Inventions

Typhus vaccine (Inventions)

The invention: the first effective vaccine against the virulent typhus disease. The person behind the invention: Hans Zinsser (1878-1940), an American bacteriologist and immunologist Studying Diseases As a bacteriologist and immunologist, Hans Zinsser was interested in how infectious diseases spread. During an outbreak of typhus in Serbia in 1915, he traveled with a Red Cross […]

Ultracentrifuge (Inventions)

The invention: A super-high-velocity centrifuge designed to separate colloidal or submicroscopic substances, the ultracentrifuge was used to measure the molecular weight of proteins and proved that proteins are large molecules. The people behind the invention: Theodor Svedberg (1884-1971), a Swedish physical chemist and 1926 Nobel laureate in chemistry Jesse W. Beams (1898-1977), an American physicist […]

Tupperware (Inventions)

The invention: Trademarked food-storage products that changed the way Americans viewed plastic products and created a model for selling products in consumers’ homes. The people behind the invention: Earl S. Tupper (1907-1983), founder of Tupperware Brownie Wise, the creator of the vast home sales network for Tupperware Morison Cousins (1934-2001), a designer hired by Tupperware […]

Turbojet (Inventions)

The invention: A jet engine with a turbine-driven compressor that uses its hot-gas exhaust to develop thrust. The people behind the invention: Henry Harley Arnold (1886-1950), a chief of staff of the U.S. Army Air Corps Gerry Sayer, a chief test pilot for Gloster Aircraft Limited Hans Pabst von Ohain (1911- ), a German engineer […]

Transistor radio (Inventions)

The invention: Miniature portable radio that used transistors and created a new mass market for electronic products. The people behind the invention: John Bardeen (1908-1991), an American physicist Walter H. Brattain (1902-1987), an American physicist William Shockley (1910-1989), an American physicist Akio Morita (1921-1999), a Japanese physicist and engineer Masaru Ibuka (1907-1997), a Japanese electrical […]

Tuberculosis vaccine (Inventions)

The invention: Vaccine that uses an avirulent (nondisease) strain of bovine tuberculosis bacilli that is safer than earlier vaccines. The people behind the invention: Albert Calmette (1863-1933), a French microbiologist Camille Guerin (1872-1961), a French veterinarian and microbiologist Robert Koch (1843-1910), a German physician and microbiologist Isolating Bacteria Tuberculosis, once called “consumption,” is a deadly, […]

Tungsten filament (Inventions)

The invention: Metal filament used in the incandescent light bulbs that have long provided most of the world’s electrical lighting. The people behind the invention: William David Coolidge (1873-1975), an American electrical engineer Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931), an American inventor The Incandescent Light Bulb The electric lamp developed along with an understanding of electricity in […]

TOUCH-TONE TELEPHONE (Inventions)

The invention: A push-button dialing system for telephones that replaced the earlier rotary-dial phone. The person behind the invention: Bell Labs, the research and development arm of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company Dialing Systems A person who wishes to make a telephone call must inform the telephone switching office which number he or she […]

Transistor (Inventions)

The invention: A miniature electronic device, comprising a tiny semiconductor and multiple electrical contacts, used in circuits as an amplifier, detector, or switch, that revolutionized electronics in the mid-twentieth century. The people behind the invention: William B. Shockley (1910-1989), an American physicist who led the Bell Laboratories team that produced the first transistors Akio Morita […]

Thermal cracking process (Inventions)

The invention: Process that increased the yield of refined gasoline extracted from raw petroleum by using heat to convert complex hydrocarbons into simpler gasoline hydrocarbons, thereby making possible the development of the modern petroleum industry The people behind the invention: William M. Burton (1865-1954), an American chemist Robert E. Humphreys (1942- ), an American chemist […]

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