Air ConditioningCombining prior innovations and ideas, Carrier added his own ー related to humidity ー and created modern air conditioning. Tasked with controlling the humidity in a printing plant, because humidity affects paper, he found the connection between humidity and temperature. Carrier designed equipment to control humidity that also controlled temperature, modern air conditioning. By 1911, … Continue reading "Air Conditioning"
Multinational CorporationA Nightmare, in Real Life Picture the entire Fortune 500 combined into one large company. The company manufactures everything imaginable with monopolies in cotton, silk, dyes, salts, spices, and tea. Not only do they have near-monopolies in gunpowder but also weaponizes opium, giving away free samples to encourage dependency. Basically, their only moral is to … Continue reading "Multinational Corporation"
BakeliteBakelite enabled inexpensive mass production at very high tolerances where interchangeable parts matter (ex: telephones, radios, plugs, pens, wristbands, insulators, etc…). Also, it looked fun compared to organic materials in use before Bakelite. Baekeland’s Bakelite opened the “age of plastics.” It was moldable into any shape and, once molded, kept its shape. It did not … Continue reading "Bakelite"
Options & Futures“I’ll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today,” cartoon character Wimpy Wellington repeatedly offers. If he worked as an options trader he’d probably say “I’ll gladly pay you 1/10th the price of a hamburger today if I can buy a hamburger, sometime in the next year, at the price they are today.” You’d answer: … Continue reading "Options & Futures"
Float GlassBefore float glass (also called flat glass), each piece of glass was individually poured and polished. This was a time consuming and expensive process that left the contours of glass uneven. Pilkington invented a method of floating the glass in a bath or iron tin, leaving both sides of glass perfectly smooth. Float glass took … Continue reading "Float Glass"
Privatized SpacePrivate space companies launch rockets that propel satellites (and eventually, people) into space without government funds or bureaucracy. Leaving government out of space removes political influence, simplifies space commercialization, and reduces costs. Elon Musk Elon Musk has a fondness for starting businesses that do the impossible. At first, there was PayPal. At that time, … Continue reading "Privatized Space"
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)MRI allows physicians to see and diagnose soft tissue without surgery. Background MRI is one of these cases where everybody argues somebody else invented it for patent priority. However, courts and historians find that physician Raymond Damadian was first to make an MRI that scans people (prior MRI’s would scan small pieces of organic material). … Continue reading "Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)"
SatellitesSatellites brought the world closer together, enabling instant communication, relaying information, and fulfilling countless military and civilian uses. Sergei Korolev designed the first satellite, the Sputnik 1. It struck fear and hope around the globe as it orbited earth sending radio pings that anybody could hear. Korolev spent years during the Great Purge in Stalin … Continue reading "Satellites"
Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Chips (CMOS)The magical ability to power your mobile phone, tablet, and computer comes from a CMOS chip. These chips require minuscule amounts of power compared to other types of computer chips. They are as small or smaller than other types of chips. However, despite these advantages, it took decades for the technology to gain traction. Fairchild … Continue reading "Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Chips (CMOS)"
Graphic User InterfaceComputers “must be learnable in private… Kindness should be an integral part.” Alan Kay The Graphic User Interface (GUI) consists of windows, folders, icons, mice, etc… It enables ordinary people to use computers. Xerox PARC’s GUI vastly simplified computer use and increased productivity by making computers easy and fun to use. Like the internet itself, … Continue reading "Graphic User Interface"
Commercial Business Computer (EDVAC/UNIVAC)Mauchly and Eckert, inventors of the ENIAC, set out to create a commercial computer. They worked with government officials who needed fast computing, including military and census officials. Eventually, their employer, the University of Pennsylvania’s Moore School of Engineering announced an intent to keep all patents produced by faculty. Henceforth, the two promptly resigned and … Continue reading "Commercial Business Computer (EDVAC/UNIVAC)"
Overnight MailFedEx is the first overnight mail delivery service. At the time, the idea was widely derided. Before FedEx, the only way to reliably deliver a package quickly was via overnight courier, an extremely expensive option. In 1965, Yale undergrad student Fred Smith wrote a paper describing the idea as an undergraduate in Yale. Smith reasoned … Continue reading "Overnight Mail"
InsulinInsulin keeps diabetics alive. Banting and Best discovered insulin, winning them the Nobel Prize. Banting stole most of the credit, but historians argue they co-discovered insulin together. They won the Nobel Prize together. Banting despised Best and the two never spoke again. To continue his work, Banting received a lifetime annuity by the Canadian government. … Continue reading "Insulin"
Flushing Toilets / Indoor PlumbingShortly before reaching their third birthday, children learn to use the toilet. Except for Indian children whose parents somehow potty train them as infants, a trick that’d transform the west though remains a total digression towards indoor plumbing. Life was changed for the better when indoor plumbing was invented. Getting back to the toddlers of … Continue reading "Flushing Toilets / Indoor Plumbing"
Magnetic Tape RecordingPoulsen, a Danish engineer, created and patented a machine that recorded onto magnetic tape. His called the invention a Telegraphone. There was no amplification and the recording quality was poor. In 1928, Pfleumer, a German, vastly improved the magnetic tape. He named his device a Magnetophone. During WWII the Germans used it for communications and … Continue reading "Magnetic Tape Recording"