Robert Oppenheim (1904-1967) was an American theoretical physicist who is best known for heading the scientific aspect of the Manhattan Project (Leslie Groves led the overall project), the effort to develop the first atomic weapon. He and his group of top notch scientists managed to develop the first atomic bomb and eventually those bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The devastation they wrought convinced the Japanese empire to end the war in August of 1945. Openheimer is known for been the founder of theoretical physics at the University of California, Berkeley, at a time American science was at best…

John Logie Baird (1888-1946) was a Scottish inventor who played a key role in the invention of the Television. Whereas there is some dispute as to who actually invented the TV, the British have no doubt as to who did so, Baird did. Baird is credited with being the first person to produce a live moving image on television in halftones by reflected light. Baird demonstrated his television and its live moving images in 1925, at a London Department Store. He demonstrated the world’s first color transmission in 1926. In 1927 Baird demonstrated long distance transmission of television between London…

Robert Goddard (1882-1945) was an American physicist and engineer who pioneered controlled liquid fueled rocketry. He launched the first liquid fueled rocket in 1926. He is the father of modern rocketry. Our age has sent a man to the moon and is currently exploring space thanks to Goddard’s efforts in understanding rockets and launching them. Clearly, Goddard was a man ahead of his times. In the 1920s and 1930s when he was attempting to manufacture and launch rockets the general public was not aware of what rockets were and few were interested in rockets. It was only during the Second…

George Washington Carver (1864-1943) was an African-American agronomist who made contributions to scientific farming in the Southern United States. He provided agricultural extension studies to farmers thereby enabling them to apply scientific farming methods to their farming practices hence improving their crop yields. For example, planting cotton over and over on the same soil depletes the soil’s nutrients whereas rotating different crops (say, peanuts) and cotton on the soil improved the quality of the soil. Carver taught farmers to rotate their crops on the same soil. Many claims were made regarding Carver’s findings and inventions, for example, on how peanuts…

Henry Ford (1863-1947) was an American inventor who improved on the nascent industry of automobiles and constructed an assembly line and mass produced cars (Model T). His efforts revolutionized the auto industry. Henry Ford had a goal: place a car in every American families reach and, by and large, succeeded in that endeavor (along with other car manufacturers, of course). He made his car cheap enough for the average American working family to be able to purchase it and did they buy his cars! Henry Ford transformed the mode of transportation in the United States from horses and carriages to…

The Wright Brothers: Orville (1871-1948) and Wilbur (1867-1912) were American inventors credited with inventing the airplane. Other people had glided and even flown with two fixed winged planes but it was the Wright brothers who first flew in a controlled, two fixed winged plane (they named their airplane Flyer 1). Both brothers were trained in mechanics and owned a bicycle repair shop and later began to manufacture their own bicycles. Apparently, they were obsessed with discovering how to fly planes and devoted their free time to reading all available literature on the subject and building models of airplanes. Convinced that…

Thomas Edison (1847-1931) was an American inventor. He invented many devices chief among them is the electric bulb. He was an astute businessman and vigorously marketed his inventions. Indeed, he established what is considered the first laboratory to research for new inventions for his business to sell. Many of the inventions attributed to his invention were probably invented by other people working for him. He founded the General electric company, which still exists today, to provide electric power to the public. Edison began his inventions at Newark, New Jersey. The first invention that brought him fame was the phonograph in…

Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922) was a Scottish-American inventor who invented the telephone. Bell made other inventions, such as in hydrofoils and aeronautics but his lasting legacy was his invention of the telephone. Bell began his career teaching the deaf and dumb to talk or use sign language. As a result of health issues he and his family moved from Britain to Canada and he eventually obtained a job at Boston, Massachusetts teaching students with hearing and speaking problems. Some of his students included Helen Keller. While in Boston, Bell began to tinker with ways to have two people who are…

George Stephenson (1781-1848) was an English mechanical engineer. He built the first public railway line in the world, using steam locomotives. He is considered the father of Railways. Stephenson did not invent the first locomotive engine; that credit goes to Richard Trevithick who in 1804 rigged such engines to help pull coal out of coal mines. Stephenson’s first locomotive engine, designed in 1814, was also for hauling coal out of coal mines (Killingworth wagon way, and named Blucher after the German whose blueprint for the design he said influenced his design). What made Stephenson famous was constructing an eight mile…