Inventing modern America
Subtitle: from the microwave to the mouse
By: text by David E. Brown ; foreword by Lester C. Thurow ; introductions by James Burke.
Publisher: MIT Press
Published: 2002
Place of publication: Cambridge, Mass
Language: eng
Number of pages: 209
Subjects: Inventions -- United States -- History -- 20th century; Inventors -- United States -- Biography
Genres: Biography.
Description: Tells the personal stories of thirty-five American scientists, technologists, and researchers whose inventions have had a significant impact on life in the twentieth century in the areas of medicine and healthcare, consumer products, transportation, energy and the environment, and computing and telecommunications.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 198-200) and index.
"A publication of the Lemelson-MIT program for invention and innovation."
Table of contents: title: Machine generated contents note: Foreword: Lester C. Thurow viii; title: Introduction: James Burke 2; title: MEDICINE AND HEALTHCARE; title: Introduction 4; title: Raymond Damadian: MRI scanner, magnetic resonance imaging (1977) 6; title: Thomas Fogarty: balloon embolectomy catheter (1961) 12; title: Wilson Creatbatch: implantable cardiac pacemaker (1958) 18; title: Dean Kamen: portable medication technology (1970s) 24; title: Mary-Claire King: advances in the treatment of breast cancer (1990) 30; title: Robert Langer: biomedical applications of polymers (i98os) 34; title: Rosalyn Yalow: RIA, radioimmunoassay (1959) 38; title: CONSUMER PRODUCTS; title: Introduction 44; title: Leo Baekeland: Bakelite, the first modern plastic (1907) 46; title: Harold "Doc" Edgerton: stop-action photography (1931) 52; title: Philo T. Farnsworth: electronic television (1927) 58; title: Stephanie Kwolek: Kevlar (1964) 62; title: Jerome Lemelson: apparatus for driving tape in a cartridge (1972) 68; title: Jacob Rabinow: self-regulating clock (1954) 74; title: Percy Spencer: microwave oven (1947) 80; title: TRANSPORTATION; title: Introduction 84; title: Ole Evinrude: outboard boat motor (1907) 86; title: Henry Ford: assembly line (1913) 90; title: Robert Goddard: liquid-fueled rocket (1926) 94; title: Paul MacCready: human-powered airplane (1977) 100; title: Garrett Morgan: traffic signal (1923) 106; title: Elmer Ambrose Sperry: gyrocompass (1911) 112; title: ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT; title: Introduction 118; title: George Washington Carver: industrial applications for agricultural products (191os) 120; title: Carl Djerassi: nontoxic pest-control products (196os) 124; title: Sally Fox: naturally colored cotton (1989) 128; title: Buckminster Fuller: geodesic dome (1950) 134; title: Ashok Gadgil: ultraviolet water purification system (1993) 140; title: Stanford Ovshinksy: mass production of photovoltaic cells (1983) 144; title: John Todd: ecosystems for combating pollution (1984) 148; title: COMPUTING AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS; title: Introduction 154; title: Nolan Bushnell: video game (1971) 156; title: Douglas Engelbart: computer mouse (1968) 162; title: Al Gross: walkie-talkie (1937) 168; title: Erna Schneider Hoover: computerized telephone switching system (1965) 172; title: Grace Murray Hopper: computer compiler (1952) 178; title: Raymond Kurzweil: optical reading machine for the blind (1976) 182; title: Carver Mead: very-large-scale integrated circuits (1971) 188; title: Steve Wozniak: personal computer (1976) 194; title: Sources and Further Reading 198; title: Index 201; title: Acknowledgments 207; title: Photo Credits 208.