Entry 9 - Inventions

The goal of this assignment was to showcase twenty inventions - the first 10 were to be inventions you believed to be important inventions; the second 10 were to be inventions which I really appreciate having in my life.

Image 1 - Clockwise from top left:
1) Lights - if we were stuck in a world whose only light came from the sun, I think things would be pretty dull. These lights are compact fluorescent lights. Fluorescent lights were invented by Arthur Compton in 1934.

2) Electricity - This is not exactly an invention, but many inventors were involved in harnessing it. Ben Franklin did many experiments and of course we have erratic Nikola Tesla.

3) Glass - could you even begin to imagine a world without windows? Without mirrors? (Without fiber optics?). Credit goes to the Egyptians or Phoenicians way back around 2500 BC.

4) Photographs - I love my camera - and enjoy collecting images of my family from the past. Invented by Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre in 1837.

5) Books - actually - books, paper, and printing. Three amazing inventions. I could not imagine learning in a world without books. And my love for fiction is likely apparent in this picture. It was around 1450 when Johannes Gutenberg demonstrated his printing press with movable type.



Image 2 - Clockwise from top-left
6) Clocks - Christiaan Huygens gave us the pendulum clock in 1656 - the clock in my photo though is of a Quartz clock, invented by Warren A. Marrison in 1927.

7) Metal (Steel) - My grandfather brought these swords home from Italy after WWII. I thought they would represent metal/steel/iron very well. Henry Bessemer of the United Kingdom, in 1856, invented the techniques for mass steel production. My step-father is a retired steel worker.

8) Medicine - I've been enjoying The Tutors, a Showtime Channel drama based around King Henry the VIIIth. That show really makes me appreciate modern medicine and medical techniques. Sir Frederick Grant Banting and Charles H. Best, of Canada, invented the extraction and preparation of insulin in 1921.

9) Maps/Cartography - We'd be lost without maps. In 2004, Jeffrey Lieber, J. J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof created and launched the TV Series, "Lost."

10) Refrigeration - I love ice cream. Period. American John Gorrie created the 'fridge in 1842.



Image 3) Clockwise from top-left:
1) Air Conditioning - This photo represents my air conditioning. Tomorrow it will be 105 degrees in Tucson. The next day? 108. 'Nuff said. Willis Haviland Carrier created AC in 1902. Bless you, Willis. Bless you.

2) Modern Oral Care - Remember my comment above about The Tudors. Those folk had some nasty teeth. Thank goodness for fluoride! The Chinese created toothbrush's in the 1400's.

3) Indoor Plumbing - because outhouses stink. I'm also thankful for Joseph Gayetty - who in 1857 invented toilet tissue.

4) My daily meds - Nexium was about the 10th in a long chain of medicines my docs had me on for acid reflux problems. It's the the one that worked. The Aller-Tec is a Costco-brand Zyrtec - which makes living my two cats possible.

5) Safety Razor - I don't think I'd trust myself with a straight razor. I cut myself enough as it is. American King Camp Gillette created the safety razor right at the turn of the 20th century.

6) Clothing - because fur is just not cool. Eli Whitney gave us the Cotton Gin in 1793.



Image 4)
7) Evil Dave!!! - this one of my self-built PCs. Isn't she a beaut. I can't be a techie-boy without techie-toys. Contrary to what he might have said - Al Gore did not create the Internet (though Man-Bear-Pig may actually exist). Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) at the Dept. of Defense created the Interwebs in 1969.

8) My rides - Trek road bike and Mini Cooper S. Minis were first made by British Motor Company in 1959. 1999, the Mini cooper was ranked a close 2nd as Car of the Century, behind the Model T Ford.

9) Tivo - Tivo has totally transformed my TV-viewing experience. Being a half to 3/4-time student and a full-time worker, it allows me to watch over the air programming when I choose to, not when the networks choose. I also can skip commercials - and add to it that I can stream 1000's of movies via Netflix through my Tivo to my TV. Tivo is awesome. Well - I guess I still need a TV - it is given mixed credit for its invention: Russia's Vladimir Kosma Zworykin in 1923, and American Philo Taylor Farnsworth in 1927.

10) Mobile Phone/Smart Phone - another life transforming device. I can read my email, send short messages, surf the web, take photographs... oh. And call people. From nearly anywhere. Bell Labs invented mobile phones in 1946.


Sources:
"Greatest Inventions of All Time" retrieved from http://www.i-dineout.com/pages2003/inventions1.html
Wikipedia.