Early Inventors and Inventions: the 1300's and Earlier
Source: ZOOM Inventors and Inventions (enchantedlearning.com)
ARCHIMEDES
Archimedes (287-212 BC) was a prolific ancient Greek mathematician. Archimedes invented the water screw, a device for raising
water using an encased screw open at both ends. The screw is set an an angle, and as the screw turns, water fills the air pockets and
is transported upwards. The Archimedes screw is still in use today. Among his many accomplishments was the first description of the
lever (around 260 BC). Levers are one of the basic tools; they were probably used in prehistoric times. Many of our basic tools use
levers, including scissors (two class-1 levers), pliers (two class-1 levers), hammer claws (one class-1 lever), nutcrackers (two class-2
levers), and tongs (two class-3 levers).
ASTROLABE
An astrolabe is an instrument that was used to determine the altitude of objects in the sky (like the sun or stars). It was first used
around 200 B.C. by astronomers in Greece. The astrolabe was replaced by the sextant.
CATAPULT
The catapult is a device that hurls heavy objects or arrows over a large distance. It was invented in ancient Greece (in 399 BC) by
Dionysius the Elder of Syracuse. The Romans later added wheels to the catapult to make it more maneuverable. The catapult (also
called the ballista) was a major weapon of warfare for well over a thousand years. A double-armed catapult (also called the
trebuchet) was invented by Mariano Taccola of Siena during the Middle Ages, about AD 1400.
COMPASS
The earliest-known compass dates from China, during the Han Dynasty (2nd century BC - 2nd century AD). This early compass was
made from lodestone, a naturally-magnetic variety of magnetite ore. A spoon-shaped piece of lodestone was placed upon a bronze
disk, and the lodestone always pointed north. This early compass was not used for navigation at first; it was used for divination (like
Feng Shui), to determine fortuitous placement of buildings, etc.
DIONYSIUS THE ELDER
The catapult was invented in ancient Greece (in 399 BC) by Dionysius the Elder of Syracuse. The catapult is a device that hurls heavy
objects or arrows over a large distance. The Romans later added wheels to the catapult to make it more maneuverable. Also called
the ballista, this device was a major weapon of warfare for well over a thousand years. A double-armed catapult (also called the
trebuchet) was invented by Mariano Taccola of Siena during the Middle Ages, about AD 1400.
EYEGLASSES
Eyeglasses with convex lenses for correcting farsighted vision were probably invented in Italy around the year 1268-1284, perhaps
by Salvino D'Armate of Pisa or by Alessandro Spina of Florence. Early glasses were also made in China around the same time. The
earliest glasses did not have arms; they perched on the bridge of the nose. Eyeglasses with concave lenses for nearsightedness (or
myopia) were not invented until the 1400s.
Glasses with arms were invented in the 1600s. Bifocals (combining convex and concave lenses to correct both nearsightedness and
farsightedness) were invented by Benjamin Franklin around 1775. Glasses with hinged arms were invented in 1752 by James
Ayscough. Ayscough also made the first sunglasses (glasses with green- or blue-tinted lenses).
Polarizing filters (which are very effective at filtering out glare) were invented by Edwin H. Land (and patented in 1929). Katherine J.
Blodgett (1898-1979) invented a micro-thin barium stearate lens coating that made glass completely nonreflective and "invisible"
(patent #2,220,660, March 16, 1938).
GUNPOWDER
Gunpowder was invented in China, probably during the 1000's. Gunpowder is composed of about 75 percent saltpeter (potassium
nitrate), 15 percent powdered charcoal, and 10 percent sulphur. The Chinese used gunpower to make fireworks and signals, and
later to make weapons of war.
HERON
The steam engine was invented by Heron, an ancient Greek geometer and engineer from Alexandria. Heron lived during the first
century AD and is sometimes called Hero. Heron made the steam engine as a toy, and called his device "aeolipile," which means
"wind ball" in Greek. The steam was supplied by a sealed pot filled with water and placed over a fire. Two tubes came up from the
pot, letting the steam flow into a spherical ball of metal. The metallic sphere had two curved outlet tubes, which vented steam. As
the steam went through the series of tubes, the metal sphere rotated. The aeolipile is the first known device to transform steam
power into rotary motion. The Greeks never used this remarkable device for anything but a novelty. A steam engine designed for
real work wasn't designed until 1690, when Dionysius Papin published plans for a for a high-pressure steam engine. Thomas Savery
built the first steam engine in 1698. Watt later improved the steam engine.
KITE
The kite was invented roughly 2,500 to 3,000 years ago. It originated in China, Malaysia or Indonesia (there are many claims to
having invented the kite). Some people say that the earliest kites consisted of a huge leaf attached to a long string (there is a type of
Indonesian leaf that is wonderful as a kite).
LEVERS
Levers are one of the basic tools; they were probably used in prehistoric times. Levers were first described about 260 BC by the
ancient Greek mathematician Archimedes (287-212 BC). Many of our basic tools use levers, including scissors (two class-1 levers),
pliers (two class-1 levers), hammer claws (one class-1 lever), nutcrackers (two class-2 levers), and tongs (two class-3 levers).
.
MARSHMALLOW
Marshmallow candy was first made by ancient Egyptians over three thousand years ago. The Egyptians made candy from the root of
the marshmallow plant (Althea officinalis), a plant that grows in marshes. Today's marshmallows do not contain any mallow root -
gelatin is substituted for the sweet, sticky root.
PAPER
Paper is writing material made from wood pulp or other fibrous material.
Almost 5,000 years ago, in ancient Egypt, the papyrus plant was processed and used as paper. Papyrus paper was made from thin
sheets of papyrus pith that were soaked in water, pressed together with the grains at right angles, and then dried - the sticky sap of
the plant made the thin sheets stick together, forming a sturdy writing surface. Papyrus (Cyperus papyrus is its genus and species) is
a grass-like aquatic plant native to the Nile valley of Egypt. Our word paper comes from "papyrus."
Paper is made by grinding plant material into a pulp, forming it into thin sheets, and drying it in a form. This process was invented in
AD 105 by Ts'ai Lun, a Chinese official and member of the Chinese Imperial Court, about 2000 years ago; he originally used the waste
from silk production. Early Chinese paper was made from the bark of the mulberry tree and other plant fibers.
SCISSORS
Scissors were invented thousands of years ago (roughly 1500 B.C.) in ancient Egypt. Early scissors have been found in ancient
Egyptian ruins. These early scissors were made from one piece of metal (unlike modern scissors, which are made from two cross-
blades which pivot around a fulcrum). Modern cross-bladed scissors were invented in ancient Rome (roughly A.D. 100). Early scissors
were used by clothes makers and barbers. Scissors were not in common use until much later, in the 1500's (in Europe).
SILK
Silk was first made by the Chinese about 4,000 years ago. Silk thread is made from the cocoon of the silkworm moth (Bombyx mori),
a small moth whose caterpillar eats the leaves of the mulberry tree.
According to Chinese legend, the first silk thread was made when the Chinese Empress Si-Ling-Chi was sitting under a mulberry tree
and a cocoon fell into her tea; she noticed the strong, silky threads of the cocoon uncoiling. She then developed the use of silk.
STEAM ENGINE
The steam engine was invented by Heron, an ancient Greek geometer and engineer from Alexandria. Heron lived during the first
century AD and is sometimes called Hero. Heron made the steam engine as a toy, and called his device "aeolipile," which means
"wind ball" in Greek. The steam was supplied by a sealed pot filled with water and placed over a fire. Two tubes came up from the
pot, letting the steam flow into a spherical ball of metal. The metallic sphere had two curved outlet tubes, which vented steam. As
the steam went through the series of tubes, the metal sphere rotated. The aeolipile is the first known device to transform steam
power into rotary motion. The Greeks never used this remarkable device for anything but a novelty. A steam engine designed for
real work wasn't designed until 1690, when Dionysius Papin published plans for a for a high-pressure steam engine. Thomas Savery
built the first steam engine in 1698. Watt later improved the steam engine.
YO-YO
The yo-yo is one of the oldest toys. Yo-yo's have been used as a toy for over 2,500 years, when the ancient Romans played with
wooden and metal yo-yo's. The word "yo-yo" may come from Tagalog language (the language of the Philippines), meaning "to come
back."
Inventions from the 1400’s
ANEMOMETER
The anemometer is a device that measures the speed of the wind (or other airflow, like in a wind tunnel). The first
anemometer, a disc placed perpendicular to the wind, was invented in 1450 by the Italian architect Leon Battista Alberti.
Robert Hooke, an English physicist, later reinvented the anemometer. In 1846, John Thomas Romney Robinson, an Irish
physicist, invented the spinning-cup anemometer. In this device, cups are attached to a vertical shaft; when the cups
spin in the wind, it causes a gear to turn.
BEHAIM, MARTIN
Martin Behaim (1459-1537) was a German mapmaker, navigator, and merchant. Behaim made the earliest globe, called
the "Nürnberg Terrestrial Globe". It was made during the years 1490-1492; the painter Georg Glockendon helped in the
project. Behaim had previously sailed to Portugal as a merchant (in 1480). He had advised King John II on matters
concerning navigation. He accompanied the Portuguese explorer Diogo Cam (Cão) on a 1485-1486 voyage to the coast
of West Africa; during this trip, the mouth of the Congo River was discovered. After returning to Nürnberg in 1490,
Behaim began construction of his globe (which was very inaccurate as compared to other maps from that time, even in
the areas in which Behaim had sailed). It was once thought that Behaim's maps might have influenced Columbus and
Magellan; this is now discounted. Behaim may have also developed an astrolabe. Behaim's globe is now in the German
National Museum in Nürnberg.
CARAVEL
The caravel (also spelled carvel) is a light sailing ship that that was developed by the Portuguese in the late 1400's, and
was used for the next 300 years. The Portuguese developed this ship to help them explore the African coast.
For more information (and activities) about caravels, click here.
CAXTON, WILLIAM
William Caxton (1422?-1491) was an English businessman, royal advisor, translator, editor, and printer who set up
England's first printing press in 1476. Caxton had learned about printing in Cologne , Germany. In Brussels, he printed
"The Recuyell," the first book printed in the English language, around 1474. His second publication was "The Game and
Play of Chess Moralised" (printed in 1476); this was the first printed book on chess and the first printed book to use
woodcut illustrations. Caxton then returned to England and set up England's first printing press (in 1476), where he
printed " Troilus and Creseide," " Morte d'Arthur," " The History of Reynart the Foxe," Chaucer's " The Canterbury Tales,"
and many other books. Since Caxton refused to print regional variations in English, he began the standardization of the
English language and its spelling.
DA VINCI, LEONARDO
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) was an Italian inventor, artist, and scientist. Da Vinci had an interest in engineering and
made detailed sketches of the airplane, the helicopter (and other flying machines), the parachute, the submarine, the
armored car, the ballista (a giant crossbow), rapid-fire guns, the centrifugal pump (designed to drain wet areas, like
marshes), ball bearings, the worm gear (a set of gears in which many teeth make contact at once, reducing the strain on
the teeth, allowing more pressure to be put on the mechanism).
GUTENBERG, JOHANNES - PRINTING PRESS WITH MOVABLE TYPE
Johannes Gutenberg (the late 1300's-1468) was a German craftsman, inventor, and printer who invented the first
printing press with movable type in 1450. This invention revolutionized printing, making it simpler and more affordable.
Gutenberg produced dies (molds) for easily producing individual pieces of metal type that could be made, assembled,
and later reused. Gutenberg's new press could print a page every three minutes. This made printed material available to
the masses for the first time in history. Religious materials were the majority of the early printed materials. The use of
printing presses began the standardization of spelling.
SCREWDRIVER
The earliest known screwdriver dates from the 15th-century. Slotted screws (which were inserted with screwdrivers)
were then used in knight's armor. One is on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, New York.
Inventions from the 1500’s
COMPOUND MICROSCOPE
Zacharias Janssen was a Dutch lens-maker who invented the first compound microscope in 1595 (a compound microscope is one
which has more than one lens). His microscope consisted of two tudes that slid within one another, and had a lens at each end. The
microscope was focused by sliding the tubes. The lens in the eyepiece was bi-convex (bulging outwards on both sides), and the lens
of the far end (the objective lens) was plano-convex (flat on one side and bulging outwards on the other side). This advanced
microscope had a 3 to 9 times power of magnification. Zacharias Janssen's father Hans may have helped him build the microscope.
DA VINCI, LEONARDO
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) was an Italian inventor, artist, architect, and scientist. Da Vinci had an interest in engineering and
made detailed sketches of the airplane, the helicopter (and other flying machines), the parachute, the submarine, the armored car,
the ballista (a giant crossbow), rapid-fire guns, the centrifugal pump (designed to drain wet areas, like marshes), ball bearings, the
worm gear (a set of gears in which many teeth make contact at once, reducing the strain on the teeth, allowing more pressure to be
put on the mechanism), and many other incredible ideas that were centuries ahead of da Vinci's time.
For some da Vinci art coloring pages, click here
For more information on da Vinci, click here.
GALILEI, GALILEO
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) was an Italian mathematician, astronomer, and physicist. Galileo found that the speed at which bodies
fall does not depend on their weight. Galileo did extensive experimentation with pendulums, finding that they nearly return to the
height at which they were released, that different pendulums have different periods (independent of bob weight and amplitude),
and that the square of the period varies directly with the pendulum's length.
Galileo was the first person to use a telescope to observe the skies (in 1609), after hearing about Hans Lippershey's newly-invented
telescope. Galileo discovered the rings of Saturn (1610), was the first to see the four moons of Jupiter (1610), observed the phases of
Venus, studied sunspots, and discovered many other important phenomena. In 1593 Galileo invented the thermometer. After
publishing the many discoveries he made using his telescope, including the motion of the Earth around the Sun (the Copernican
system), Galileo was accused of heresy by the Inquisition (in 1633).
GLOBE
Martin Behaim (1459-1537) was a German mapmaker, navigator, and merchant who made the earliest globe, called the "Nürnberg
Terrestrial Globe". It was made during the years 1490-1492; the painter Georg Glockendon helped in the project. Behaim had
previously sailed to Portugal as a merchant (in 1480). He had advised King John II on matters concerning navigation. He accompanied
the Portuguese explorer Diogo Cam (Cão) on a 1485-1486 voyage to the coast of West Africa; during this trip, the mouth of the
Congo River was discovered. After returning to Nürnberg in 1490, Behaim began construction of his globe (which was very
inaccurate as compared to other maps from that time, even in the areas in which Behaim had sailed). It was once thought that
Behaim's maps might have influenced Columbus and Magellan; this is now discounted. Behaim may have also developed an
astrolabe. Behaim's globe is now in the German National Museum in Nürnberg.
JANSSEN, ZACHARIAS
Zacharias Janssen was a Dutch lens-maker who invented the first compound microscope in 1595 (a compound microscope is one
which has more than one lens). His microscope consisted of two tudes that slid within one another, and had a lens at each end. The
microscope was focused by sliding the tubes. The lens in the eyepiece was bi-convex (bulging outwards on both sides), and the lens
of the far end (the objective lens) was plano-convex (flat on one side and bulging outwards on the other side). This advanced
microscope had a 3 to 9 times power of magnification. Zacharias Janssen's father Hans may have helped him build the microscope.
MICROSCOPE
The microscope may have been invented by eyeglass makers in Middelburg, The Netherlands, invented sometime between 1590
and 1610. Hans and his son Zacharias Janssen are mentioned in the letters of William Boreel ( the Dutch envoy to the Court of
France) as having invented a 20X magnification microscope.
Robert Hooke used an early microscope to observe slices of cork (bark from the oak tree) using a 30X power compound microscope.
He published his observations in "Microgphia" in 1665. In 1673, Antony van Leeuwenhoek discovered bacteria, free-living and
parasitic microscopic protists, sperm cells, blood cells, etc., using a 300X power single lens microscope.
Click here for a microscope printout to label. Click here for a microscope definition worksheet to print.
PENCIL
The "lead" pencil (which contains no lead) was invented in 1564 when a huge graphite (black carbon) mine was discovered in
England. The pure graphite was sawn into sheets and then cut into square rods. The graphite rods were inserted into hand-carved
wooden holders, forming pencils. They were called lead pencils by mistake - at the time, graphite was called black lead or
"plumbago," from the Greek word for lead (it looked and acted like lead, and it was not known at the time that graphite consisted of
carbon and not lead).
In 1795, the Nicholas Jacques Conte (a French officer in Napoleon's army) patented the modern method of kiln-firing powdered
graphite with clay to make pencils of any desired hardness.
For a more on the invention of the pencil, click here.
Galileo Galilei
THERMOMETER
The Thermometer was invented by Galileo Galilei in 1593. His thermometer consisted of water in a glass bulb; the water moved up
and down the bulb as the temperature changed. Inventions from the 1500’s
Inventions from the 1600’s
BAROMETER
A barometer is a device that measures air (barometric) pressure. It measures the weight of the column of air that extends from the
instrument to the top of the atmosphere. There are two types of barometers commonly used today, mercury and aneroid (meaning
"fluidless"). Earlier water barometers (also known as "storm glasses") date from the 17th century. The mercury barometer was
invented by the Italian physicist Evangelista Torricelli (1608 - 1647), a pupil of Galileo, in 1643. Torricelli inverted a glass tube filled
with mercury into another container of mercury; the mercury in the tube "weighs" the air in the atmosphere above the tube. The
aneroid barometer (using a spring balance instead of a liquid) was invented by the French scientist Lucien Vidie in 1843.
CASSEGRAIN TELESCOPE
A Cassegrain telescope is a wide-angle reflecting telescope with a concave mirror that receives light and focuses an image. A second
mirror reflects the light through a gap in the primary mirror, allowing the eyepiece or camera to be mounted at the back end of the
tube. The Cassegrain reflecting telescope was developed in 1672 by the French sculptor Sieur Guillaume Cassegrain. A correcting
plate (a lens) was added in 1930 by the Estonian astronomer and lens-maker Bernard Schmidt (1879-1935), creating the Schmidt-
Cassegrain telescope which minimized the spherical aberration of the Cassegrain telescope.
GALILEI, GALILEO
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) was an Italian mathematician, astronomer, and physicist. Galileo found that the speed at which bodies
fall does not depend on their weight and did extensive experimentation with pendulums.
In 1593 Galileo invented the thermometer.
In 1609, Galileo was the first person to use a telescope to observe the skies (after hearing about Hans Lippershey's newly-invented
telescope). Galileo discovered the rings of Saturn (1610), was the first person to see the four major moons of Jupiter (1610),
observed the phases of Venus, studied sunspots, and discovered many other important phenomena.
GREGORY, JAMES
James Gregory (1638-1675), a Scottish mathematician, invented the first reflecting telescope in 1663. He published a description of
the reflecting telescope in "Optica Promota," which was published in 1663. He never actually made the telescope, which was to have
used a parabolic and an ellipsoidal mirror.
HUYGENS, CHRISTIAN
Christian Huygens (1629-1695) was a Dutch physicist and astronomer who developed new methods for grinding and polishing glass
telescope lenses (about 1654). With his new, powerful telescopes, he identified Saturn's rings and discovered Titan, the largest
moon of Saturn in 1655. Huygens also invented the pendulum clock in 1656 (eliminating springs), wrote the first work on the
calculus of probability (De Ratiociniis in Ludo Aleae, 1655), and proposed the wave theory of light (Traité de la lumiere, 1678).
LIPPERSHEY, HANS
Hans Lippershey (1570?-1619) was a German-born Dutch lens maker who demonstrated the first refracting telescope in 1608, made
from two lenses; he applied for a patent for this optical refracting telescope (using 2 lenses) in 1608, intending it for use as a military
device.
MICROSCOPE
The microscope may have been invented by eyeglass makers in Middelburg, The Netherlands, invented sometime between 1590
and 1610. Hans and his son Zacharias Janssen are mentioned in the letters of William Boreel ( the Dutch envoy to the Court of
France) as having invented a 20X magnification microscope.
Robert Hooke used an early microscope to observe slices of cork (bark from the oak tree) using a 30X power compound microscope.
He published his observations in "Microgphia" in 1665. In 1673, Antony van Leeuwenhoek discovered bacteria, free-living and
parasitic microscopic protists, sperm cells, blood cells, etc., using a 300X power single lens microscope.
REFLECTING TELESCOPE
A reflecting (or Newtonian) telescope uses two mirrors to magnify what is viewed. The reflecting telescope was first described by
James Gregory in 1663.
REFRACTING TELESCOPE
A refracting telescope uses two lenses to magnify what is viewed; the large primary lens does most of the magnification. The first
refracting telescope was invented by Hans Lippershey in 1608.
TELESCOPE
A telescope is a device that lets us view distant objects. Early telescopes used glass lenses and/or mirrors to detect visible light.
Some modern telescopes gather images from different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum, from radio waves to gamma rays.
The first refracting telescope was invented by Hans Lippershey in 1608. Lippershey (1570?-1619) was a German-born Dutch lens
maker who demonstrated the first refracting telescope in 1608, made from two lenses; he applied for a patent for this optical
refracting telescope (using 2 lenses) in 1608, intending it for use as a military device. Newton improved the design of this telescope,
and it is now called a Newtonian telescope.
James Gregory (1638-1675), a Scottish mathematician, invented the first reflecting telescope in 1663. He published a description of
the reflecting telescope in "Optica Promota," which was published in 1663. He never actually made the telescope, which was to have
used a parabolic and an ellipsoidal mirror.
TORRICELLI, EVANGELISTA
Evangelista Torricelli (1608 - 1647) was an Italian physicist who invented the mercury barometer (in 1643) and made improvements
to the microscope. Torricelli was a pupil of Galileo. Torricelli inverted a glass tube filled with mercury into another container of
mercury; the mercury in the tube "weighs" the air in the atmosphere above the container. A barometer is a device that measures air
(barometric) pressure. It measures the weight of the column of air that extends from the instrument to the top of the atmosphere.
There are two types of barometers commonly used today, mercury and aneroid (meaning "fluidless").
Transportation Inventions
ASTROLABE
An astrolabe is an instrument that was used to determine the altitude of objects in the sky (like the sun or stars). It was first used
around 200 B.C. by astronomers in Greece. The astrolabe was replaced by the sextant.
BATHYSPHERE
A bathysphere is a pressurized metal sphere that allows people to go deep in the ocean, to depths at which diving unaided is
impossible. This hollow cast iron sphere with very thick walls is lowered and raised from a ship using a steel cable. The bathysphere
was invented by William Beebe and Otis Barton (around 1930). William Beebe (1877 - 1962), an American naturalist and undersea
explorer, tested the bathysphere in 1930, going down to 1426 feet in a 4'9" (1.45 m) diameter bathysphere. Beebe and Otis Barton
descended about 3,000 ft (914 m) feet in a larger bathysphere in 1934. They descended off the coast of Nonsuch Island, Bermuda in
the Atlantic Ocean. During the dive, they communicated with the surface via telephone.
BEHAIM, MARTIN
Martin Behaim (1459-1537) was a German mapmaker, navigator, and merchant. Behaim made the earliest globe, called the
"Nürnberg Terrestrial Globe". It was made during the years 1490-1492; the painter Georg Glockendon helped in the project. Behaim
had previously sailed to Portugal as a merchant (in 1480). He had advised King John II on matters concerning navigation. He
accompanied the Portuguese explorer Diogo Cam (Cão) on a 1485-1486 voyage to the coast of West Africa; during this trip, the
mouth of the Congo River was discovered. After returning to Nürnberg in 1490, Behaim began construction of his globe (which was
very inaccurate as compared to other maps from that time, even in the areas in which Behaim had sailed). It was once thought that
Behaim's maps might have influenced Columbus and Magellan; this is now discounted. Behaim may have also developed an
astrolabe. Behaim's globe is now in the German National Museum in Nürnberg.
BELL, HENRY
Henry Bell (1767-1830) was a Scottish engineer and inventor who built a steam-powered boat in 1812. His 12-foot (3.5-meter)
steamboat, called the Comet, was the first commercially successful steamship in Europe. This boat regularly sailed between
Greenock and Glasgow (Scotland) along the River Clyde. The Comet was the beginning of a revolution in navigation.
BICYCLE
The earliest bicycle was a wooden scooter-like contraption called a celerifere; it was invented about 1790 by Comte Mede de Sivrac
of France. In 1816, Baron Karl von Drais de Sauerbrun, of Germany, invented a model with a steering bar attached to the front
wheel, which he called a Draisienne. It has two wheels (of the same size), and the rider sat between the two wheels, but there were
no pedals; to move, you had to propel the bicycle forward using your feet (a bit like a scooter). He exhibited his bicycle in Paris on
April 6, 1818.
For a bicycle diagram printout to label, click here.
CARAVEL
The caravel (also spelled carvel) is a light sailing ship that that was developed by the Portuguese in the late 1400's, and was used for
the next 300 years. The Portuguese developed this ship to help them explore the African coast.
For more information (and activities) about caravels, click here.
COMPASS
The earliest-known compass dates from China, during the Han Dynasty (2nd century BC - 2nd century AD). This early compass was
made from lodestone, a naturally-magnetic variety of magnetite ore. A spoon-shaped piece of lodestone was placed upon a bronze
disk, and the lodestone always pointed north. This early compass was not used for navigation at first; it was used for divination (like
Feng Shui), to determine fortuitous placement of buildings, etc.
DAVENPORT
Thomas Davenport (July 9, 1802 -July 6, 1851) was an American blacksmith and inventor who established the first commercially
successful electric streetcar. Davenport, from Vermont, invented an electric motor in 1834 and began a small electric railway in
1835. He patented a device for "Improvements in propelling machinery by magnetism and electromagnetism" in 1837 (his electric
railway). Davenport later started a workshop in New York City, New York, and published a journal on electromagnetism (it was
printed on a press that was powered by motors which he devised).
DA VINCI, LEONARDO
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) was an Italian inventor, artist, and scientist. Da Vinci had an interest in engineering and made
detailed sketches of the airplane, the helicopter (and other flying machines), the parachute, the submarine, the armored car, the
ballista (a giant crossbow), rapid-fire guns, the centrifugal pump (designed to drain wet areas, like marshes), ball bearings, the worm
gear (a set of gears in which many teeth make contact at once, reducing the strain on the teeth, allowing more pressure to be put on
the mechanism).
ELEVATOR BRAKE
Elisha Graves Otis (1811-1861) invented the elevator brake, which greatly improved the safety of elevators. He used a ratchet on a
spring to catch the elevator in the event of an accident (like a broken cable).
In 1854, at the Crystal Palace Exposition in New York, Otis demonstrated how safe his elevator was by cutting the elevator's cable
with an ax, and the elevator car stayed where it was in the shaft. Otis' invention spurred the development of skyscrapers, changing
the look of cities around the world forever.
ESCALATOR
An escalator is a moving stairway that helps people move easily from floor to floor in building. The escalator was invented by the
American inventor Jesse W. Reno in 1891. On his "inclined elevator," passengers rode on an wedge-shaped supports attached to a
conveyor belt at an incline of about 25 degrees. The original elevator had a stationary handrail (which was soon replaced with a
moving handrail).
Horizontal steps were added to the escalator by Georg A. Wheeler and Charles D. Seeberger (who bought Wheeler's patent) in the
late 1890's. The Otis company later bought the patents for the escalator and marketed it worldwide. The word escalator was first
used at the Paris Exposition of 1900, when the Otis Company exhibited the moving stairway.
FOUCAULT, JEAN
Jean Bernard Léon Foucault (1819-1868) was a French physicist who invented the gyroscope (1852) and the Foucault pendulum
(1851). A gyroscope is essentially a spinning wheel set in a movable frame. When the wheel spins, it retains its spatial orientation,
and it resists external forces applied to it. Gyroscopes are used in navigation instruments (for ships, planes, and rockets). Foucault
was the first person to demonstrate how a pendulum could track the rotation of the Earth (the Foucault pendulum) in 1851. He also
showed that light travels more slowly in water than in air (1850) and improved the mirrors of reflecting telescopes (1858).
GODDARD, ROBERT
Robert Hutchings Goddard (October 5, 1882-August 10, 1945) was an American physicist and inventor who is known as the father of
modern rocketry. In 1907, Goddard proved that a rocket's thrust can propel it in a vacuum. In 1914, Goddard received two U.S.
patents: for liquid-fueled rockets and for two- to three-stage rockets that use solid fuel. In 1919, Goddard wrote a scientific article,
"A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes," describing a high-altitude rocket; it was published in a Smithsonian report. Goddard's
many inventions were the basis upon which modern rocketry is based.
After many years of failed attempts and public ridicule, Goddard's first successful rocket was launched on March 16, 1926 from a
relative's farm in Auburn, Massachusetts. It was a liquid-fueled 10-ft. rocket that he called Nell. The flight lasted 2 1/2 seconds; the
rocket flew a distance of 184 feet and achieved an altitude of 41 feet.
Goddard soon moved to Roswell, New Mexico, where he developed more sophisticated multi-stage rockets, rockets with fins (vanes)
to steer them (1932), a gyro control device to control the rocket (1932), and supersonic rockets (1935). In 1937, Goddard launched
the first rocket with a pivotable motor on gimbals using his gyro control device. Altogether, Robert Goddard had 214 patents.
GLOBE
Martin Behaim (1459-1537) was a German mapmaker, navigator, and merchant who made the earliest globe, called the "Nürnberg
Terrestrial Globe". It was made during the years 1490-1492; the painter Georg Glockendon helped in the project. Behaim had
previously sailed to Portugal as a merchant (in 1480). He had advised King John II on matters concerning navigation. He accompanied
the Portuguese explorer Diogo Cam (Cão) on a 1485-1486 voyage to the coast of West Africa; during this trip, the mouth of the
Congo River was discovered. After returning to Nürnberg in 1490, Behaim began construction of his globe (which was very
inaccurate as compared to other maps from that time, even in the areas in which Behaim had sailed). It was once thought that
Behaim's maps might have influenced Columbus and Magellan; this is now discounted. Behaim may have also developed an
astrolabe. Behaim's globe is now in the German National Museum in Nürnberg.
GYROSCOPE
A gyroscope is essentially a spinning wheel set in a movable frame. When the wheel spins, it retains its spatial orientation, and it
resists external forces applied to it. Gyroscopes are used in navigation instruments (for ships, planes, and rockets). Jean Bernard
Léon Foucault (1819-1868), a French physicist, invented the gyroscope in 1852.
HADLEY, JOHN H.
John Hadley (1682-1744) was an English mathematician and inventor who built the first reflecting telescope and invented an
improved quadrant (known as Hadley's quadrant) used in navigation. Hadley Rille, a long valley on the surface of the moon, was
MONTGOLFIER BROTHERS
Joseph (1740-1810) and Jacques Etienne (1745-1799) Montgolfier were two French bothers from Vidalon-les-Annonay, near Lyons,
who made the first successful hot-air balloon. Their first balloon was launched in December, 1782, and ascended to an altitude of
985 ft (300 m). This type of hot-air balloon was called the Montgolfiére; it was made of paper and used air heated by burning wool
and moist straw. The first passengers in a hot-air balloon were a rooster, a sheep, and a duck, whom the Montgolfier brothers sent
up to an altitude of 1,640 ft (500 m) on September 19, 1783 (the trip lasted for 8 minutes); the animals survived the landing. This
event was observed by King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette of France.
RADAR
The first practical radar system was invented in 1935 by the Scotish physicist Sir Robert Alexander Watson-Watt (April 13, 1892-
December 5, 1973). He developed radar to help track storms in order to keep aircraft safe. His invention eventually helped the allies
win World War 2 against the Germans.
Radar is short for RAdio Detection And Ranging. Radar is used to locate distant objects by sending out radio waves and analyzing the
echos that return. Radar can determine where a distant object is, how big it is, what shape it has, how fast it's moving and in which
direction it's going. Radar is now used to watch developing weather patterns, to monitor air traffic, to track ships at sea, and to
detect missiles.
SEXTANT
The sextant is an astronomical instrument that is used to determine latitude for navigation. It does this by measuring angular
distances, like the altitude of the sun, moon and stars. The sextant was invented independently in both England and America in
1731. The sextant replaced the astrolabe. The word sextant comes from the Latin word meaning "one sixth."
TIME ZONES
The Earth is divided into 24 time zones so that everyone in the world can be on roughly similar schedules (like noon being roughly
when the sun is highest in the sky). The idea to divide the Earth into time zones was proposed by the Canadian railway planner and
engineer Sir Sandford Fleming in the late 1870s.
WATT, JAMES
James Watt (1736-1819) was a Scottish inventor and engineer. In 1765, Watt revolutionized the steam engine, redesigning it so that
it was much more efficient and four times as powerful as the old Newcomen steam engines. Watt's engines did not waste steam
(heat), and had a separate condenser. Watt partnered with the businessman and factory owner Matthew Boulton in 1772, helping
to promote Watt's ideas commercially. Watt also invented a method for converting the up-and-down piston movement into rotary
motion (the "sun-and-planet" gear), allowing a greater number of applications for the engine. Watt produced this rotary-motion
steam engine in 1781; it was used for many applications, including draining mines, powering looms in textile factories, powering
bellows, paper mills, etc. It helped power the Industrial Revolution. Watt coined the term "horsepower," which he used to convey
the power of his engines; Watt calculated how many horses it would take to do the work of each engine. One horsepower equals
33,000 foot-pounds of work per minute; it is the power required to lift a total of 33,000 pounds one foot in one minute. Parliament
granted Watt a patent on his steam engine in 1755, making Watt a very wealthy man. In 1882 (long after Watt's death), the British
Association named the unit of electrical power the "watt."