100 Things to Know About Inventions (In a Nutshell)

114 Pages·2021·30.396 MB·English

by  Clive Gifford

100 THINGS
TO KNOW ABOUT
INVENTIONS
INVENTIONS
Author: Clive Gifford
Illustrator: Yiffy Gu
Designer: Sarah Chapman-Suire
Editor: Carly Madden
Creative Director: Malena Stojic
Publisher: Rhiannon Findlay
© 2021 Quarto Publishing plc
Illustration © 2021 Yiffy Gu
Yiffy Gu has asserted her moral right to be identified as the illustrator
of this Work in accordance with the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published in 2021 by Happy Yak,
an imprint of The Quarto Group.
The Old Brewery, 6 Blundell Street,
London N7 9BH, United Kingdom.
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No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted
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copying. In the United Kingdom such licences are issued by the Copyright Licensing
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A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978 0 7112 6344 4
eISBN 978 0 7112 6345 1
Manufactured in Guangdong, China TT062021
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
100 THINGS
TO KNOW ABOUT
INVENTIONS
INVENTIONS
CLIVE GIFFORD Yiffy gU
CONTENTS
6 Introduction 22 VACUUM 38 TELEGRAPH 54 PRINTING
23 REFRIGERATOR 39 INTERNET 55 World wide web
8 WHEEL 24 PHOTOGRAPHY 40 CRASH TEST DUMMY 56 SEARCH ENGINE
9 SKATES 25 DIGItal camera 41 SEAT BELT 57 TRAIN
10 STEAM 26 BALLOON 42 CONSOLE 58 PAPER BAG
11 LOOM 27 SUBMARINE 43 ARCADE 59 COIN
12 CRANE 28 WRITING 44 AIRCRAFT 60 SMARTPHONE
13 LEGO® 29 BRAILLE 45 PARACHUTE 61 EMOJI
14 PLOUGh 30 CAR 46 PLASTER 62 SUPERGLUE
15 LAWNMOWER 31 TRAFFIC LIGHTS 47 PACEMAKER 63 POST-IT® NOTE
16 PHOTOCOPIER 32 PAPER 48 CHOCOLATE 64 SCUBA
17 3D PRINTING 33 PENCIL 49 DYE 65 spacecraft
18 COMPUTER 34 BATTERY 50 JET 66 light bulb
19 MICROcHIP 35 GENERATOR 51 ROCKET 67 FILAMENT
20 PATENT 36 TOILET 52 FROZEN FOOD 68 FIREWORK
21 SAFETY PIN 37 TOOTHBRUSH 53 MICROWAVE 69 neon
70 airship 86 SATELLITE 102X-RAY
71 HELICOPTER 87 SPACE STATION 103PHOTOVOLTAIC
72 RADIO waves 88 CINEMA 104WIPER
73 TELEVISION 89 SMELL-O-VISION 105CAT'S EYE
74 TELESCOPE 90 AC 106BARCODE
75 MICROSCOPE 91 TURBINE 107 LASER
76 MICROCOMPUTER 92 VELCRO®
77 ROBOT 93 TRAMPOLINE 108AUTHOR'S NOTE &
78 BICYCLE 94 TELEPHONE YOUNG INVENTORS
79 KEVLAR® 95 HEADPHONES 110 TIMELINE &
80 STAMP 96 DISHWASHER GLOSSARY
81 BUBBLE WRAP 97 SLICED BREAD 112 INDEX &
82 TIMEKEEPING 98 PHONOGRAPH FIND OUT MORE
83 PENDULUM 99 STREAMING
84 MOUSE 100PLASTIC
85 BIRO 101 BARBIE®
6
7
INTRODUCTION
Every day, when you switch on a light, computer or radio, ride your bike,
write a note or open the fridge, you are using objects and materials
that didn’t exist centuries earlier. These inventions didn’t spring out
of thin air – they’re all the work of ingenious, hardworking and sometimes,
downright lucky, inventors! Some inventions come in a sudden flash of
inspiration, whilst others take many years of hard graft to make them
work. Many inventions do not succeed, but when they do they
have the potential to transform the way many people live.
This book celebrates the importance of innovations by examining 100
key examples of inventions, big and small. Some have changed the world,
while others have made daily life a little bit easier or more rewarding. All
have fascinating and sometimes surprising stories to tell and will give you
lots to think and talk about.
So what are you waiting for? The world of inventions is just a page turn away!
8
WHEEL
Many inventions evolve out of new ways of using existing things. In Mesopotamia
(present day Iraq), 5,500–6,000 years ago, people created simple potters’ wheels by
spinning circular slabs of wood or stone positioned parallel to the ground. Around
3,500 BCE, some bright sparks began placing wheels on their side and inserting a rod
through the middle as an axle, so the wheel could turn. Wheels encounter far less friction
than an object that is dragged across the ground, so when fitted to carts – pulled by oxen
or mules – wheels made moving people, crops and other goods around quicker and easier.