List of inventors
This is a list of inventors.
See also: list of scientists, timeline of invention, and inventor.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
A
- Thomas Ahearn, inventor of the electric stove in 1892
- Archimedes, (circa 287 BC-212 BC), euclidean geometry
- William George Armstrong -- hydraulic crane, Armstrong breech-loading gun
- Edward
Asselbergs,
of
the
Canadian
Ministry
of
Agriculture,
invented
instant
mashed
potato
flakes
B
- Charles Babbage, (1791-1871) -- Analytical engine
- Leo Baekeland (1863) - (1944) -- plastic
- John Logie Baird, (1888-1946), television
- John Bardeen, (1908-1991) -- co-inventor of the transistor
- Alexander Graham Bell, (1847-1922) -- telephone
- Karl Benz -- automobile
- Emile Berliner, (1851-1929) -- gramophone
- Henry Bessemer, (1813-1898) -- Bessemer process
- Tim Berners-Lee -- World Wide Web
- Walter Houser Brattain, (born 1902), co-inventor of the transistor
- Louis Braille, (1809-1852)
- Edwin Beard Budding, (1795-1846) -- lawnmower and adjustable spanner
- Robert
Bunsen,
(1811-1899),
chemist
C
- Marvin Camras -- magnetic recording
- Chester Carlson, (1906-1968) -- electrophotography
- George Washington Carver, (1860-1943), plant scientist
- Arthur C. Clarke, (born 1917), geostationary satellite
- Christopher Cockerell, (1910-1999) -- hovercraft
- Henri Coandă (1886-1972) -- Jet aircraft
- Jacques Cousteau, aqualung
- Charles Cros, (1842-1888) -- phonograph... almost
- Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot (1725-1804) -- automobile
- William Cullen -- mechanical / chemical refrigeration
- Ward
Cunningham
--
wiki
D
- Gustav Dahlén -- (1869-1937), invented the AGA Lighthouse
- Gottlieb Daimler -- automobile
- Salvino D'Armate -- eyeglasses
- Leonardo DaVinci, (1452-1519), euclidean geometry
- Lee DeForest, (1873-1961) -- triode, amongst others
- Sir James Dewar, (1842-1923) -- Thermos bottle
- William Kennedy Laurie Dickson, motion picture camera
- Rudolf Diesel, (1858-1913) -- Diesel engine
- Karl Drais -- bicyle (Draisine)
- Richard
Drew
--
Scotch
(or
cellophane)
tape
E
- George Eastman, (1854-1932) -- roll film
- Thomas Edison, (1847-1931) -- phonograph, amongst others
- Douglas Engelbart - the computer mouse [1]
- Barry Ethridge - High-Speed Data communications via Optical Fiber, amongst others
- Oliver
Evans
(1755-1819)
-
amphibious
vehicle,
amongst
others
F
- Philo Farnsworth, (1906-1971) -- vacuum tube television display
- James Fergason -- liquid crystal display
- Reginald Fessenden -- two-way radio
- John Ambrose Fleming, (1848-1945), vacuum diode
- Henry Ford, (1863-1947) -- modern assembly line
- Samuel Fox -- steel ribbed umbrella
- Benjamin Franklin, (1706-1790) -- lightning rod, bifocals
- William Friese-Greene, (1855-1921) -- cinematography
- Buckminster Fuller, (1895-1983) -- geodesic domes, others
- Robert
Fulton,
(1765-1815)
--
steamboat
engine
G
- Galileo Galilei, (1564-1642) -- thermometer
- Hans Geiger, (1882-1945)
- Robert Goddard -- liquid fuel rocket
- Heinrich Goebel -- light bulb
- Gordon Gould -- laser
- Bette Nesmith Graham -- Liquid Paper
- James Gregory, (1638-1675) -- reflecting telescope
- Harry Grindell-Matthews, (1880-1941) -- various products, & supposed death ray
- Sir William Grove -- fuel cell
- Otto von Guericke, (1602-1686) -- vacuum pump
- Johann
Gutenberg,
(circa
1390s-1468)
--
movable
type
press
H
- John Hadley -- quadrant
- William Hamilton, jet boat in 1957
- James Hargreaves, (1720-1778)
- John Harrison, (1693-1776) -- marine chronometer
- Robert Heinlein, (1907-1988), waterbed
- Rudolf Hell, (1901-2002)
- John
Philip
Holland,
(1840-1914)
--
"true"
submarine
I
J
K
- William Kelly
- Mary Dixon Kies -- method for weaving straw with silk for hat-making.
- Fritz Klatte -- invented vinyl chloride, forerunner to polyvinyl chloride
- Margaret Knight -- (1838-1914) American, machine that completely constructs box-bottom brown paper bags.
- Stephanie Kwolek -- Kevlar
L
- Edwin H. Land, (1909-1991) -- Polaroid polarizing filters and the Land Camera
- Håkan Lans, (1942-) -- Developed the Computer mouse by adding a heavy rubber ball to the underside of it.
- Irving Langmuir, (1851-1957), gas filled incandescent lamp, hydrogen welding
- Lewis Latimer -- worked with Thomas Edison and patented an improved lightbulb manufacturing proccess.
- Gottfried Leibniz -- binary numeral system
- Justus von Liebig, (1803-1873) -- fertilizer
M
- Guglielmo Marconi, (1874-1937) -- radio
- Jack Marks -- boxer's gumshield
- Elijah
McCoy, born in Colchester,
Ontario,
Canada,
was one of 12 children of former
Kentucky slaves, who escaped through the Underground Railroad, patented more than
50 inventions, from tire treads, ironing boards and lawn sprinklers to the McCoy lubricator that earned
the reputation of being the only worthwhile product of it's kind of the market, or "The Real McCoy", hence the popular phrase. - Lise Meitner -- nuclear chainreaction
- Robert Moog -- music synthesizer
- Montgolfier, (1740-1810), brothers -- hot-air balloon
- Samuel Morey, (1762-1843), - internal combustion engine
- Garrett A. Morgan, (1877-1963) -- African-American Inventor of the gas mask, and traffic signal.
- Samuel
Morse, (1791-1872), telegraph
N
- Alfred Nobel, (1833-1896) -- dynamite
- Thomas Newcomen, (ca. 1664-1729)
- Isaac
Newton,
(1642-1727)
--
reflecting
telescope
(which
reduces
chromatic
aberration)
O
- Hans von Ohain -- co-founder of the jet engine
- Elisha
Otis
--
passenger
elevator
and
concommitant
safety
device
P
- Spede Pasanen, Finnish inventor
- Blaise Pascal, (1623-1662) -- adding machine
- Steve Pasjack, Canadian who invented the tuck-away beer carton handle in 1957
- Stephen Perry -- rubber band
- Ashwin Kochiyil Philips -- personal audio recorder
- Olivia
Poole,
Mother
of
7,
invented
the
Jolly
Jumper
baby
harness
with
her
husband,
circa.
1959
Q
R
- Philip Reis -- telephone
- Norbert Rilleaux, (1806-1894), US chemical engineer, inventor
- Otto Frederick Rohwedder - sliced bread
- James
Russell
--
compact
disc
S
- Alberto Santos-Dumont, (1873-1932) -- non-rigid airship and airplane
- Adolphe Sax, (1814-1894) -- saxophone
- Claude E. Shannon, (1916-2001) -- information theory
- William Bradford Shockley, (1910- ) -- co-inventor of transistor
- Werner von Siemens, (1816-1892)
- Percy Shaw -- cat's eyes
- Henry Miller Shreve, (1785-1854) -- sidewheeler, snagboat, various other steamboat and steam engine improvements
- Lucien B. Smith -- barbed wire
- George Stephenson, (1781-1848), civil engineer, inventor
- Levi Strauss
- John Stringfellow -- airplane
- Joseph
Swan,
(1828-1914),
inventor,
physicist
T
- Nikola
Tesla, (ca. 1856-1943), Serbian-American
inventor of the induction
motor, alternating
current polyphase
power
distribution system, wireless communication, robotics, logic gates, the bladeless turbine, and VTOL aircraft (among others). - Edward Teller -- fusion bomb
- Ray Tomlinson -- Internet-based e-mail
- Leonardo
Torres y Quevedo, (1852-1936), Spanish inventor
U
V
- Johann Vaaler, Paper clip
- Alessandro
Volta,
(1745-1827)
--
battery
W
- Erik Wallenberg, -- invented the Tetra Pak
- Robert Watson-Watt, (1892-1973) -- microwave radar
- James Watt, (1736-1819) -- practical steam engine
- George Westinghouse -- air brake
- Eli Whitney, (1765-1825) -- cotton gin
- Frank Whittle, (1907-1996) -- co-inventor of the jet engine
- A. Baldwin Wood, (December 1879-1956), US inventor & engineer
- Granville
Woods,
synchronous
multiplex
railway
telegraph
and
other
railroad-related
technology
X
Y
Z
- Ferdinand von Zeppelin, (1838-1917) -- rigid airship
- Konrad Zuse, (1910-1995), computers
- Vladimir Zworykin -- television