Ben Franklin once stated, “Either do or write something worthwhile”. This quote has been a constant throughout history. We, as a community, are proud to celebrate those with great accomplishments. Inventions and inventors in particular play a major role in today’s society. Inventions from the past have not only shaped our society, but they also laid the foundation for many innovations of today. New transportation revolutionized international trade. Modern homes, business, and employment were created with the invention of electric power. The wheel is one of many innovations that we can thank the inventors for.
Inventions such as those mentioned above also play a significant role in culture and economics. We can see different ways in which the creations we study have shaped our world. Let’s get back to our original point. We must acknowledge those behind these complex innovations. To follow a small fraction of the great steps they took, it is important to understand who they were and how their names are etched in history and biographies. Understanding the minds that have shaped the world to better understand and respect their contribution.
James Watt will be our first stop. His modernized steam engines have made machines more efficient, versatile, and productive. Eli Whitney’s contribution to cotton processing is next. Louis Pasteur created new methods to preserve food using fermentation. Henry Bessemer reformed steel and metalwork. Thomas Edison was a pioneer of the telegraphy market and inventor of the incandescent lamp.
These great minds made even greater impacts. We recognize their contribution to the society. We are aware of their economic power. We also know their contributions to the culture.
James Watt is a Scotsman born on the 19th of January, 1736. In his father’s shop, he experimented and played with his tools. In 1757 he set up shop at Glasgow University as a mathematic instrument maker. In the early 1900s, Watt became interested in steam mechanics after repairing a Newcomen Steam Engine model. Watt became inspired by this model’s inefficient steam use and found a way to fix it a few months later. Watt’s solution worked after he experimented and theorized.
Watt met John Roebuck a British-born physicist who encouraged Watt to build his engine. Watt and Roebuck worked together to create a small engine that performed exactly as expected. Watt then patented the idea. Watt installed two engines by the time he was 40. Watt also installed engines to pump copper, tin and zinc. Watt was urged to recreate it, but in rotary motion. Watt refined his rotary steam engine after perfecting it for four long years.
Watt’s rotary-engine was quickly installed on steam locomotives in Europe. Watt’s invention led to many improvements. The engine improved the efficiency of fuel and made trains faster. The economy was improved by accelerating trade and lowering shipping costs. Steam power became a mainstay in many industrial plants, replacing horses, water and wind.
Eli Whitney was a Massachusetts native born in Westboro in 1765. Whitney studied science and technology at Yale College. In Georgia, after failing to land a professorship, Whitney found himself without income. Phineas Miller, Mulberry Grove Plantation’s manager, met him there. They grew green seeded cotton at the time. Green-seeded versus black-seeded consists of the difference between the two.
Whitney thought a machine to separate the green seed from cotton would make a fortune. It was the way he planned to make his name. He started to study and analyze the different ways to separate seeds. The final model consisted of four parts: a container for the cotton, a spinning-cylinder with small hooks, and an opening through which the seeds would filter out (which could be sold separately).
In 1794 Whitney and Miller patented their machine. They then began to manufacture and service cotton gins. However, because of the high prices set by the pair, farmers refused their products and could easily reproduce the machines themselves. By 1797, they were out-of-business. The state, however, agreed to compensate the team for their patent rights after they suffered crushing defeats. The court refused a renewal of the patent in 1807 when the patent expired. Whitney was able to make green-seeded Cotton a lucrative cash crop in the South. The cotton gin may have appeared to reduce slavery, but it forced planters to require more slave labor and land in order for them increase their profits.
Eli’s talents were redirected after his failure in cotton. When France threatened to invade the United States, demand for muzzleloaders skyrocketed. Private contractors were unable to produce enough in time. Whitney was able to use his mechanical skills to produce 10,000 muskets over a two-year period. He created special tools to make each musket exactly the same.
In that moment, he thought of the concept of interchangeables parts. It was impossible to fix broken or malfunctioning items for decades. But with interchangeable components, this could be done easily. Whitney and Henrietta Edwards had four children in 1817. Three of the four children survived. Eli Whitney Jr. continued the business of his father when he started Whitney Arms Company 1880. Eli Whitney was much younger, having died in 1825.
Interchangeable parts paved the way for the industrial revolution. The manufacturers could create goods that fit other products. The manufacturers could also produce the goods faster and cheaper. It also simplified the repair of everyday problems.
Louis Pasteur is a French microbiologist and chemist who was born on 17 December 1822. He was an early medical microbiologist. Pasteur had a fairly average education in his younger years. Pasteur was gifted in the art of drawing and painting. In Paris, you can see his work at the Pasteur Institute. The Royal College of Besancon awarded him a bachelor of arts and a bachelor of science degrees in 1840.
Pasteur received his first admission to a teacher’s institute in Paris. The French chemist Jean Dumas is well known for his research on organic synthesis and analysis. Pasteur was awarded a Master’s Degree in Science in 1845. A few years later, he earned an Advanced Degree in Physical Sciences. And in 1847, he received his Doctorate. In 1848 he was appointed chemistry professor at Strasbourg University. A little over a month later, he wed Marie Laurent. She bore him 5 children.
Louis Pasteur led the research on molecular asymmetries, and discovered that microorganisms were the cause of disease growth and fermentation. His discovery led him to develop the pasteurization technique, whereby foods or perishables packaged in packages or not are heated to a low temperature to destroy harmful pathogens. In France, this led to the creation of new industries, including beer, silk, and wine.
Louis’ fermentation studies began at the University of Lille. He was asked to assist in solving a problem in a nearby alcohol distillery. His extensive study of alcohol fermentation began then. In 1857 he returned to Lille, where he conducted experiments that proved the existence of living organisms in food decomposition. Each process was then linked with a specific organism. Pasteur’s germ-theory of fermentation was born.
Pasteur, with his newfound discoveries and research throughout the years, made many breakthroughs. Certain foodstuffs and beverages could easily be exported and stored without worrying about spoiling. They could purchase the goods, make their way home and still have time left over. It is illegal to sell unpasteurized products across state boundaries today because they pose a health risk.
Sir Henry born Bessemer in Charlton (England) on 19th January 1813. Engineer and typefounder, Sir Henry Bessemer was raised by his father and showed early aptitudes in mechanics. After acquiring his skills (mostly by himself), he began manufacturing false golden paints from brass powder. Due to the demand for golden inlay, he became very wealthy.
Bessemer invented many things during his lifetime. One of them was the machine that crushed sugar cane at record speed. Early in his life, Bessemer became obsessed with metalwork. At that time, there were only two materials for iron-based construction: cast and wrought. Bessemer’s experiments with cast-iron pieces of stronger quality revealed that the presence of excess oxygen inside the furnace was responsible for removing the carbon.
This knowledge led him to find that blowing in air into the smelting furnace purified and super-heated the iron so it could be poured easily. Bessemer developed the Bessemer process, which produces slagless(Waste that separates during smelting) workable iron. Bessemer created the tilting convertor to help industrialize his process. The pig iron (or oblong lumps of unrefined ore) is poured on top of the converter and the air blows in from below. Bessemer’s idea was eventually announced, and many inventors came to his door. They offered him new ideas on how to improve the invention.
One of these ideas was to use phosphor ore. Bessemer’s converter did not remove sulfur and phosphor from iron, even though it had an inlay of a mixture of clay/glaze called fireclay. Sidney Thomas created a lining for the converter in 1877. Bessemer did not know that the iron he was using had no phosphor. However, other metalworkers didn’t have such good fortune. The iron they used worked for the common puddling process of iron refineries that removes phosphor but not for the Bessemer method.
Bessemer ran out of the phosphorless iron he needed and had to go to England to get more. This forced him into the steel business. Henry tried hard to keep Bessmer’s converter on top, but open-hearth was able to overtake it. Bessemer was still inventing and building machines and ideas into his later years.
Bessemer’s contributions to science have had a profound impact on society. His ideas for refining metal and ore became the basis of modern construction materials. The way he refined iron and reduced slag led to cheaper and more efficient construction materials. His cheap, wasteless construction materials changed the culture as well. Buildings became stronger, more efficient and closer together with the new materials.
Thomas Edison, born February 11, 1847 in Milan, Ohio. In his early years, he was diagnosed with mastoiditis. The condition had a family history. The infection can cause hearing loss, deafness or even death. Edison’s deafness influenced his career and habits. Edison worked as a carpenter apprentice and lighthouse keeper in Michigan in 1854. His family lived at Fort Gratiot. While he was in school, he only attended it occasionally. It was not unusual for him to miss school because of the Civil War in America. At the time, Americans attended school for an average of just over two years.
Edison quit school in 1859 and worked as a railroad boy between Port Huron, Michigan and Detroit, Michigan. Edison was a beginning telegrapher after learning telegraphy in 1859, four years before the railways began to expand telegraph communications. In his spare time, Edison worked to improve his equipment. His goal was to simplify the process of telegraphy.
He quit his job to pursue his dream of being a full-time innovator. In New York City he joined Frank L. Pope. Edison sought Pope’s expertise to mass-produce Edison Universal Stock Printers and other prototypes of printing telegraphs. Edison was involved in many business deals and partnerships from 1870 until 1975, during the telegraph industry’s competitive era. He was an independent supplier and always willing to work with the highest bidder.
Edison had success in the industry, but not in all games. He experienced failures when certain markets failed. Edison persisted and spearheaded many projects that were important to society. Edison is known for many things, including his early successes. He is also well-known for creating the incandescent lamp, the first electric light that was effective. This is considered to be the most significant invention since the creation of man-made flames.
We have covered only a fraction of the greatest thinkers. Now we will explore their contributions to the world. Science, technologies and new energy forms have changed the world beyond what people in the past ever imagined. This is true for economics, culture, and social life.
James Watts’ inventions such as the steam motor, photocopiers and horsepower measurement had a variety of effects. Steam engines have a significant impact on the economy, allowing travel to be more cost-effective and goods to be transported faster. The steam engine made it cheaper to transport goods and people. This allowed for faster and cheaper travel between places. Culturally, steam engines allowed other cultures to spread their religions and ideas to other countries.
Photocopiers also changed the world. It was a cheap way to copy many things and also played a significant role in improving the news system. It also introduced a new method of measuring the power and speed of transportation machines.
Eli Whitney was a scientist who contributed the cotton milling system, interchangeable pieces, and the gin. Out of all three, the cotton gin was the biggest change. Socially, it allowed African slaves easier access to the cotton seeds. Cotton gin boomed the cotton industry, and encouraged farmers to increase their cotton production. Cotton gins, like their economic impact, also impacted culture. They caused farmers to require more land for cotton production, which in turn led to more slave labor. The interchangeable parts had a major impact on the manufacturing industry. Economically speaking, interchangeable pieces allowed consumers to purchase only the necessary parts rather than replace the whole product. The society also benefited because the jobs in factories were safer and damaged machinery was easier to fix.
Louis Pasteur had a great impact on chemistry through pasteurization as well as vaccines for rabies and anthrax. Pasteurization was a major influence on society. It was a great economic boost for the dairy industry. Socially, the dairy industry grew. In a cultural sense, people no longer had to worry about their household dairy products making them sick. They also saved lives. Even though vaccines have had a bigger impact on society that pasteurization. Socially, people felt safer about certain diseases. The economic benefit was that it reduced the cost of medical care, which would be incurred if a person contracted a disease. We are accustomed to protecting ourselves against diseases that were once deadly and would have killed thousands.
Henry Bessemer was the inventor of the Bessemer and tilting converters. He also invented slagless ingots. The tilting converter made a significant impact on the society. Economically it was more efficient to produce metal. Bessemer is the first low-cost industrialization to mass produce steel. The Bessemer process made it easy to access building materials that could be used to reinforce bridges and buildings.
At that time, slag-free iron also played a very important role. Slag is a waste product that remains after the production of iron ingots. Slag was a waste product that consumers could not use to increase their prices. Iron that is slag-free is more reliable and safer. Slag can sometimes form inside metal pieces and create fragile pockets. The use of slag-free products makes building materials safer.
Thomas Edison invented the incandescent phonograph as well the film. Edison’s incandescent light bulb was the most important invention, despite not being the first. His lightbulb increased the demand for electricity. His lightbulb was the first electronic device we have today. It was also because of his lightbulb that the workday didn’t end at sundown. This wasn’t ideal for everyone due to workplace safety. On the contrary, the laws that govern workplace safety today make it beneficial to keep the light on.
He also made a significant contribution to the society through his invention of film. Movies are a big business today. Their market was worth almost 70 Billion dollars alone in 2018. This market was a huge boost to the economy. Movies have united people socially in a variety of ways, whether they are fans or just a night out with friends or family. Movies are a cultural staple for getting people together to have fun. Everyone knows what movies are, and they will continue to be a common activity. This means that their influence is limitless. Edison’s favourite, the phonograph, had a wide range of impacts. The phonograph was a new way to listen music. The orchestra concert would be less popular economically. Even though the phonograph helped create a record market. Socially, people tended to prefer to listen at home to their favorite music. The phonograph was replaced by portable music devices like cassette and cd players in cars.
As you’ve seen, history’s greatest minds, their great ideas, and some ambition led to great changes in the society. The world has been changed by historical inventions in many ways. James Watt had a major impact on trade and transportation. Eli Whitney had a significant impact on cotton and machine production. Louis Pasteur had a major impact on the food industry and fermentation sciences. Henry Bessemer then had an impact on steel and construction. Thomas Edison is the last to be discussed. He has made a huge impact on electrical machines and electricity. Here are some of the greatest minds who have helped shape our modern lives. We certainly recognize their influence on modern life today.
Thomas Edison said once, “To be an inventor, you’ll need a lot of imagination and junk.” This quote highlights how important it was that these minds were brave enough to take action on their imagined ideals. These inventors took action and made their ideas a reality. This quote is not limited to inventors. This quote is for anyone who wants to turn their idea into reality. Everyone can make a difference if they work hard and put their ideas forward.
These amazing scientific discoveries have played a vital role not just in culture, but in economy and society as well. We must give the credit and respect to the people behind these innovations. It’s not enough to write their names down in the history books of today. What’s important is remembering who these people were, what actions they took, and sacrifices that they made. Understanding the impact of Earth’s greatest minds on how our world functions is important.
However, they are not all the great minds from history. Alexander Graham Bell’s invention, the telephone, has been a huge success. Benjamin Franklin was the first to coin electricity. It is now a vital part of our lives. Henry Ford, the inventor of mass-produced modern vehicles, was first. Wright Brothers experimented in history to see if man could fly. These inventors’ inventions and achievements are of great importance.
The impact of these extraordinary individuals was far more notable. We know them because of their impact on society. We are familiar with their extraordinary control over the economy. We also recognize them as a force in the culture. Anyone with an idea that is new, the ability and willingness to create it, as well as the courage to communicate it, can make a difference to the society in which we live.
