ChemotherapyChemotherapy refers to a group of drugs that fight cancer. Surgery and radiation were the two common anti-cancer therapies before the discovery of effective chemotherapy. Immunotherapy was also studied but showed little promise. Background In the 1800s, scientists thought drugs might be able to fight cancer. However, none of them worked well. In the 1910s, … Continue reading "Chemotherapy"
Synthetic DyeAs the Industrial Revolution gained steam (OK – bad pun), England’s population became denser. Eventually, the resulting pools of water bred mosquitos that eventually became a malaria epidemic. Perkin, a 15-year-old student, ran crude experiments to create lower-cost quinine, a malaria medicine. One of his processes accidentally produced a strong purple liquid. Useless as a … Continue reading "Synthetic Dye"
AsphaltAsphalt increased the utility or roads by allowing horses to travel faster, carriages and bicycles ride more smoothly, and (later) enabled cars. Natural asphalt paved the Champs-Élysées in 1824. However, it was unstable and difficult to maintain. de Smedt created an artificial asphalt, manufactured from oil, that was more consistent and manageable than natural asphalt. … Continue reading "Asphalt"
RocketsIn 1914, Goddard patented the first rocket and, in 1926, Goddard fired the first liquid-fueled rocket. Goddard predicted rockets would one day enable space flight, a prediction widely ridiculed as science fiction. Eventually, in 1929, Oberth fired his modern liquid-fueled rocket. Oberth eventually taught Wernher von Braun, who perfect modern rocketry. In time, both Oberth … Continue reading "Rockets"
Vulcanized RubberVulcanization is the process that makes rubber useful. Before vulcanization rubber was effectively a useless gooey material. It melted in the heat, went brittle in the cold, and made for terrible raincoats. Vulcanization stabilized rubber in a useful state. The rubber we know now exists due to vulcanization. Charles Goodyear ran a small but successful … Continue reading "Vulcanized Rubber"
Vacuum CleanerVacuum cleaners lower the cost of cleaning and enables better hygiene. Booth saw demonstrations of machines that blew air to scatter dust. Reversing the airstream would allow air to be sucked through a filter. Collecting the dirt into a bag reduced the time needed for cleaning while increasing quality. Booth’s machines were full-sized trucks. Long … Continue reading "Vacuum Cleaner"
Electronic Maps – Geographic Information Systems (GIS)Electronic maps simplify planning and routing. They lower the cost of transportation by sharply reducing the cost of getting lost. Furthermore, they allow optimization of store and advertisement placement. The reason Starbuck’s always seems to be “on the way” is due to the use of GIS. Dangermond found Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) in 1969 … Continue reading "Electronic Maps – Geographic Information Systems (GIS)"
- Blue Ocean Strategy Basics – Noncustomers
Blue Ocean noncustomers aren’t just new customers; they’re a new type of customer. It’s your first week of MBA school. You’re excited, psyched, and vaguely hungover. A professor walks to the front of the class and asks “should you focus on existing customers or new customers?” Every hand in the room shoots up. “Anyone knows … Continue reading "Blue Ocean Strategy Basics – Noncustomers"
Easy CreditBackground Cyrus McCormick’s mechanical reaper revolutionalized agriculture. McCormick’s reaper enabled one man to harvest the same amount of grain in one day as he could in two weeks by hand. Since grain goes bad when not timely harvested, the reaper enabled farmers to plant far larger crops with commensurate profits. Additionally, the reaper lowered the … Continue reading "Easy Credit"
Steel ShipsWooden ships were limited in size and their hulls could be more easily penetrated than metal ships during war. Ironclad ships reduced the cost and risk of shipping by enabling larger ships that were more difficult to sink. The first known ironclad warship was The Nemesis, built for the East India Company, in 1839. Soon, … Continue reading "Steel Ships"
TypewriterTypewriters vastly lower the cost of producing readable text. Before the typewriter people would have to either write carefully (slowly) or hire a calligrapher. Mill patented the first typewriter in 1714. Nothing more is known about him; he has disappeared into history. Christopher Sholes invented the QWERTY keyboard and typewriter ー the first commercially successful … Continue reading "Typewriter"
Milking MachineMilking machine safely and effectively milk cows. They vastly reduce the cost of milking a cow. Background Nobody likes milking cows by hand. It’s time consuming, laborious, and they poop. Early attempts at something better involved inserting catheters that would let the milk slide out. However, if not used perfectly these hurt the animal. Catheters … Continue reading "Milking Machine"
Automatic Tomato HarvesterGrain and corn harvesters date back to the 1800s. However, grain and corn are relatively easy to harvest. Grain harvesting involves little more than cutting tall grass whereas ears of corn are large, strong, and similarly shaped. Tomatoes Interestingly, tomatoes were not common food until the 1800s. Early colonialists brought the tomato plant to Europe … Continue reading "Automatic Tomato Harvester"
Diesel EnginesUses engines use compression to increase engine power. That increases engine power and reduces fuel costs. Diesel is French though studied engineering in Germany. After graduating he returned to Paris and opened an early modern refrigeration factory, patenting several innovations. He eventually left and, barred from the industry, turned his attention to engines. In 1893, … Continue reading "Diesel Engines"
Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) turns a tiny bit of DNA into a much larger amount which can subsequently be sequenced. In 1983, Mullis figured out a way to multiply the tiniest piece of DNA by orders of magnitude, making millions of copies. This is how the smallest bit of DNA, from bacteria, viruses, historical artifacts, … Continue reading "Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)"