Mass-Scale DesalinationReverse osmosis enables large-scale desalination of seawater, efficiently transforming it into drinking water. People have been trying to desalinate seawater into drinking water for millennia. Firstly, Aristotle and other ancient Greeks unsuccessfully attempted to desalinate seawater. Eventually, by the 16th century, ship-based evaporation desalination systems created potable water. In time, by 1955, the first multi-stage … Continue reading "Mass-Scale Desalination"
Mobile PhoneMobile phones allow calls from anywhere that’s within range of a tower. They vastly increase productivity, convenience, lower the risk of a missed call, and they’re fun. Mobile phones work by beaming voice (and, later, data) to a tower, seamlessly switching from tower-to-tower as the person moves. Cooper Creates the Mobile Phone Battery-operated gadget maker … Continue reading "Mobile Phone"
Personal Portable Music PlayerBattery operated portable personal music players are fun, enabling users to build a cocoon of their own music. Portable radios and stereos date back to the invention of the transistor. Over time, these grew in size and power. Enormous stereos run from batteries, “boom boxes,” were commonplace. However, boom boxes played music from speakers and … Continue reading "Personal Portable Music Player"
Seed Drill / Automatic Hoe1733 Jethro Tull invented a new type of tiller and planter, an automatic hoe. His machine turned soil over and planted seeds, something people had to do by hand before that time. Tull was educated as a lawyer. He practiced law for a short while, couldn’t stand the work, and went into farming. Tull’s farm … Continue reading "Seed Drill / Automatic Hoe"
Credit UnionLet it not be forgotten that a credit union is, above all else, an association of people, not dollars. Alphonse Desjardins Banks at the turn of the 20th century were for rich people. A.P. Giannini founded his Bank of Italy, later renamed Bank of America, in 1904 as a bank for everybody else. But it … Continue reading "Credit Union"
Cathode-ray Tube (CRT)Cathode ray tubes are a vacuum tube with an electron gun at the back. The gun shoots electrons through the vacuum onto a screen which creates images. Thick screens that predate flat-screen televisions and computer monitors are cathode ray technology. Background German scientists Julius Plücker and Johan Hittorf discovered cathode-ray tubes. Hittorf noticed a negative … Continue reading "Cathode-ray Tube (CRT)"
AutomobileIt’s difficult, and arguably pointless, to separate the innovation of the automobile and Internal Combustion Engine (ICE). The use of an ICE for a “horseless carriage” was so obvious that early engines were all used for cars. Engine propelled buggies were, by far, the most popular use case though ICE’s also powered other applications. Early … Continue reading "Automobile"
AirlineCount von Zeppelin, inventor of the airship, partnered with a group of other German industrialists to create a Zeppelin manufacturing company and also an airline. Airships Their first airship, the enormous LZ1, launched July 2, 1900. It crashed and survived but the test was not successful for the German government to invest more funds in … Continue reading "Airline"
Mini Steel Mill (mini-mill)1969 Ken Iverson “Integrated” steel mills create steel from raw materials. They use the Bessemer process to transform raw materials into enormous amounts of steel. The plants are giant, inflexible, dirty, and expensive to erect and run. Ken Iverson worked at the Nuclear Corporation of America (eventually, Nucor), a conglomerate of assorted businesses pulled together … Continue reading "Mini Steel Mill (mini-mill)"
Computer GameBackground Early computers used punch cards to load programs and data into computers. The software was a stack of cards, each card one line of a program. Data input were cards on the top of the stack. Eventually, then the entire thing fed into a card reader. The reader read the stack, processed the data, … Continue reading "Computer Game"
Lithium-Ion BatteryLithium-Ion Batteries (LIBs) power everything from smartphones to power tools and electric cars. Entire cities store power generated during the day, via solar panels, for use at night from large lithium battery arrays. One of the largest factories in the world, the Tesla Gigafactory, is devoted solely to manufacturing Lithium-Ion batteries. Background An ability to … Continue reading "Lithium-Ion Battery"
Programmable Logic Controller (PLC)Programmable Logic Controller’s (PLC’s) are small single-purpose computers. They control machines and are common in cars. You probably own more PLC’s than any other type of computer. Today, a single-car has a myriad of PLC’s, usually networked together. PLC’s replace hard-coded wiring, automating tasks. PLC’s often read input from analog sensors. Responding to temperature, sensing … Continue reading "Programmable Logic Controller (PLC)"
Facsimile (FAX) MachineAlexander Bain created a telegraph that transmitted light and dark dots that were reproduced on the other side, the fax machine, long before the telephone. Early faxes were popular with newspapers due to their ability to quickly transmit crude images. Countless modifications and improvements followed over the years. Despite the obvious differences in the innovation, … Continue reading "Facsimile (FAX) Machine"
Pneumatic Tools1871 Simon Ingersoll It’s not an exaggeration to say that pneumatic tools built the modern world. Wherever you’re reading this article: whether in a house, apartment, office or even on a street you can stare up and see something built with pneumatic tools. Reading in the middle of a forest? The device you’re reading on … Continue reading "Pneumatic Tools"
Gas Extraction from Coal & Gas Powered LanternCombining gas extracted from coal into a lantern, then into lights, allowed for non-candle bright lights. This literally lit up the industrial era. Factories could function at night and people could stay awake longer. Gas lighting vastly increased productivity. In 1667, Thomas Shirley published a report describing flammable gas naturally seeping from coal. In 1684, … Continue reading "Gas Extraction from Coal & Gas Powered Lantern"