 Today we reveal the most
important inventor in our nation's history, and the answer might
surprise you. Since some of our inventors made major contributions
to society in ways other than their inventions, we include those
contributions.
Where to start? I've already narrowed it down to five inventors.
In alphabetical order, they are George Washington Carver, Thomas
Edison, Henry Ford, Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson.
Several other very important inventors were born in foreign
countries, such as Alexander Graham Bell, born in Scotland, and
Nikola Tesla, the main inventor of radio and alternating current,
who was born in Croatia. Due to this technicality, we must vote them
off the island.
George Washington Carver: Born to slaves, Carver faced the
most difficult odds of any of these inventors. Born to slaves in
Missouri and kidnapped by Confederates, he was known as "The Plant
Doctor" and invented more than 300 uses out of peanuts. Some of the
products resulting from his work are adhesives, axle grease, bleach,
buttermilk, chili sauce, ink, instant coffee, linoleum, mayonnaise,
meat tenderizer, shaving cream, shoe polish and talcum powder. He
became head of the Department of Agricultural Research at the
Tuskegee Institute at age 36.
Thomas Edison: Once deemed "too stupid to learn" as a
6-year-old by one of his early teachers, Edison turned out to be the
most prolific inventor of all time, at least in the United States.
He held more than 1,000 patents; some of these led to the creation
of brand-new industries, such as the incandescent light bulb and the
phonograph. His Menlo Park invention lab became the model that the
labs of many innovative companies were patterned after.
Henry Ford: While Ford did not invent the automobile, it was
his mass-production method that allowed the masses to own
automobiles. This made the mass-produced automobile one of the five
greatest inventions of all time. Henry Ford does not compare to
Edison as an inventor, nor to Franklin or Jefferson in their overall
contributions to society, though.
Ben Franklin: Like Henry Ford, Franklin was also responsible
for one of the five greatest inventions of all time. Just as Ford
did not invent the automobile, Ben Franklin did not invent
electricity, but with his kite-and-key experiment he showed the
world that we could harness its power.
He also signed the Declaration of Independence and co-authored
the Treaty of Paris. He established our nation's first fire
department and served as our first postmaster general. In addition,
Franklin also invented bifocals, the odometer, the lightning rod,
the Franklin stove and the glass harmonica, just to name a few.
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 He was also the first to suggest the idea of daylight saving
time, which was years ahead of its time. He was the first person to
appear on a U.S. postage stamp. Under the pen name of Richard
Saunders, he also wrote and published the best-selling "Poor
Richard's Almanack," and the book is still available more than 200
years after Franklin's death. Some of his inventions and ideas are
still being used today.
Thomas Jefferson: Like Ben Franklin, Jefferson's
accomplishments went far beyond his inventions, of which there were
many. For example, he was our nation's third president. He helped
establish the U.S. patent office in 1790, and he was our nation's
first patent commissioner. He also founded the University of
Virginia. Oh, yeah, he also wrote and signed the Declaration of
Independence.
Jefferson invented a moldboard plow, a wheel cipher, a spherical
sundial, a portable copying press, automatic double doors, the
swivel chair, the dumbwaiter and a macaroni machine. He also
introduced french fries, ice cream, waffles and macaroni to the U.S.
So the winner is ... Ben Franklin.
I can just see the complaint letters pouring in already: "How can
you choose Ben Franklin over Thomas Edison? Without Edison's light
bulb, you wouldn't be able to see in the dark!"
Without Franklin's discovery of electricity, though, we wouldn't
have Edison's light bulbs. Case closed.
"Then why not Thomas Jefferson and all of his inventions, plus
the fact that he was a U.S. president? Ben Franklin was not a
president."
Since this is a non-scientific contest, we'll settle it in a
non-scientific way: Ben Franklin's image is on a $100 bill, while
Thomas Jefferson's image is on a $2 bill.
Paul Niemann's column has appeared in more than 80 newspapers and
counting. He is the author of the "Invention Mysteries" series of
books, and can be reached at niemann7@aol.com.
Copyright Paul Niemann 2009
[By
PAUL NIEMANN]
Paul Niemann's column has appeared in
more than 80 newspapers and counting. He is the author of the
"Invention Mysteries" series of books and can be reached at
niemann7@aol.com.
Copyright Paul Niemann 2009
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