Inventors/Inventions

Sue: October 2006
Have you ever wished to invent something exciting or have you ever thought, if only a particular something existed, it would be so good. Perhaps you spend Wednesday nights watching the New Inventors wishing that you had thought of that simple device!

New Inventors
I loved the Jigolo, a tool that fits onto the chuck of an electric drill, and fits on to the hexagonal screws that are used to fasten corrugated iron sheets to roof trusses. It has frame that fits around the corrugations of the iron so it doesn’t slip. How useful would that be?

Last week a man demonstrated the Y tool for removing rusted screws, nuts and bolts. It was so simple and worked so well. I was most impressed, and, of course, I want one! Later the Inventors website went wild with people describing previous versions of similar tools that worked for a specific nut or bolt. This led me to thinking what is an invention really?

Definition
Wikipedia states: “An invention is an object, process, or technique which displays an element of novelty. An invention may sometimes be based on earlier developments, collaborations or ideas, and the process of invention requires at least the awareness that an existing concept or method can be modified or transformed into a new invention.”

Of course, Benjamin Franklin is well known as an inventor. He was the man who needed two types of glasses, so he could read and see distances at the same time. He cut his two glasses in half and fit them together to create the world’s first bifocals. He also invented the lightning rod, an odometer, an iron heater (Franklin stove).

One of the most interesting inventors would have to be Leonardo da Vinci as he had many other jobs (sculptor, painter, engineer, etc). Most of his inventions were so far ahead of his time that they weren’t build in his lifetime, but these inventions included a helicopter, a glider, an armored tank, a submarine, and many other items which are now common place.

More inventors
Thomas Edison patented more than 1,000 inventions, including the light bulb and the phonograph. Kilby (born in 1923) invented both the hand-held calculator and the microchip. Do you know that the crossword puzzle was invented by Arthur Wynne (an English journalist) in 1913?

Strange Inventions
Of course everyone needs a motorised picnic table build on a tractor so diners and food can continually move to new locations. There is actually a patent held on this invention and there are more crazy inventions to find out about on the totally absurd website.

Children and Inventing
The Smithsonian site discusses the importance of play to future inventors. There are lots of games/puzzles on the site, and children on school holidays might enjoy doing them. (The Smithsonian site itself is a treasure chest of information.)

I really enjoyed the kids’ invention page, although these were totally make-believe. There was an invention for catching store robbers with a metal detector and when metal was detected the robber was wrapped up in string and thrown in a cage to wait for the police!
Until next month, happy inventing…

Useful Websites
wikipedia site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invention
Smithsonian: http://invention.smithsonian.org/centerpieces/iap/
Franklin Institute: http://www.fi.edu/franklin/inventor/inventor.html
Motorised Picnic table: http://totallyabsurd.com/motorizedpicnictable.htm