthumb|right|200px|Gerardus MercatorGerardus Mercator was a cartographer, born in Rupelmonde in the Hapsburg County of Flanders, part of the Holy Roman Empire. He is remembered for the Mercator projection world map, which is named after him... - Mercerised cotton – John MercerJohn Mercer (scientist)John Mercer was an English dye and fabric chemist and fabric printer born in Great Harwood, Lancashire. In 1844 he developed a process for treating cotton, mercerisation, that improves many of its qualities for use in fabrics.John Mercer never went to school, he learned basic reading and writing...
- Michelson interferometerMichelson interferometerThe Michelson interferometer is the most common configuration for optical interferometry and was invented by Albert Abraham Michelson. An interference pattern is produced by splitting a beam of light into two paths, bouncing the beams back and recombining them...
– Albert Abraham MichelsonAlbert Abraham MichelsonAlbert Abraham Michelson was an American physicist known for his work on the measurement of the speed of light and especially for the Michelson-Morley experiment. In 1907 he received the Nobel Prize in Physics... - Mills bombMills bombMills bomb is the popular name for a series of prominent British hand grenades. They were the first modern fragmentation grenades in the world.-Overview:...
– William Mills - Newtonian telescopeNewtonian telescopeThe Newtonian telescope is a type of reflecting telescope invented by the British scientist Sir Isaac Newton , using a concave primary mirror and a flat diagonal secondary mirror. Newton’s first reflecting telescope was completed in 1668 and is the earliest known functional reflecting telescope...
– Isaac NewtonIsaac NewtonSir Isaac Newton PRS was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian, who has been "considered by many to be the greatest and most influential scientist who ever lived."... - Peach MelbaPeach MelbaThe Peach Melba is a classic dessert, invented in 1892 or 1893 by the French chef Auguste Escoffier at the Savoy Hotel, London to honour the Australian soprano, Nellie Melba. It combines two favourite summer fruits: peaches and raspberry sauce accompanying vanilla ice cream.In 1892, Nellie Melba...
, Melba toastMelba toastMelba toast is a very dry, crisp and thinly sliced toast often served with soup and salad or topped with either melted cheese or pâté. It is named after Dame Nellie Melba, the stage name of Australian opera singer Helen Porter Mitchell. Its name is thought to date from 1897, when the singer was...
, Melba sauce – Nellie MelbaNellie MelbaDame Nellie Melba GBE , born Helen "Nellie" Porter Mitchell, was an Australian operatic soprano. She became one of the most famous singers of the late Victorian Era and the early 20th century... - MelvilladeCarronadeThe carronade was a short smoothbore, cast iron cannon, developed for the Royal Navy by the Carron Company, an ironworks in Falkirk, Scotland, UK. It was used from the 1770s to the 1850s. Its main function was to serve as a powerful, short-range anti-ship and anti-crew weapon...
– Robert MelvilleRobert MelvilleRobert Melvill was a Scottish soldier, botanist and inventor. He served as a general in the British Army and was a prominent antiquary.... - Molotov cocktailMolotov cocktailThe Molotov cocktail, also known as the petrol bomb, gasoline bomb, Molotov bomb, fire bottle, fire bomb, or simply Molotov, is a generic name used for a variety of improvised incendiary weapons...
– Vyacheslav MolotovVyacheslav MolotovVyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov was a Soviet politician and diplomat, an Old Bolshevik and a leading figure in the Soviet government from the 1920s, when he rose to power as a protégé of Joseph Stalin, to 1957, when he was dismissed from the Presidium of the Central Committee by Nikita Khrushchev... - Moog synthesizerMoog synthesizerMoog synthesizer may refer to any number of analog synthesizers designed by Dr. Robert Moog or manufactured by Moog Music, and is commonly used as a generic term for older-generation analog music synthesizers. The Moog company pioneered the commercial manufacture of modular voltage-controlled...
– Robert MoogRobert MoogRobert Arthur Moog , commonly called Bob Moog was an American pioneer of electronic music, best known as the inventor of the Moog synthesizer.-Life:... - Morse codeMorse codeMorse code is a method of transmitting textual information as a series of on-off tones, lights, or clicks that can be directly understood by a skilled listener or observer without special equipment...
– Samuel Morse - Muntz metalMuntz metalMuntz metal is a form of alpha-beta brass with about 60% copper, 40% zinc and a trace of iron. It is named after George Fredrick Muntz, a metal-roller of Birmingham, England who commercialised the alloy following his patent of 1832....
– George Frederic MuntzGeorge Frederic MuntzGeorge Frederick Muntz was an industrialist from Birmingham, England and a Liberal Party Member of Parliament for the Birmingham constituency from 1840 until his death....
N to S
- Napier's bonesNapier's bonesNapier's bones is an abacus created by John Napier for calculation of products and quotients of numbers that was based on Arab mathematics and lattice multiplication used by Matrakci Nasuh in the Umdet-ul Hisab and Fibonacci writing in the Liber Abaci. Also called Rabdology...
– John NapierJohn NapierJohn Napier of Merchiston – also signed as Neper, Nepair – named Marvellous Merchiston, was a Scottish mathematician, physicist, astronomer & astrologer, and also the 8th Laird of Merchistoun. He was the son of Sir Archibald Napier of Merchiston. John Napier is most renowned as the discoverer... - Newcomen steam engineNewcomen steam engineThe atmospheric engine invented by Thomas Newcomen in 1712, today referred to as a Newcomen steam engine , was the first practical device to harness the power of steam to produce mechanical work. Newcomen engines were used throughout Britain and Europe, principally to pump water out of mines,...
– Thomas NewcomenThomas NewcomenThomas Newcomen was an ironmonger by trade and a Baptist lay preacher by calling. He was born in Dartmouth, Devon, England, near a part of the country noted for its tin mines. Flooding was a major problem, limiting the depth at which the mineral could be mined... - Nissen hutNissen hutA Nissen hut is a prefabricated steel structure made from a half-cylindrical skin of corrugated steel, a variant of which was used extensively during World War II.-Description:...
– Peter Norman NissenPeter Norman NissenPeter Norman Nissen , a Canadian-American mining engineer, developed the prefabricated shelter called the Nissen hut in 1916.-Early years:... - Northrop LoomNorthrop LoomThe Northrop Loom was a fully automatic power loom marketed by George Draper and Sons, Hopedale, Massachusetts beginning in 1895. It was named after James Henry Northrop who invented the shuttle-charging mechanism. -The Loom:...
– James Henry NorthropJames Henry NorthropJames Henry Northrop, was born in Keighley, West Yorkshire in the United Kingdom, where he worked in the textile industry. He emigrated to Boston, MA, in the USA in 1881. By 1898, working in Hopedale, Massachusetts for George Draper and Sons he had filed several hundred patents some of which were... - Ostwald viscometer – Wilhelm OstwaldWilhelm OstwaldFriedrich Wilhelm Ostwald was a Baltic German chemist. He received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1909 for his work on catalysis, chemical equilibria and reaction velocities...
- Owen submachine gun – Evelyn OwenEvelyn OwenEvelyn Ernest Owen was the Australian who developed the Owen Submachine Gun which was used in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War.-Early life:Evelyn Owen was born on 15 May 1915 in Wollongong, New South Wales...
- Ormerod link – Edward OrmerodEdward OrmerodEdward Ormerod was an English mining engineer.Edward Ormerod was born on 2 May 1834 in the village of Church, near Accrington, in Lancashire, England. He worked as a mining engineer at Fletcher, Burrows and Company's Gibfield Colliery in Atherton, Greater Manchester, where he devised and tested a...
- PavlovaPavlova (food)Pavlova is a meringue-based dessert named after the Russian ballet dancer Anna Pavlova. It is a meringue with a crisp crust and soft, light inner. The name is pronounced or , unlike the name of the dancer, which was or ....
– Anna Pavlova - PasteurizationPasteurizationPasteurization is a process of heating a food, usually liquid, to a specific temperature for a definite length of time, and then cooling it immediately. This process slows microbial growth in food...
– Louis PasteurLouis PasteurLouis Pasteur was a French chemist and microbiologist born in Dole. He is remembered for his remarkable breakthroughs in the causes and preventions of diseases. His discoveries reduced mortality from puerperal fever, and he created the first vaccine for rabies and anthrax. His experiments... - Patchett gunSterling submachine gunThe Sterling submachine gun is a British submachine gun which was in service with the British Army from 1944 until 1994, when it was phased out with the introduction of the L85A1 assault rifle.-History:...
– George William PatchettGeorge William Patchett-Career:In his early career he was a motor cycle racer for motorcycle manufacturers such as Brough Superior, McEvoy and the Belgian arms company FN. At Pendine, Wales he won the Welsh TT in 1925 and the Welsh TT sidecar in 1927 on Brough machines.... - Payne's greyPayne's greyPayne's grey is a dark blue-grey colour used in painting. It can be used as a mixer in place of black. Being less intense than black, it is easier to get the right shade when using it as a mixer...
– William Payne - PeaveyPeavey (tool)A peavey or peavey hook is a logging tool consisting of a handle, generally from 30 to 50 inches long , with a metal spike protruding from the end. The spike is rammed into a log, then a hook grabs the log at a second location...
– Joseph Peavey - Pelton turbine – Lester Allan PeltonLester Allan PeltonLester Allan Pelton was an American inventor who contibuted significantly to the development of hydropower and hydroelectric power in the old West and world-wide. In the late 1870's he invented the Pelton water wheel, then the most efficient design of the impulse water turbine...
- Penning trapPenning trapPenning traps are devices for the storage of charged particles using a homogeneous static magnetic field and a spatially inhomogeneous static electric field. This kind of trap is particularly well suited to precision measurements of properties of ions and stable subatomic particles which have...
– Frans Michel PenningFrans Michel PenningFrans Michel Penning was a Dutch physicist. The Penning trap, used for storing charged particles, as well as the Penning mixture and Penning effect of gas discharge tubes are named after him. He also invented a type of cold cathode vacuum gauge known as Penning gauge.-External links:*... - Petri dishPetri dishA Petri dish is a shallow glass or plastic cylindrical lidded dish that biologists use to culture cells or small moss plants. It was named after German bacteriologist Julius Richard Petri, who invented it when working as an assistant to Robert Koch...
– Julius Richard PetriJulius Richard PetriJulius Richard Petri was a German bacteriologist who is generally credited with inventing the Petri dish while working as assistant to Robert Koch.... - PilatesPilatesPilates is a physical fitness system developed in the early 20th century by Joseph Pilates in Germany, the UK and the USA. As of 2005, there were 11 million people practicing the discipline regularly and 14,000 instructors in the United States....
– Joseph PilatesJoseph PilatesJoseph Hubertus Pilates invented and promoted the Pilates method of physical fitness.- Biography:Joseph H. Pilates was born in 1883 in Mönchengladbach, Germany. His father was a prize-winning gymnast of Greek ancestry, and his mother worked as a naturopath... - PinchbeckPinchbeck (alloy)Pinchbeck is a form of brass, an alloy of copper and zinc, mixed in proportions so that it closely resembles gold in appearance the idea being that ordinary people could buy gold 'effect' gems when gold was only sold in 18 carats which pushed the price way over what people could afford to pay....
– Christopher PinchbeckChristopher PinchbeckChristopher Pinchbeck was a London clockmaker and maker of musical Automata. He was born in Clerkenwell but worked in Fleet Street. Probably his name was derived from Pinchbeck, Lincolnshire. In the 18th century he invented the alloy Pinchbeck a cheap substitute for gold... - Pintsch gasPintsch gasPintsch gas was a compressed gas derived from distilled naphtha for illumination purposes during the 19th and early 20th centuries.It was invented in 1851 by German inventor and manufacturer Julius Pintsch . Its primary use in the latter half of the 19th century was for illumination of railroad cars...
– Julius PintschJulius PintschCarl Friedrich Julius Pintsch was a German tinsmith, manufacturer and inventor who is primarily known for the invention of the eponymously named Pintsch gas.... - Phillips screw – Henry F. PhillipsHenry F. PhillipsHenry F. Phillips was a U.S. businessman from Portland, Oregon. The Phillips-head screw and screwdriver are named after him....
- Pitman shorthandPitman ShorthandPitman shorthand is a system of shorthand for the English language developed by Englishman Sir Isaac Pitman , who first presented it in 1837. Like most systems of shorthand, it is a phonetic system; the symbols do not represent letters, but rather sounds, and words are, for the most part, written...
– Isaac PitmanIsaac PitmanSir Isaac Pitman , knighted in 1894, developed the most widely used system of shorthand, known now as Pitman shorthand. He first proposed this in Stenographic Soundhand in 1837. Pitman was a qualified teacher and taught at a private school he founded in Wotton-under-Edge... - Pitot tubePitot tubeA pitot tube is a pressure measurement instrument used to measure fluid flow velocity. The pitot tube was invented by the French engineer Henri Pitot Ulo in the early 18th century and was modified to its modern form in the mid-19th century by French scientist Henry Darcy...
– Henri PitotHenri PitotHenri Pitot was a French hydraulic engineer and the inventor of the Pitot tube.He became interested in studying the flow of water at various depths and was responsible for disproving the prevailing belief that speed of water increases with depth.In a Pitot tube the height of the fluid column is... - Plimsoll lineWaterlineThe term "waterline" generally refers to the line where the hull of a ship meets the water surface. It is also the name of a special marking, also known as the national Load Line or Plimsoll Line, to be positioned amidships, that indicates the draft of the ship and the legal limit to which a ship...
– Samuel PlimsollSamuel PlimsollSamuel Plimsoll was a British politician and social reformer, now best remembered for having devised the Plimsoll line .-Early life:Plimsoll was born in Bristol and soon moved to Whiteley Wood... - PulaskiPulaski (tool)The pulaski is a special hand tool used in wildland firefighting.The tool combines an axe and an adze in one head, similar to that of the cutter mattock, with a rigid handle of wood, plastic, or fiberglass. The pulaski is a versatile tool for constructing firebreaks, as it can be used to both dig...
– Ed PulaskiEd PulaskiEdward C. "Ed" Pulaski was a U.S. Forest Service ranger based in Wallace, Idaho. Pulaski traveled west and worked as a miner, railroad worker, and ranch foreman before joining the forest service in 1908.-Great Fire of 1910:... - Pupin coilLoading coilIn electronics, a loading coil or load coil is a coil that does not provide coupling to any other circuit, but is inserted in a circuit to increase its inductance. The need was discovered by Oliver Heaviside in studying the disappointing slow speed of the Transatlantic telegraph cable...
– Mihajlo Idvorski Pupin - Prusik – Karl PrusikKarl PrusikDr. Karl Prusik was an Austrian mountaineer who is known as the inventor of the prusik knot. He died in May 1961 at the age of 65....
- Raman spectroscopyRaman spectroscopyRaman spectroscopy is a spectroscopic technique used to study vibrational, rotational, and other low-frequency modes in a system.It relies on inelastic scattering, or Raman scattering, of monochromatic light, usually from a laser in the visible, near infrared, or near ultraviolet range...
– C. V. Raman - Rawlplug – John Joseph RawlingsJohn Joseph RawlingsJohn Joseph Rawlings was a British engineer and inventor of the wall plug, also known from his name as the rawlplug. He invented it in around 1910-1911, filed a patent in 1911, trademarked the rawlplug name in 1912 and was granted the patent in 1913...
- Richter magnitude scaleRichter magnitude scaleThe expression Richter magnitude scale refers to a number of ways to assign a single number to quantify the energy contained in an earthquake....
– Charles Francis RichterCharles Francis RichterCharles Francis Richter , was an American seismologist and physicist. Richter is most famous as the creator of the Richter magnitude scale which, until the development of the moment magnitude scale in 1979, quantified the size of earthquakes... - Rorschach testRorschach testThe Rorschach test is a psychological test in which subjects' perceptions of inkblots are recorded and then analyzed using psychological interpretation, complex algorithms, or both. Some psychologists use this test to examine a person's personality characteristics and emotional functioning...
– Hermann RorschachHermann RorschachHermann Rorschach was a Swiss Freudian psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, best known for developing a projective test known as the Rorschach inkblot test. This test was reportedly designed to reflect unconscious parts of the personality that "project" onto the stimuli... - Rubik's CubeRubik's CubeRubik's Cube is a 3-D mechanical puzzle invented in 1974 by Hungarian sculptor and professor of architecture Ernő Rubik.Originally called the "Magic Cube", the puzzle was licensed by Rubik to be sold by Ideal Toy Corp. in 1980 and won the German Game of the Year special award for Best Puzzle that...
– Ernő RubikErno RubikErnő Rubik is a Hungarian inventor, architect and professor of architecture. He is best known for the invention of mechanical puzzles including Rubik's Cube , Rubik's Magic, Rubik's Magic: Master Edition, Rubik's Snake and Rubik's 360.... - Rumford fireplaceRumford fireplaceThe Rumford fireplace is a tall, shallow fireplace designed by Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford, born 1753 in Woburn, Massachusetts, an Anglo-American physicist who was known for his investigations of heat....
– Benjamin ThompsonBenjamin ThompsonSir Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford , FRS was an American-born British physicist and inventor whose challenges to established physical theory were part of the 19th century revolution in thermodynamics. He also served as a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Loyalist forces in America during the American... - Prince Rupert's DropPrince Rupert's DropPrince Rupert's Drops are a glass curiosity created by dripping hot molten glass into cold water. The glass cools into a tadpole-shaped droplet with a long, thin tail. The water rapidly cools the molten glass on the outside of the drop, while the inner portion of the drop remains significantly...
– Prince Rupert of the RhinePrince Rupert of the RhineRupert, Count Palatine of the Rhine, Duke of Bavaria, 1st Duke of Cumberland, 1st Earl of Holderness , commonly called Prince Rupert of the Rhine, KG, FRS was a noted soldier, admiral, scientist, sportsman, colonial governor and amateur artist during the 17th century... - Salk vaccine – Jonas SalkJonas SalkJonas Edward Salk was an American medical researcher and virologist, best known for his discovery and development of the first safe and effective polio vaccine. He was born in New York City to parents from Ashkenazi Jewish Russian immigrant families...
- Salter's duckSalter's duckSalter's duck, also known as the nodding duck or by its official name the Edinburgh duck, is a device that converts wave power into electricity. The wave impact induces rotation of gyroscopes located inside a pear-shaped "duck", and an electrical generator converts this rotation into electricity...
– Stephen SalterStephen SalterStephen Hugh Salter is Emeritus Professor of Engineering Design at the University of Edinburgh and inventor of the eponymous Salter duck wave energy device... - Sam Browne beltSam Browne beltThe Sam Browne belt is a wide belt, usually leather, which is supported by a strap going diagonally over the right shoulder. It is most often seen as part of a military or police uniform.-Origins:...
– Sam BrowneSam BrowneGeneral Sir Samuel James Browne VC GCB KCSI was a British Indian Army cavalry officer in India and the Afghanistan, best known today as the namesake of the Sam Browne belt... - SandwichSandwichA sandwich is a food item, typically consisting of two or more slices of :bread with one or more fillings between them, or one slice of bread with a topping or toppings, commonly called an open sandwich. Sandwiches are a widely popular type of lunch food, typically taken to work or school, or...
– Earl of SandwichEarl of SandwichEarl of Sandwich is a 17th century title in the Peerage of England, nominally associated with Sandwich, Kent. It was created in 1660 for the prominent naval commander Admiral Sir Edward Montagu. He was made Baron Montagu, of St Neots in the County of Huntingdon, and Viscount Hinchingbrooke, at the... - SaxophoneSaxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
– Adolphe SaxAdolphe SaxAntoine-Joseph "Adolphe" Sax was a Belgian musical instrument designer and musician who played the flute and clarinet, and is best known for having invented the saxophone.-Biography:... - Scavenger's daughterScavenger's daughterThe Scavenger's daughter was a type of torture device invented in the reign of King Henry VIII of England. Extant documents reveal, however, that the device was rarely used.-History:...
- Leonard Skeffington (or Skevington) - Scheele's GreenScheele's GreenScheele's Green, also called Schloss Green, is chemically a cupric hydrogen arsenite , CuHAsO3. It is a compound similar to Paris Green...
– Carl Wilhelm ScheeleCarl Wilhelm ScheeleCarl Wilhelm Scheele was a German-Swedish pharmaceutical chemist. Isaac Asimov called him "hard-luck Scheele" because he made a number of chemical discoveries before others who are generally given the credit... - Shrapnel shell – Henry ShrapnelHenry ShrapnelHenry Shrapnel was a British Army officer and inventor, most famously, of the "shrapnel shell".Henry Shrapnel was born in Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire, England....
- Schick testSchick testThe Schick test, invented between 1910 and 1911 is a test used to determine whether or not a person is susceptible to diphtheria. It was named after its inventor, Béla Schick , a Hungarian-born American pediatrician....
– Béla SchickBéla SchickBéla Schick , was a Hungarian-born American pediatrician. He is the founder of the Schick test. Was born in Balatonboglár, Hungary, and brought up in Graz, Austria, where he attended medical school. In 1902 he joined the Medicine Faculty of the University of Viennawhere he remained until 1923... - SousaphoneSousaphoneThe sousaphone is a type of tuba that is widely employed in marching bands. Designed so that it fits around the body of the musician and is supported by the left shoulder, the sousaphone may be readily played while being carried...
– John Philip SousaJohn Philip SousaJohn Philip Sousa was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic era, known particularly for American military and patriotic marches. Because of his mastery of march composition, he is known as "The March King" or the "American March King" due to his British counterpart Kenneth J.... - Soyer stove – Alexis SoyerAlexis SoyerAlexis Benoist Soyer was a French chef who became the most celebrated cook in Victorian England. He also tried to alleviate suffering of the Irish poor in the Great Irish Famine , and improve the food provided to British soldiers in the Crimean War.-Biography:Alexis Benoist Soyer was born at...
- Spragg BagSpragg BagA flexible barge is a fabric barge for the transportation of bulk fresh water or other liquid bulk items .-History:...
– Terry Spragg - Stabinger viscometer – Hans Stabinger
- Stanhope (carriage)Stanhope (carriage)The stanhope was a gig, buggy or light phaeton, typically having a high seat and closed back. It was named after Captain Hon. Henry FitzRoy Stanhope The stanhope was a gig, buggy or light phaeton, typically having a high seat and closed back. It was named after Captain Hon. Henry FitzRoy Stanhope...
– Henry FitzRoy Stanhope - Stark spectroscopyStark spectroscopyStark spectroscopy is a form of spectroscopy based on the Stark effect. In brief, this technique makes use of the Stark effect either to reveal information about the physiochemical or physical properties of a sample using a well-characterized electric field or to reveal information about an...
– Johannes StarkJohannes StarkJohannes Stark was a German physicist, and Physics Nobel Prize laureate who was closely involved with the Deutsche Physik movement under the Nazi regime.-Early years:... - Stelzer engineStelzer engineThe Stelzer engine is a two-stroke opposing-piston design proposed by Frank Stelzer. It uses conjoined pistons in a push-pull arrangement which allows for fewer moving parts and simplified manufacturing....
– Frank Stelzer - StenStenThe STEN was a family of British 9 mm submachine guns used extensively by British and Commonwealth forces throughout World War II and the Korean War...
– Reginald V. Shepherd, Harold Turpin, EnfieldRoyal Small Arms FactoryThe Royal Small Arms Factory was a UK government-owned rifle factory in the London Borough of Enfield in an area generally known as the Lea Valley. The factory produced British military rifles, muskets and swords from 1816... - StetsonStetsonStetsons are the brand of hat manufactured by the John B. Stetson Company of St. Joseph, Missouri.Stetson eventually became the world’s largest hat maker, producing over 3.3 million hats a year in a factory spread over . Today Stetson remains a family-owned concern...
– John Batterson StetsonJohn Batterson StetsonJohn Batterson Stetson was a U.S. hatter, hat manufacturer, and, in the 1860s, the inventor of the cowboy hat. He founded the John B. Stetson Company as a manufacturer of headwear; the company's hats are now commonly referred to simply as Stetsons.John Stetson was born in New Jersey, the 7th of... - StiefografieStiefografieStiefografie, also called Stiefo or Rationelle Stenografie , is a German shorthand system. It was invented by Helmut Stief , a German press and parliamentary stenographer, and first published in 1966....
– Helmut Stief - Stillson wrenchPipe wrenchThe pipe wrench is an adjustable wrench used for turning soft iron pipes and fittings with a rounded surface. The design of the adjustable jaw allows it to rock in the frame, such that any forward pressure on the handle tends to pull the jaws tighter together. Teeth angled in the direction of turn...
– Daniel Chapman StillsonDaniel Chapman StillsonDaniel Chapman Stillson , was an American inventor of the modern adjustable pipe wrench.-Biography:He was born March 25, 1826 in Durham, New Hampshire. He was the son of William Stillson and Nancy Chapman... - Stirling engineStirling engineA Stirling engine is a heat engine operating by cyclic compression and expansion of air or other gas, the working fluid, at different temperature levels such that there is a net conversion of heat energy to mechanical work....
– Rev. Robert StirlingRobert StirlingThe Reverend Dr Robert Stirling was a Scottish clergyman, and inventor of the stirling engine.- Biography :Stirling was born at Cloag Farm near Methven, Perthshire, the third of eight children... - Stockbridge damperStockbridge damperA Stockbridge damper is a tuned mass damper used to suppress wind-induced vibrations on taut cables, such as overhead power lines. The dumbbell-shaped device consists of two masses at the ends of a short length of cable or flexible rod, which is clamped at its middle to the main cable...
– George H. Stockbridge - Stokes mortarStokes MortarThe Stokes mortar was a British trench mortar invented by Sir Wilfred Stokes KBE which was issued to the British Army and the Commonwealth armies during the latter half of the First World War.-History:...
– Wilfred StokesWilfred Stokes-External links:... - Strowger switchStrowger switchThe Strowger switch, also known as Step-by-Step or SXS, is an early electromechanical telephone switching system invented by Almon Brown Strowger...
– Almon Brown Strowger
T to Z
- Thompson submachine gunThompson submachine gunThe Thompson is an American submachine gun, invented by John T. Thompson in 1919, that became infamous during the Prohibition era. It was a common sight in the media of the time, being used by both law enforcement officers and criminals...
– John T. ThompsonJohn T. ThompsonJohn Taliaferro Thompson, , was a United States Army officer best remembered as the inventor of the Thompson submachine gun.-Early life:... - Tesla coilTesla coilA Tesla coil is a type of resonant transformer circuit invented by Nikola Tesla around 1891. It is used to produce high voltage, low current, high frequency alternating current electricity. Tesla coils produce higher current than the other source of high voltage discharges, electrostatic machines...
, Tesla turbineTesla turbineThe Tesla turbine is a bladeless centripetal flow turbine patented by Nikola Tesla in 1913. It is referred to as a bladeless turbine because it uses the boundary layer effect and not a fluid impinging upon the blades as in a conventional turbine...
– Nikola TeslaNikola TeslaNikola Tesla was a Serbian-American inventor, mechanical engineer, and electrical engineer... - ThereminThereminThe theremin , originally known as the aetherphone/etherophone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox is an early electronic musical instrument controlled without discernible physical contact from the player. It is named after its Russian inventor, Professor Léon Theremin, who patented the device...
– Léon ThereminLéon ThereminLéon Theremin was a Russian and Soviet inventor. He is most famous for his invention of the theremin, one of the first electronic musical instruments. He is also the inventor of interlace, a technique of improving the picture quality of a video signal, widely used in video and television technology... - Ubbelohde viscometerUbbelohde viscometerA Ubbelohde type viscometer or suspended-level viscometer is a measuring instrument which uses a capillary based method of measuring viscosity . It is recommended for higher viscosity cellulosic polymer solutions. The advantage of this instrument is that the values obtained are independent of the...
– Leo Ubbelohde - Uzi – Uziel GalUziel GalUziel "Uzi" Gal , born Gotthard Glas , was a German-born Israeli gun designer, best remembered as the designer and namesake of the Uzi submachine gun....
- Venn diagramVenn diagramVenn diagrams or set diagrams are diagrams that show all possible logical relations between a finite collection of sets . Venn diagrams were conceived around 1880 by John Venn...
– John VennJohn VennDonald A. Venn FRS , was a British logician and philosopher. He is famous for introducing the Venn diagram, which is used in many fields, including set theory, probability, logic, statistics, and computer science.... - Vernier scaleVernier scaleA vernier scale is an additional scale which allows a distance or angle measurement to be read more precisely than directly reading a uniformly-divided straight or circular measurement scale...
– Pierre VernierPierre VernierPierre Vernier was a French mathematician and instrument inventor. He was inventor and eponym of the vernier scale used in measuring devices.... - Very pistol, Very flare – Edward Wilson VeryEdward Wilson VeryEdward Wilson Very was an American naval officer who developed and popularized a single-shot breech-loading snub-nosed flare gun that fired flares that bear his name .Records indicate that Edward W...
- Vigreux columnCondenser (laboratory)In a laboratory a condenser is a piece of laboratory glassware used to cool hot vapors or liquids. A condenser usually consists of a large glass tube containing a smaller glass tube running its entire length, within which the hot fluids pass....
– Henri Vigreux - Voltaic pileVoltaic pileA voltaic pile is a set of individual Galvanic cells placed in series. The voltaic pile, invented by Alessandro Volta in 1800, was the first electric battery...
– Alessandro VoltaAlessandro VoltaCount Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Gerolamo Umberto Volta was a Lombard physicist known especially for the invention of the battery in 1800.-Early life and works:... - Wagner tubaWagner tubaThe Wagner tuba is a comparatively rare brass instrument that combines elements of both the French horn and the tuba. Also referred to as the "Bayreuth Tuba", it was originally created for Richard Wagner's operatic cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen. Since then, other composers have written for it, most...
– Richard WagnerRichard WagnerWilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas... - Wankel engineWankel engineThe Wankel engine is a type of internal combustion engine using an eccentric rotary design to convert pressure into a rotating motion instead of using reciprocating pistons. Its four-stroke cycle takes place in a space between the inside of an oval-like epitrochoid-shaped housing and a rotor that...
– Felix WankelFelix WankelFelix Heinrich Wankel was a German mechanical engineer and inventor after whom the Wankel engine was named. He is the only twentieth century engineer to have designed an internal combustion engine which went into production.-Early life:Wankel was born in Lahr, Baden, in the upper Rhine Valley... - Wardian caseWardian caseThe Wardian case, was an early type of sealed protective container for plants, which found great use in the 19th Century in protecting foreign plants imported to Europe from overseas, the great majority of which had previously died from exposure during long sea journeys, frustrating the many...
– Nathaniel Bagshaw WardNathaniel Bagshaw WardNathaniel Bagshaw Ward was an English doctor who popularized a case for growing and transporting plants which was called the Wardian case.... - Waterhouse stopWaterhouse stopThe Waterhouse stop or Waterhouse diaphragm is an interchangeable diaphragm with an aperture for controlling the entry of light into a camera. A thin piece of metal is drilled with a hole ; a set of these with varying hole sizes makes up a set of Waterhouse stops, corresponding to what today we...
– John Waterhouse - Watt's linkageWatt's linkageWatt's linkage is a type of mechanical linkage invented by James Watt in which the central moving point of the linkage is constrained to travel on an approximation to a straight line...
– James WattJames WattJames Watt, FRS, FRSE was a Scottish inventor and mechanical engineer whose improvements to the Newcomen steam engine were fundamental to the changes brought by the Industrial Revolution in both his native Great Britain and the rest of the world.While working as an instrument maker at the... - Wedgwood porcelainWedgwoodWedgwood, strictly speaking Josiah Wedgwood and Sons, is a pottery firm owned by KPS Capital Partners, a private equity company based in New York City, USA. Wedgwood was founded on May 1, 1759 by Josiah Wedgwood and in 1987 merged with Waterford Crystal to create Waterford Wedgwood, an...
– Wedgwood familyJosiah WedgwoodJosiah Wedgwood was an English potter, founder of the Wedgwood company, credited with the industrialization of the manufacture of pottery. A prominent abolitionist, Wedgwood is remembered for his "Am I Not A Man And A Brother?" anti-slavery medallion. He was a member of the Darwin–Wedgwood family... - Wellington bootWellington bootThe Wellington boot, also known as rubber-boots, wellies, wellingtons, topboots, billy-boots, gumboots, gummies, barnboots, wellieboots, muckboots, sheepboots, shitkickers, or rainboots are a type of boot based upon leather Hessian boots...
– Duke of WellingtonArthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of WellingtonField Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century... - Wells turbineWells turbineThe Wells turbine is a low-pressure air turbine that rotates continuously in one direction in spite of the direction of the air flow. Its blades feature a symmetrical airfoil with its plane of symmetry in the plane of rotation and perpendicular to the air stream.It was developed for use in...
- Alan Arthur WellsAlan Arthur Wells-Early life:He was born in Goff's Oak, Hertfordshire to Arthur John Wells, a British Oxygen Company engineer and educated at the City of London School as a day boy. He left school in 1940 to become an apprentice fitter and studied for a London University external degree via day release and weekend... - Westinghouse air brakeWestinghouse Air Brake CompanyThe railway air brake was invented by George Westinghouse of New York state in 1869. Soon after, he moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he established the Westinghouse Air Brake Company on September 28, 1869...
– George WestinghouseGeorge WestinghouseGeorge Westinghouse, Jr was an American entrepreneur and engineer who invented the railway air brake and was a pioneer of the electrical industry. Westinghouse was one of Thomas Edison's main rivals in the early implementation of the American electricity system... - Weston cellWeston cellThe Weston cell, invented by Edward Weston in 1893, is a wet-chemical cell that produces a highly stable voltage suitable as a laboratory standard for calibration of voltmeters...
– Edward WestonEdward WestonEdward Henry Weston was a 20th century American photographer. He has been called "one of the most innovative and influential American photographers…" and "one of the masters of 20th century photography." Over the course of his forty-year career Weston photographed an increasingly expansive set of... - Wheatstone bridgeWheatstone bridgeA Wheatstone bridge is an electrical circuit used to measure an unknown electrical resistance by balancing two legs of a bridge circuit, one leg of which includes the unknown component. Its operation is similar to the original potentiometer. It was invented by Samuel Hunter Christie in 1833 and...
– Charles WheatstoneCharles WheatstoneSir Charles Wheatstone FRS , was an English scientist and inventor of many scientific breakthroughs of the Victorian era, including the English concertina, the stereoscope , and the Playfair cipher... - Winchester rifleWinchester rifleIn common usage, Winchester rifle usually means any of the lever-action rifles manufactured by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, though the company has also manufactured many rifles of other action types...
– Oliver Winchester - Whitworth threadBritish Standard WhitworthBritish Standard Whitworth is one of a number of imperial unit based screw thread standards which use the same bolt heads and nut hexagonal sizes, the others being British Standard Fine thread and British Standard Cycle...
– Joseph WhitworthJoseph WhitworthSir Joseph Whitworth, 1st Baronet was an English engineer, entrepreneur, inventor and philanthropist. In 1841, he devised the British Standard Whitworth system, which created an accepted standard for screw threads... - Wiegand wireWiegand effectThe Wiegand effect is a nonlinear magnetic effect, named after its discoverer John R. Wiegand, produced in specially annealed and hardened wire called Wiegand wire....
– John R. WiegandJohn R. WiegandJohn R. Wiegand discovered the Wiegand effect, a physical phenomenon in which a specially constructed Wiegand wire can detect small magnetic fields. The Wiegand wire is commonly used as a sensor to read security access cards. There is also a Wiegand Protocol commonly used to transmit the data... - Wilson chamberCloud chamberThe cloud chamber, also known as the Wilson chamber, is a particle detector used for detecting ionizing radiation. In its most basic form, a cloud chamber is a sealed environment containing a supersaturated vapor of water or alcohol. When a charged particle interacts with the mixture, it ionizes it...
– Charles Thomson Rees WilsonCharles Thomson Rees WilsonCharles Thomson Rees Wilson, CH, FRS was a Scottish physicist and meteorologist who received the Nobel Prize in physics for his invention of the cloud chamber.- Biography:... - Windsor knotWindsor knotThe Windsor knot, also referred to as a Full Windsor or as a Double Windsor to distinguish it from the half-Windsor, is a method of tying a necktie around one's neck and collar. The Windsor knot, compared to other methods, produces a wide symmetrical triangular knot. The knot is often thought to...
– Edward VII of the United KingdomEdward VII of the United KingdomEdward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910... - Wollaston wireWollaston wireWollaston wire is a very fine platinum wire clad in silver and used in electrical instruments. For most uses, the silver cladding is etched away by acid to expose the platinum core.- History :...
– William Hyde WollastonWilliam Hyde WollastonWilliam Hyde Wollaston FRS was an English chemist and physicist who is famous for discovering two chemical elements and for developing a way to process platinum ore.-Biography:... - Woodruff key – W. N. Woodruff
- Wood's glassWood's glassWood's glass is an optical filter glass invented by American physicist Robert Williams Wood which allows ultraviolet and infrared light to pass through while blocking most visible light. It was developed as a light filter used in communications during World War I...
– Robert W. WoodRobert W. WoodRobert Williams Wood was an American physicist and inventor. He is often cited as being a pivotal contributor to the field of optics and is best known for giving birth to the so-called "black-light effect"... - Yablochkov candleYablochkov candleA Yablochkov candle is a type of electric carbon arc lamp, invented in 1876 by Pavel Yablochkov.-Design:A Yablochkov candle consists of a sandwich of two long carbon blocks, approximately 6 by 12 millimetres in cross-section, separated by a block of inert material such as plaster of paris or kaolin...
– Pavel YablochkovPavel YablochkovPavel Nikolayevich Yablochkov was a Russian electrical engineer, the inventor of the Yablochkov candle and businessman.-Biography:... - Yale lockPin tumbler lockThe pin tumbler lock is a lock mechanism that uses pins of varying lengths to prevent the lock from opening without the correct key...
– Linus Yale, Jr.Linus Yale, Jr.Linus Yale, Jr. was an American mechanical engineer and manufacturer, best known for his inventions of locks, especially the cylinder lock. His locks are still widely distributed in today’s society, and constitute a majority of personal locks and safes. Linus Yale, Jr. was born in Salisbury, NY.... - ZamboniIce resurfacerAn ice resurfacer is a truck-like vehicle or smaller device used to clean and smooth the surface of an ice rink. The first ice resurfacer was developed by Frank J. Zamboni in 1949 in the city of Paramount, California...
– Frank ZamboniFrank ZamboniFrank Joseph Zamboni, Jr. was a U.S. inventor whose most famous invention is the modern ice resurfacer, with his surname becoming a generic colloquialism and trademark for these resurfacers.-Biography:... - Zamboni pileZamboni pileThe Zamboni pile is an early electric battery, invented by Giuseppe Zamboni in 1812.A Zamboni pile is an "electrostatic battery" and is constructed from discs of silver foil, zinc foil, and paper...
– Giuseppe ZamboniGiuseppe ZamboniGiuseppe Zamboni was an Italian Roman Catholic priest and physicist who invented the Zamboni pile, an early electric battery similar to the Voltaic pile.-Biography:... - ZeppelinZeppelinA Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship pioneered by the German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin in the early 20th century. It was based on designs he had outlined in 1874 and detailed in 1893. His plans were reviewed by committee in 1894 and patented in the United States on 14 March 1899...
– Ferdinand von ZeppelinFerdinand von ZeppelinFerdinand Adolf Heinrich August Graf von Zeppelin was a German general and later aircraft manufacturer. He founded the Zeppelin Airship company...
See also
- Timeline of historic inventions
- List of inventions named after places
- List of inventors
- List of scientists
- Lists of etymologies
- Scientific phenomena named after peopleScientific phenomena named after peopleThis is a list of scientific phenomena and concepts named after people . For other lists of eponyms, see eponym.-A:* Abderhalden–Fauser reaction – Emil Abderhalden* Abney effect, Abney's law of additivity – William de Wiveleslie Abney...