Inventions and their authors. Russian inventors and their inventions

The history of mankind is closely connected with constant progress, development of technology, new discoveries and inventions. Some technologies are outdated and become history, others, such as the wheel or sail, are still in use today. Countless discoveries were lost in the whirlpool of time, others, not appreciated by their contemporaries, waited for recognition and implementation for tens and hundreds of years.

Editorial Samogo.Net conducted her own research designed to answer the question of which inventions are considered the most significant by our contemporaries.

Processing and analysis of the results of online surveys showed that there is simply no consensus on this matter. Nevertheless, we managed to form an overall unique rating of the greatest inventions and discoveries in human history. As it turned out, despite the fact that science has long moved forward, basic discoveries remain the most significant in the minds of our contemporaries.

First place undoubtedly took Fire

People early discovered the beneficial properties of fire - its ability to illuminate and warm, to change plant and animal food for the better.

The “wild fire” that broke out during forest fires or volcanic eruptions was terrible for man, but by bringing fire into his cave, man “tamed” it and “put” it into his service. From that time on, fire became a constant companion of man and the basis of his economy. In ancient times, it was an indispensable source of heat, light, a means of cooking, and a hunting tool.
However, further cultural conquests (ceramics, metallurgy, steelmaking, steam engines, etc.) must integrated use fire.

For many millennia, people used “home fire”, maintaining it year after year in their caves, before they learned to produce it themselves using friction. This discovery probably happened by accident, after our ancestors learned to drill wood. During this operation, the wood was heated and, under favorable conditions, ignition could occur. Having paid attention to this, people began to widely use friction to make fire.

The simplest method was to take two sticks of dry wood, and make a hole in one of them. The first stick was placed on the ground and pressed with the knee. The second one was inserted into the hole, and then they began to quickly and quickly rotate it between the palms. At the same time, it was necessary to press hard on the stick. The inconvenience of this method was that the palms gradually slid down. Every now and then I had to lift them up and continue rotating again. Although, with certain dexterity, this can be done quickly, nevertheless, due to constant stops, the process was greatly delayed. It is much easier to make fire by friction, working together. In this case, one person held the horizontal stick and pressed on top of the vertical one, and the second quickly rotated it between his palms. Later, they began to clasp the vertical stick with a strap, moving it to the right and left to speed up the movement, and for convenience, they began to put a bone cap on the upper end. Thus, the entire device for making fire began to consist of four parts: two sticks (fixed and rotating), a strap and an upper cap. In this way, it was possible to make fire alone, if you pressed the lower stick with your knee to the ground and the cap with your teeth.

And only later, with the development of mankind, other methods of producing open fire became available.

Second place in the responses of the online community they ranked Wheel and Cart

It is believed that its prototype may have been rollers that were placed under heavy tree trunks, boats and stones when dragging them from place to place. Perhaps the first observations of the properties of rotating bodies were made at the same time. For example, if for some reason the log roller was thinner in the center than at the edges, it moved more evenly under the load and did not skid to the side. Noticing this, people began to deliberately burn the rollers in such a way that the middle part became thinner, while the sides remained unchanged. Thus, a device was obtained, which is now called a “ramp.” In the course of further improvements in this direction, only two rollers at its ends remained from a solid log, and an axis appeared between them. Later they began to be made separately and then rigidly fastened together. Thus the wheel in the proper sense of the word was discovered and the first cart appeared.

In subsequent centuries, many generations of craftsmen worked to improve this invention. Initially, solid wheels were rigidly attached to the axle and rotated with it. When traveling on a flat road, such carts were quite suitable for use. On a turn, when the wheels must rotate with at different speeds, this connection creates great inconvenience, since a heavily loaded cart can easily break or overturn. The wheels themselves were still very imperfect. They were made from a single piece of wood. Therefore, the carts were heavy and clumsy. They moved slowly, and were usually harnessed to slow but powerful oxen.

One of the oldest carts of the described design was found during excavations in Mohenjo-Daro. A major step forward in the development of transportation technology was the invention of a wheel with a hub mounted on a fixed axle. In this case, the wheels rotated independently of each other. And so that the wheel rubs against the axle less, they began to lubricate it with grease or tar.

To reduce the weight of the wheel, cutouts were cut out in it, and for rigidity they were reinforced with transverse braces. It was impossible to come up with anything better in the Stone Age. But after the discovery of metals, wheels with a metal rim and spokes began to be made. Such a wheel could rotate tens of times faster and was not afraid of hitting rocks. By harnessing fleet-footed horses to a cart, man significantly increased the speed of his movement. It is perhaps difficult to find another discovery that would give such a powerful impetus to the development of technology.

Third place rightfully occupied Writing

There is no need to talk about how great the invention of writing was in the history of mankind. It is impossible to even imagine what path the development of civilization could have taken if, at a certain stage of their development, people had not learned to record the information they needed with the help of certain symbols and thus transmit and store it. It is obvious that human society in the form in which it exists today simply could not have appeared.

The first forms of writing in the form of specially inscribed characters appeared about 4 thousand years BC. But long before that there were various ways transmission and storage of information: using a certain way of folded branches, arrows, smoke from fires and similar signals. From these primitive warning systems, more complex methods of recording information later emerged. For example, the ancient Incas invented an original “writing” system using knots. For this purpose, wool laces of different colors were used. They were tied with various knots and attached to a stick. In this form, the “letter” was sent to the addressee. There is an opinion that the Incas used such “knot writing” to record their laws, write down chronicles and poems. “Knot writing” was also noted among other peoples - it was used in ancient China and Mongolia.

However, writing in the proper sense of the word appeared only after people invented special graphic signs to record and transmit information. The oldest type of writing is considered pictographic. A pictogram is a schematic drawing that directly depicts the things, events, and phenomena in question. It is assumed that pictography was widespread among various peoples during the last stage of the Stone Age. This letter is very visual, and therefore does not require special study. It is quite suitable for transmitting small messages and for recording simple stories. But when the need arose to convey some complex abstract thought or concept, I immediately felt limited opportunities a pictogram that is completely unsuited to recording what cannot be depicted in a picture (for example, concepts such as vigor, courage, vigilance, good sleep, sky blue, etc.). Therefore, already on early stage In the history of writing, pictograms began to include special conventional icons that denote certain concepts (for example, the sign of crossed arms symbolized exchange). Such icons are called ideograms. Ideographic writing also arose from pictographic writing, and one can quite clearly imagine how this happened: each pictorial sign of a pictogram began to become increasingly isolated from others and associated with a specific word or concept, denoting it. Gradually, this process developed so much that primitive pictograms lost their former clarity, but gained clarity and definiteness. This process took a long time, perhaps several thousand years.

The highest form of ideogram was hieroglyphic writing. It first appeared in Ancient Egypt. Later, hieroglyphic writing became widespread in Far East- in China, Japan and Korea. With the help of ideograms it was possible to reflect any, even the most complex and abstract thought. However, for those not privy to the secrets of the hieroglyphs, the meaning of what was written was completely incomprehensible. Anyone who wanted to learn to write had to memorize several thousand symbols. In reality, this took several years of constant exercise. Therefore, in ancient times, few people knew how to write and read.

Only at the end of 2 thousand BC. The ancient Phoenicians invented a letter-sound alphabet, which served as a model for the alphabets of many other peoples. The Phoenician alphabet consisted of 22 consonant letters, each of which represented a different sound. The invention of this alphabet was a big step forward for humanity. With the help of the new letter it was easy to convey any word graphically, without resorting to ideograms. It was very easy to learn. The art of writing has ceased to be the privilege of the enlightened. It became the property of the entire society, or at least a large part of it. This was one of the reasons for the rapid spread of the Phoenician alphabet throughout the world. It is believed that four-fifths of all currently known alphabets arose from Phoenician.

Thus, from a variety of Phoenician writing (Punic) Libyan developed. The Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek writing came directly from Phoenician. In turn, on the basis of the Aramaic script, Arabic, Nabataean, Syriac, Persian and other scripts developed. The Greeks made the last important improvement to the Phoenician alphabet - they began to denote not only consonants, but also vowel sounds with letters. The Greek alphabet formed the basis of most European alphabets: Latin (from which French, German, English, Italian, Spanish and other alphabets in turn originated), Coptic, Armenian, Georgian and Slavic (Serbian, Russian, Bulgarian, etc.).

Fourth place, takes after writing Paper

Its creators were the Chinese. And this is no coincidence. Firstly, China, already in ancient times, was famous for its book wisdom and complex system of bureaucratic management, which required constant reporting from officials. Therefore, there has always been a need for inexpensive and compact writing material. Before the invention of paper, people in China wrote either on bamboo tablets or on silk.

But silk was always very expensive, and bamboo was very bulky and heavy. (An average of 30 hieroglyphs were placed on one tablet. It is easy to imagine how much space such a bamboo “book” must have taken up. It is no coincidence that they write that a whole cart was required to transport some works.) Secondly, only the Chinese knew the secret of production for a long time silk, and papermaking developed from one technical operation of processing silk cocoons. This operation consisted of the following. Women engaged in sericulture boiled silkworm cocoons, then, laying them out on a mat, dipped them into water and ground them until a homogeneous mass was formed. When the mass was taken out and the water was filtered out, silk wool was obtained. However, after such mechanical and thermal treatment, a thin fibrous layer remained on the mats, which, after drying, turned into a sheet of very thin paper suitable for writing. Later, workers began to use rejected silkworm cocoons for purposeful paper production. At the same time, they repeated the process that was already familiar to them: they boiled the cocoons, washed and crushed them to obtain paper pulp, and finally dried the resulting sheets. Such paper was called “cotton paper” and was quite expensive, since the raw material itself was expensive.

Naturally, in the end the question arose: can paper be made only from silk, or can any fibrous raw material, including plant origin, be suitable for preparing paper pulp? In 105, a certain Cai Lun, an important official at the court of the Han emperor, prepared a new type of paper from old fishing nets. It was not as good as silk, but was much cheaper. This important discovery had enormous consequences not only for China, but also for the whole world - for the first time in history, people received first-class and accessible writing material, for which there is no equivalent replacement to this day. The name of Tsai Lun is therefore rightfully included among the names of the greatest inventors in the history of mankind. In subsequent centuries, several important improvements were made to the papermaking process, allowing it to develop rapidly.

In the 4th century, paper completely replaced bamboo tablets from use. New experiments have shown that paper can be made from cheap plant materials: tree bark, reed and bamboo. The latter was especially important since bamboo grows in huge quantities in China. The bamboo was split into thin splinters, soaked in lime, and the resulting mass was then boiled for several days. The strained grounds were kept in special pits, thoroughly ground with special beaters and diluted with water until a sticky, mushy mass was formed. This mass was scooped up using special form- a bamboo sieve mounted on a stretcher. A thin layer of mass along with the mold was placed under the press. Then the form was pulled out and only a sheet of paper remained under the press. The compressed sheets were removed from the sieve, piled, dried, smoothed and cut to size.

Over time, the Chinese have achieved the highest art in paper making. For several centuries, they, as usual, carefully kept the secrets of paper production. But in 751, during a clash with the Arabs in the foothills of the Tien Shan, several Chinese masters were captured. From them the Arabs learned to make paper themselves and for five centuries sold it very profitably to Europe. Europeans were the last of the civilized peoples who learned to make their own paper. The Spaniards were the first to adopt this art from the Arabs. In 1154 paper production was established in Italy, in 1228 in Germany, and in 1309 in England. In subsequent centuries, paper became widespread throughout the world, gradually conquering more and more new areas of application. Its significance in our lives is so great that, according to the famous French bibliographer A. Sim, our era can rightfully be called the “paper era.”

Fifth place occupied Gunpowder and Firearms

The invention of gunpowder and its spread in Europe had enormous consequences for the subsequent history of mankind. Although the Europeans were the last of the civilized peoples to learn how to make this explosive mixture, they were the ones who were able to derive the greatest practical benefit from its discovery. The rapid development of firearms and a revolution in military affairs were the first consequences of the spread of gunpowder. This, in turn, entailed profound social changes: armor-clad knights and their impregnable castles were powerless against the fire of cannons and arquebuses. Feudal society was dealt such a blow from which it could no longer recover. In a short time, many European powers overcame feudal fragmentation and became powerful centralized states.

There are few inventions in the history of technology that would lead to such grandiose and far-reaching changes. Before gunpowder became known in the West, it already had centuries-old history in the east, and it was invented by the Chinese. The most important component of gunpowder is saltpeter. In some areas of China it was found in its native form and looked like flakes of snow dusting the ground. Later it was discovered that saltpeter is formed in areas rich in alkalis and decaying (nitrogen-delivering) substances. When lighting a fire, the Chinese could observe the flashes that occurred when saltpeter and coal burned.

The properties of saltpeter were first described by the Chinese physician Tao Hung-ching, who lived at the turn of the 5th and 6th centuries. Since that time, it has been used as a component of some medicines. Alchemists often used it when conducting experiments. In the 7th century, one of them, Sun Sy-miao, prepared a mixture of sulfur and saltpeter, adding to them several shares of locust wood. While heating this mixture in a crucible, he suddenly received a powerful flash of flame. He described this experience in his treatise Dan Jing. It is believed that Sun Si-miao prepared one of the first samples of gunpowder, which, however, did not yet have a strong explosive effect.

Subsequently, the composition of gunpowder was improved by other alchemists, who experimentally established its three main components: coal, sulfur and potassium nitrate. The medieval Chinese could not scientifically explain what kind of explosive reaction occurs when gunpowder is ignited, but they very soon learned to use it for military purposes. True, in their lives gunpowder did not have the revolutionary influence that it later had on European society. This is explained by the fact that for a long time the craftsmen prepared the powder mixture from unrefined components. Meanwhile, unrefined saltpeter and sulfur containing foreign impurities did not give a strong explosive effect. For several centuries, gunpowder was used exclusively as incendiary. Later, when its quality improved, gunpowder began to be used as an explosive in the manufacture of landmines, hand grenades and explosive packages.

But even after this, for a long time they did not think of using the power of the gases generated during the combustion of gunpowder to throw bullets and cannonballs. Only in the 12th-13th centuries did the Chinese begin to use weapons that were very vaguely reminiscent of firearms, but they invented firecrackers and rockets. The Arabs and Mongols learned the secret of gunpowder from the Chinese. In the first third of the 13th century, the Arabs achieved great skill in pyrotechnics. They used saltpeter in many compounds, mixing it with sulfur and coal, adding other components to them and setting up fireworks of amazing beauty. From the Arabs, the composition of the powder mixture became known to European alchemists. One of them, Mark the Greek, already in 1220 wrote down in his treatise a recipe for gunpowder: 6 parts of saltpeter to 1 part of sulfur and 1 part of coal. Later, Roger Bacon wrote quite accurately about the composition of gunpowder.

However, another hundred years passed before this recipe ceased to be a secret. This secondary discovery of gunpowder is associated with the name of another alchemist, the Feiburg monk Berthold Schwarz. One day he began to pound a crushed mixture of saltpeter, sulfur and coal in a mortar, which resulted in an explosion that singed Berthold’s beard. This or other experience gave Berthold the idea of ​​using the power of powder gases to throw stones. He is believed to have made one of the first artillery pieces in Europe.

Gunpowder was originally a fine flour-like powder. It was not convenient to use, since when loading guns and arquebuses, the powder pulp stuck to the walls of the barrel. Finally, they noticed that gunpowder in the form of lumps was much more convenient - it was easy to charge and, when ignited, produced more gases (2 pounds of gunpowder in lumps gave a greater effect than 3 pounds in pulp).

In the first quarter of the 15th century, for convenience, they began to use grain gunpowder, which was obtained by rolling the powder pulp (with alcohol and other impurities) into a dough, which was then passed through a sieve. To prevent the grains from grinding during transportation, they learned to polish them. To do this, they were placed in a special drum, when spun, the grains hit and rubbed against each other and became compacted. After processing, their surface became smooth and shiny.

Sixth place ranked in the polls : telegraph, telephone, Internet, radio and other types of modern communications

Until the middle of the 19th century, the only means of communication between the European continent and England, between America and Europe, between Europe and the colonies was steamship mail. Incidents and events in other countries were learned about with a delay of weeks, and sometimes even months. For example, news from Europe to America was delivered in two weeks, and this was not the longest time. Therefore, the creation of the telegraph met the most urgent needs of mankind.

After this technical novelty appeared in all corners of the world and telegraph lines encircled the globe, it took only hours, and sometimes minutes, for the news to travel along electrical wires from one hemisphere to the other. Political and stock market reports, personal and business messages could be delivered to interested parties on the same day. Thus, the telegraph should be considered one of the most important inventions in the history of civilization, because with it the human mind achieved the greatest victory over distance.

With the invention of the telegraph, the problem of transmitting messages over long distances was solved. However, the telegraph could only send written dispatches. Meanwhile, many inventors dreamed of a more advanced and communicative method of communication, with the help of which it would be possible to transmit live sound over any distance. human speech or music. The first experiments in this direction were undertaken in 1837 by the American physicist Page. The essence of Page's experiments was very simple. He assembled an electrical circuit that included a tuning fork, an electromagnet, and galvanic elements. During its vibrations, the tuning fork quickly opened and closed the circuit. This intermittent current was transmitted to an electromagnet, which just as quickly attracted and released a thin steel rod. As a result of these vibrations, the rod produced a singing sound, similar to that, which produced a tuning fork. Thus, Page showed that it is in principle possible to transmit sound using electric current, it is only necessary to create more advanced transmitting and receiving devices.

And later, as a result of long searches, discoveries and inventions, mobile phone, television, the Internet and other means of communication of humanity, without which it is impossible to imagine our modern life.

Seventh place ranked in the top 10 according to survey results Automobile

The automobile is one of those greatest inventions that, like the wheel, gunpowder or electric current, had a colossal influence not only on the era that gave birth to them, but also on all subsequent times. Its multi-faceted impact extends far beyond the transport sector. The automobile shaped modern industry, gave birth to new industries, and despotically restructured production itself, giving it a mass, serial, and in-line character for the first time. It transformed the appearance of the planet, which was surrounded by millions of kilometers of highways, put pressure on the environment and even changed human psychology. The influence of the car is now so multifaceted that it is felt in all areas human life. It has become, as it were, a visible and visual embodiment of technological progress in general, with all its advantages and disadvantages.

There have been many amazing pages in the history of the car, but perhaps the most striking of them dates back to the first years of its existence. One cannot help but be amazed by the speed with which this invention has gone from inception to maturity. It only took a quarter of a century for the car to turn from a capricious and still unreliable toy into the most popular and widespread vehicle. Already at the beginning of the 20th century, it was identical in its main features to a modern car.

The immediate predecessor of the gasoline car was the steam car. The first practical steam car is considered to be a steam cart built by the Frenchman Cugnot in 1769. Carrying up to 3 tons of cargo, it moved at a speed of only 2-4 km/h. She also had other shortcomings. The heavy car had very poor steering control and constantly ran into the walls of houses and fences, causing destruction and suffering considerable damage. Two horsepower, which her engine developed, were difficult. Despite the large volume of the boiler, the pressure dropped quickly. Every quarter of an hour, to maintain pressure, we had to stop and light the firebox. One of the trips ended in a boiler explosion. Fortunately, Cugno himself remained alive.

Cugno's followers were luckier. In 1803, Trivaitik, already known to us, built the first steam car in Great Britain. The car had huge rear wheels about 2.5 m in diameter. A boiler was attached between the wheels and the rear of the frame, which was served by a fireman standing on the back. The steam car was equipped with a single horizontal cylinder. From the piston rod, through the connecting rod and crank mechanism, the drive gear rotated, which was meshed with another gear mounted on the axis of the rear wheels. The axle of these wheels was hinged to the frame and turned using a long lever by the driver sitting on a high beam. The body was suspended on high C-shaped springs. With 8-10 passengers, the car reached speeds of up to 15 km/h, which, undoubtedly, was a very good achievement for that time. The appearance of this amazing car on the streets of London attracted a lot of onlookers who did not hide their delight.

The car in the modern sense of the word appeared only after the creation of a compact and economical internal combustion engine, which made a real revolution in transport technology.
The first gasoline-powered car was built in 1864 by the Austrian inventor Siegfried Marcus. Fascinated by pyrotechnics, Marcus once set fire to a mixture of gasoline vapor and air with an electric spark. Amazed by the force of the ensuing explosion, he decided to create an engine in which this effect could be used. In the end, he managed to build a two-stroke gasoline engine with electric ignition, which he installed on an ordinary cart. In 1875, Marcus created a more advanced car.

The official fame of the inventors of the car belongs to two German engineers - Benz and Daimler. Benz designed two-stroke gas engines and owned a small factory for their production. The engines were in good demand, and the Benz business flourished. He had enough money and leisure for other developments. Benz's dream was to create a self-propelled carriage powered by an internal combustion engine. Benz's own engine, like Otto's four-stroke engine, was not suitable for this, since they had a low speed (about 120 rpm). When the speed dropped slightly, they stalled. Benz understood that a car equipped with such an engine would stop at every bump. What was needed was a high-speed engine with a good ignition system and an apparatus for forming a combustible mixture.

Cars were rapidly improving Back in 1891, Edouard Michelin, owner of a rubber products factory in Clermont-Ferrand, invented a removable pneumatic tire for a bicycle (a Dunlop tube was poured into the tire and glued to the rim). In 1895, production of removable pneumatic tires for cars began. These tires were first tested in the same year at the Paris - Bordeaux - Paris race. The Peugeot equipped with them barely made it to Rouen, and then was forced to retire from the race, as the tires were continuously punctured. Nevertheless, specialists and car enthusiasts were amazed at the smooth running of the car and the comfort of driving it. From that time on, pneumatic tires gradually came into use, and all cars began to be equipped with them. The winner of these races was again Levassor. When he stopped the car at the finish line and stepped onto the ground, he said: “It was crazy. I was doing 30 kilometers per hour!” Now at the finish site there is a monument in honor of this significant victory.

Eighth place - Light bulb

In the last decades of the 19th century, electric lighting entered the life of many European cities. Having first appeared on the streets and squares, it very soon penetrated into every house, into every apartment and became an integral part of the life of every civilized person. This was one of the most important events in the history of technology, which had enormous and varied consequences. The rapid development of electric lighting led to mass electrification, a revolution in the energy sector and major shifts in industry. However, all this might not have happened if, through the efforts of many inventors, such a common and familiar device as the light bulb had not been created. Among greatest discoveries In human history, it undoubtedly belongs to one of the most honorable places.

In the 19th century, two types of electric lamps became widespread: incandescent and arc lamps. Arc lights appeared a little earlier. Their glow is based on such an interesting phenomenon as a voltaic arc. If you take two wires, connect them to a sufficiently strong current source, connect them, and then move them apart a few millimeters, then between the ends of the conductors something like a flame with a bright light will form. The phenomenon will be more beautiful and brighter if, instead of metal wires, you take two sharpened carbon rods. When the voltage between them is high enough, a light of blinding intensity is formed.

The phenomenon of a voltaic arc was first observed in 1803 by the Russian scientist Vasily Petrov. In 1810, the same discovery was made by the English physicist Devi. Both of them produced a voltaic arc using a large battery of cells between the ends of charcoal rods. Both of them wrote that the voltaic arc can be used for lighting purposes. But first it was necessary to find a more suitable material for electrodes, since charcoal rods burned out in a few minutes and were of little use for practical use. Arc lamps also had another inconvenience - as the electrodes burned out, it was necessary to constantly move them towards each other. As soon as the distance between them exceeded a certain permissible minimum, the light of the lamp became uneven, it began to flicker and went out.

The first arc lamp with manual adjustment of the arc length was designed in 1844 by the French physicist Foucault. He replaced charcoal with sticks of hard coke. In 1848, he first used an arc lamp to illuminate one of the Parisian squares. It was a short and very expensive experiment, since the source of electricity was a powerful battery. Then various devices were invented, controlled by a clock mechanism, which automatically moved the electrodes as they burned.
It is clear that from the point of view of practical use, it was desirable to have a lamp that was not complicated by additional mechanisms. But was it possible to do without them? It turned out that yes. If you place two coals not opposite each other, but in parallel, so that an arc can form only between their two ends, then with this device the distance between the ends of the coals always remains unchanged. The design of such a lamp seems very simple, but its creation required great ingenuity. It was invented in 1876 by the Russian electrical engineer Yablochkov, who worked in Paris in the workshop of academician Breguet.

In 1879, the famous American inventor Edison took up the task of improving the light bulb. He understood: in order for the light bulb to shine brightly and for a long time and have an even, unblinking light, it is necessary, firstly, to find a suitable material for the filament, and, secondly, to learn how to create a very rarefied space in the cylinder. Many experiments have been done with various materials, which were staged on a grand scale characteristic of Edison. It is estimated that his assistants tested at least 6,000 different substances and compounds, and over 100 thousand dollars were spent on experiments. First, Edison replaced the brittle paper charcoal with a stronger one made from coal, then he began to experiment with various metals and finally settled on a thread of charred bamboo fibers. That same year, in the presence of three thousand people, Edison publicly demonstrated his electric light bulbs, illuminating his home, laboratory, and several surrounding streets with them. It was the first long-life light bulb suitable for mass production.

penultimate, ninth place in our top 10 occupy Antibiotics, and in particular - penicillin

Antibiotics are one of the most remarkable inventions of the 20th century in the field of medicine. Modern people They are not always aware of how much they owe to these medicinal drugs. Humanity in general very quickly gets used to the amazing achievements of its science, and sometimes it takes some effort to imagine life as it was, for example, before the invention of television, radio or steam locomotive. Just as quickly, a huge family of various antibiotics entered our lives, the first of which was penicillin.

Today it seems surprising to us that back in the 30s of the 20th century, tens of thousands of people died every year from dysentery, that pneumonia ended in many cases fatal that sepsis was a real scourge of all surgical patients, who died in large numbers from blood poisoning, that typhus was considered a most dangerous and intractable disease, and pneumonic plague inevitably led the patient to death. All these terrible diseases (and many others that were previously incurable, such as tuberculosis) were defeated by antibiotics.

Even more striking is the impact of these drugs on military medicine. It’s hard to believe, but in previous wars, most soldiers died not from bullets and shrapnel, but from purulent infections caused by wounds. It is known that in the space around us there are myriads of microscopic organisms, microbes, among which there are many dangerous pathogens.

Under normal conditions, our skin prevents them from penetrating into the body. But during the wound, dirt entered the open wounds along with millions of putrefactive bacteria (cocci). They began to multiply with colossal speed, penetrated deep into the tissues, and after a few hours no surgeon could save the person: the wound festered, the temperature rose, sepsis or gangrene began. The person died not so much from the wound itself, but from wound complications. Medicine was powerless against them. In the best case, the doctor managed to amputate the affected organ and thereby stopped the spread of the disease.

To combat wound complications, it was necessary to learn to paralyze the microbes that cause these complications, to learn to neutralize the cocci that got into the wound. But how to achieve this? It turned out that you can fight microorganisms directly with their help, since some microorganisms, in the course of their life activity, release substances that can destroy other microorganisms. The idea of ​​using microbes to fight germs dates back to the 19th century. Thus, Louis Pasteur discovered that anthrax bacilli are killed by the action of certain other microbes. But it is clear that resolving this problem required enormous work.

Over time, after a series of experiments and discoveries, penicillin was created. Penicillin seemed like a real miracle to seasoned field surgeons. He cured even the most seriously ill patients who were already suffering from blood poisoning or pneumonia. The creation of penicillin turned out to be one of the most important discoveries in the history of medicine and gave a huge impetus to its further development.

And lastly, tenth place ranked in survey results Sail and ship

It is believed that the prototype of the sail appeared in ancient times, when people just started building boats and ventured out to sea. In the beginning, simply stretched animal skin served as a sail. The person standing in the boat had to hold and orient it relative to the wind with both hands. It is unknown when people came up with the idea of ​​strengthening the sail with the help of a mast and yards, but already on the oldest images of the ships of the Egyptian queen Hatshepsut that have come down to us, one can see wooden masts and yards, as well as stays (cables that keep the mast from falling back), halyards (lifting gear and lowering sails) and other rigging.

Consequently, the appearance of a sailing ship must be attributed to prehistoric times.

There is much evidence that the first great sailing ships appeared in Egypt, and the Nile was the first high-water river on which river navigation began to develop. Every year from July to November, the mighty river overflowed its banks, flooding the entire country with its waters. Villages and cities found themselves cut off from each other like islands. Therefore, ships were a vital necessity for the Egyptians. They played a much greater role in the economic life of the country and in communication between people than wheeled carts.

One of the earliest types of Egyptian ships, which appeared about 5 thousand years BC, was the barque. It is known to modern scientists from several models installed in ancient temples. Since Egypt is very poor in timber, papyrus was widely used for the construction of the first ships. The features of this material determined the design and shape of ancient Egyptian ships. It was a sickle-shaped boat, knitted from bundles of papyrus, with bow and stern curved upward. To give the ship strength, the hull was tightened with cables. Later, when regular trade with the Phoenicians was established and large quantities of Lebanese cedar began to arrive in Egypt, the tree began to be widely used in shipbuilding.

An idea of ​​what types of ships were built then is given by the wall reliefs of the necropolis near Saqqara, dating back to the middle of the 3rd millennium BC. These compositions realistically depict the individual stages of the construction of a plank ship. The hulls of ships, which had neither a keel (in ancient times it was a beam lying at the base of the ship’s bottom) nor frames (transverse curved beams that ensured the strength of the sides and bottom), were assembled from simple dies and caulked with papyrus. The hull was strengthened by means of ropes that covered the ship along the perimeter of the upper plating belt. Such ships hardly had good seaworthiness. However, they were quite suitable for river navigation. The straight sail used by the Egyptians allowed them to sail only with the wind. The rigging was attached to a two-legged mast, both legs of which were installed perpendicular to the centerline of the ship. At the top they were tightly tied. The step (socket) for the mast was a beam device in the ship's hull. In the working position, this mast was held by stays - thick cables running from the stern and bow, and it was supported by legs towards the sides. The rectangular sail was attached to two yards. When there was a side wind, the mast was hastily removed.

Later, around 2600 BC, the two-legged mast was replaced by the one-legged one that is still in use today. The single-legged mast made sailing easier and gave the ship the ability to maneuver for the first time. However, the rectangular sail was an unreliable means that could only be used with a fair wind.

The main engine of the ship remained the muscular power of the rowers. Apparently, the Egyptians were responsible for an important improvement in the oar - the invention of rowlocks. They did not yet exist in the Old Kingdom, but then they began to attach the oar using rope loops. This immediately made it possible to increase the stroke force and speed of the vessel. It is known that selected rowers on the ships of the pharaohs made 26 strokes per minute, which allowed them to reach a speed of 12 km/h. Such ships were steered using two steering oars located at the stern. Later they began to be attached to a beam on the deck, by rotating which it was possible to select the desired direction (this principle of steering a ship by turning the rudder blade remains unchanged to this day). The ancient Egyptians were not good sailors. They did not dare to go out to the open sea with their ships. However, along the coast, their trading ships made long journeys. Thus, in the temple of Queen Hatshepsut there is an inscription reporting on the sea voyage carried out by the Egyptians around 1490 BC. to the mysterious land of incense Punt, located in the region of modern Somalia.

The next step in the development of shipbuilding was taken by the Phoenicians. Unlike the Egyptians, the Phoenicians had an abundance of excellent construction material. Their country stretched in a narrow strip along the eastern shores Mediterranean Sea. Vast cedar forests grew here almost right next to the shore. Already in ancient times, the Phoenicians learned to make high-quality dugout single-shaft boats from their trunks and boldly went to sea with them.

At the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC, when maritime trade began to develop, the Phoenicians began to build ships. A sea vessel is significantly different from a boat; its construction requires its own design solutions. The most important discoveries along this path, which determined the entire subsequent history of shipbuilding, belonged to the Phoenicians. Perhaps the skeletons of animals gave them the idea to install stiffening ribs on single-tree poles, which were covered with boards on top. Thus, for the first time in the history of shipbuilding, frames were used, which are still widely used.

In the same way, the Phoenicians were the first to build a keel ship (initially, two trunks connected at an angle served as the keel). The keel immediately gave the hull stability and made it possible to establish longitudinal and transverse connections. Sheathing boards were attached to them. All these innovations were the decisive basis for the rapid development of shipbuilding and determined the appearance of all subsequent ships.

Other inventions in various fields of science were also recalled, such as chemistry, physics, medicine, education and others.
After all, as we said earlier, this is not surprising. After all, any discovery or invention is another step into the future, which improves our lives, and often prolongs it. And if not every, then very, very many discoveries deserve to be called great and extremely necessary in our lives.

Alexander Ozerov, based on the book by Ryzhkov K.V. "One Hundred Great Inventions"

The greatest discoveries and inventions of mankind © 2011

May 27th, 2013

The child again puzzled me with a sudden question: “Dad, what inventions did the Russians make?” And as luck would have it, I didn’t immediately remember anything except the radio and electric welding. Well, he also told me about the satellite. And he climbed into the tyrnets. I found a whole list - look under the cut. There was a lot I didn't know about:

Incandescent lamp
The device in its current form is known as the “Edison light bulb.” Meanwhile, Edison only improved it. The first creator of the lamp was a Russian scientist, member of the Russian Technical Society, Alexander Nikolaevich Lodygin. This happened in 1870. Lodygin was the first to propose using tungsten filaments in lamps and twisting the incandescent filament in the shape of a spiral. Edison patented the incandescent lamp only in 1879.

diving apparatus
In 1871 A.N. Lodygin created a project for an autonomous diving suit using a gas mixture consisting of oxygen and hydrogen. Oxygen had to be produced from water by electrolysis.

Caterpillar
The first caterpillar propulsion device was proposed in 1837 by staff captain D. Zagryazhsky. Its caterpillar propulsion system was built on two wheels surrounded by an iron chain. And in 1879, the Russian inventor F. Blinov received a patent for the “caterpillar track” he created for a tractor. He called it “a locomotive for dirt roads.”

Electric welding
The method of electric welding of metals was invented and first used in 1882 by the Russian inventor Nikolai Nikolaevich Benardos (1842 -1905). He called the “stitching” of metal with an electric seam “electrohephaestus.”

Airplane
In 1881 A.F. Mozhaisky received the first patent in Russia (“privilege”) for aircraft(airplane), and in 1883 he completed the assembly of the first full-scale aircraft. Since the time of the Mozhaisky aircraft project, not a single designer of mankind has proposed a fundamentally different aircraft design.

Radio
On May 7, 1895, Alexander Stepanovich Popov for the first time publicly demonstrated the reception and transmission of radio signals at a distance. In 1896 A.S. Popov transmitted the world's first radio telegram. In 1897 A.S. Popov established the possibility of radar using a wireless telegraph. And in Europe and America it is believed that radio was invented by the Italian Guglielmo Marconi in the same 1895.

A television
Boris Lvovich Rosing On July 25, 1907, he filed an application for the invention of a “Method for electrically transmitting images over distances.” A real breakthrough in image clarity of electronic television was the “iconoscope”, invented in 1923 by Vladimir Zvorykin, a scientist and emigrant from Russia. For the first time in history, a moving image was transmitted over a distance in 1928 by inventors Boris Grabovsky and I.F. Belyansky. The first devices were called not TV, but telephoto.

Parachute
The first design of a backpack parachute was proposed in 1911 by the Russian military man G.E. Kotelnikov. Its dome was made of silk, the slings were divided into 2 groups. The canopy and lines were placed in the backpack. Later, in 1923, Kotelnikov proposed an envelope backpack for stowing a parachute.

Video recorder
The world's first video recorder was developed by Russian scientist, emigrant from Russia Alexander Matveevich Ponyatov and sold by Ampex on April 14, 1956.

Artificial Earth satellite
The world's first artificial satellite is considered the beginning of the space age of mankind. Launched in the USSR on October 4, 1957 (Sputnik 1). Above creation artificial satellite Earth, led by the founder of practical cosmonautics S.P. Korolev, scientists M.V. Keldysh, M.K. Tikhonravov, N.S. Lidorenko, V.I. Lapko, B.S. Chekunov, A.V. Bukhtiyarov and many others.

Nuclear power plant
The world's first pilot nuclear power plant was launched in the USSR on June 27, 1954 in Obninsk. Before this, the energy of the atomic nucleus was used primarily for military purposes. The concept of “atomic energy” appeared.

Nuclear icebreaker
All nuclear icebreakers existing in the world were designed, built and launched in the USSR and Russia.

Tetris
The most famous computer game, invented by Alexey Pajitnov in 1985.

Laser
The first laser, it was called a maser, was made in 1953 - 1954. N.G. Basov and A.M. Prokhorov. In 1964, Basov and Prokhorov received the Nobel Prize in Physics.

Computer
First in the world Personal Computer was invented not by the American company Apple Computers and not in 1975, but in the USSR in 1968 by a Soviet designer from Omsk Arseny Anatolyevich Gorokhov. Copyright certificate No. 383005.

Electric motor
Jacobi Boris Semenovich invented the electric motor in 1834.

Electric car
A passenger two-seater electric car was developed in 1899 by Ippolit Vladimirovich Romanov. The electric car varied its speed from 1.6 km/h to a maximum of 37.4 km/h. Romanov also implemented a project to create a 24-seater omnibus.

Spaceship
Mikhail Klavdievich Tikhonravov, who worked at OKB-1, began work on creating a manned spacecraft in the spring of 1957. By April 1960, a preliminary design of the Vostok-1 satellite ship was developed. On April 12, 1961, on the Vostok spacecraft, USSR pilot-cosmonaut Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin made the world's first flight into outer space.

S.P. Korolev (the world's first ballistic missile, spaceship, the first satellite of the Earth)

A.M.Prokhorov and N.G. Basov (the world's first quantum generator - maser)

CM. Prokudin-Gorsky (the world's first color photograph)

A. A. Alekseev (creator of the needle screen)

F. Pirotsky (the world's first electric tram)

V.A. Starevich (3D animated film)

O.V. Losev (the world's first amplifying and generating semiconductor device)

V.P. Mutilin (the world's first construction combine)

A. R. Vlasenko (the world's first grain harvesting machine)

V.P. Demikhov (the first in the world to perform a lung transplant, and the first to create a model of an artificial heart)

A.D. Sakharov (the world's first hydrogen bomb)

A.P. Vinogradov (created a new direction in science - geochemistry of isotopes)

I.I. Polzunov (the world's first thermal engine)

G. E. Kotelnikov (the first backpack rescue parachute)

M. O. Dolivo - Dobrovolsky (invented a three-phase current system, built a three-phase transformer)

V. P. Vologdin (the world's first high-voltage mercury rectifier with a liquid cathode, developed induction furnaces for the use of high-frequency currents in industry)

S.O. Kostovich (created the world's first gasoline engine in 1879)

V.P. Glushko (the world's first electric/thermal rocket engine)

I. F. Aleksandrovsky (invented the stereo camera)

D.P. GRIGOROVICH (CREATOR OF SEAPLANT)

V.G. Fedorov (the world's first machine gun)

A.K. Nartov (built the world's first lathe with a movable support)

M.V. Lomonosov (for the first time in science he formulated the principle of conservation of matter and motion, for the first time in the world began to teach a course in physical chemistry, for the first time discovered the existence of an atmosphere on Venus)

I.P. Kulibin (Mechanic, developed the design of the world's first wooden arched single-span bridge)

V.V. Petrov (Physicist, developed the world's largest galvanic battery; discovered the electric arc)

P.I. Prokopovich (for the first time in the world he invented a frame hive, in which he used a magazine with frames)

N.I. Lobachevsky (Mathematician, creator of “non-Euclidean geometry”)

D.A.Zagryazhsky (invented the caterpillar track)

B.O. Jacobi (invented electroplating and the world's first electric motor with direct rotation of the working shaft)

P.P. Anosov (Metallurgist, revealed the secret of making ancient damask steel)

D.I.Zhuravsky (first developed the theory of calculations of bridge trusses, which is currently used throughout the world)

N.I. Pirogov (for the first time in the world he compiled the atlas “Topographic Anatomy”, which has no analogues, invented anesthesia, plaster and much more)

I.R. Hermann (for the first time in the world compiled a summary of uranium minerals)

A.M.Butlerov (first formulated the basic principles of the theory of the structure of organic compounds)

I.M. Sechenov (creator of evolutionary and other schools of physiology, published his main work “Reflexes of the Brain”)

D.I.Mendeleev (discovered the periodic law of chemical elements, creator of the table of the same name)

M.A. Novinsky (Veterinarian, laid the foundations of experimental oncology)

G.G. Ignatiev (for the first time in the world he developed a system of simultaneous telephone and telegraphy over one cable)

K.S. Dzhevetsky (built the world's first submarine with an electric motor)

N.I. Kibalchich (for the first time in the world he developed a design for a rocket aircraft)

V.V. Dokuchaev (laid the foundations of genetic soil science)

V.I. Sreznevsky (Engineer, invented the world's first aerial camera)

A.G. Stoletov (Physicist, for the first time in the world he created a photocell based on the external photoelectric effect)

P.D. Kuzminsky (built the world's first radial gas turbine)

I.V. Boldyrev (The first flexible photosensitive non-flammable film, formed the basis for the creation of cinematography)

I.A. Timchenko (developed the world's first movie camera)

S.M. Apostolov-Berdichevsky and M.F. Freidenberg (created the world's first automatic telephone exchange)

N.D. Pilchikov (Physicist, for the first time in the world he created and successfully demonstrated a wireless control system)

V.A. Gassiev (Engineer, built the world's first phototypesetting machine)

K.E. Tsiolkovsky (founder of cosmonautics)

P.N. Lebedev (physicist, for the first time in science experimentally proved the existence of light pressure on solids)

I.P. Pavlov (creator of the science of higher nervous activity)

V.I. Vernadsky (naturalist, founder of many scientific schools)

A.N. Scriabin (Composer, for the first time in the world, used lighting effects in the symphonic poem “Prometheus”)

N.E. Zhukovsky (creator of aerodynamics)

S.V.Lebedev (first produced artificial rubber)

G.A. Tikhov (Astronomer, for the first time in the world, established that the Earth, when observed from space, should have a blue color. Later, as we know, this was confirmed when filming our planet from space)

N.D. Zelinsky (developed the world's first highly effective coal gas mask)

N.P. Dubinin (geneticist, discovered the divisibility of the gene)

M.A. Kapelyushnikov (invented the turbodrill)

E.K. Zavoisky (discovered electric paramagnetic resonance)

N.I. Lunin (proved that there are vitamins in the body of living beings)

N.P. Wagner (discovered insect pedogenesis)

Svyatoslav N. Fedorov - (the first in the world to perform surgery to treat glaucoma)

The world's first musical synthesizer was invented by a colonel Soviet army Evgeny Murzin. This was back in 1958, even before the appearance of foreign "Sinti-100", "Supermoogs" and long before the invention of all kinds of "Yamahas"

The history of the discovery of penicillin is well known. The first modern scientist to draw attention to the amazing properties of mold was Ernst Duchesne in 1897. He carried out the necessary research and reported encouraging results to the Pasteur Institute in Paris. But venerable scientists simply brushed aside the “fantasies” of the young physician. The second, more successful, discoverer of the revolutionary drug was the American Alexander Fleming in 1929.
For quite a long time, the antibiotic remained an experimental drug, only in 1939 penicillin began to be produced in industrial quantities. And it was very useful to the Allies in the Second World War. By the way, the British explained the delay in opening a second front by saying that before the start of active fighting they needed to produce a sufficient amount of antibiotics.
Commendable care for their wounded soldiers, to say the least. But the sad thing is that Soviet doctors never received a recipe for a miracle cure from the Americans. Although they really asked for it. Penicillin was needed by frontline medicine like air. And Soviet scientists invented the drug again.
In 1943, Zinaida Ermolyeva received penicillin using her own technology. Interestingly, the drug turned out to be stronger than its overseas counterpart. American scientists were invited to get acquainted with the new discovery. They were convinced of the benefits of Ermolyeva’s drug and asked for a sample for careful study in their laboratories. Permission came from the very top, the sample went to America.
But colleagues from the United States, studying the Russian drug, were perplexed. It was no different from the American one. Only years later it became known that intelligence officers had replaced the samples and sent overseas the penicillin that the Americans themselves had brought for comparison. Apparently this was a small but pleasant revenge for previous delays.

We live in unique times! It only takes half a day to fly halfway around the Earth, our super-powerful smartphones are 60,000 times lighter than the original computers, and today's agricultural production and life expectancy are the highest in human history!

We owe these enormous achievements to a small number of great minds - scientists, inventors and artisans who conceived and developed the products and machines on which the modern world is built. Without these people and their incredible inventions, we would go to bed at sunset and be stuck in a time before cars and telephones.

In this list, we will talk about the most important and decisive recent inventions, their history and significance in the development of mankind. Can you guess which inventions we'll be talking about?

From methods for sanitizing food and making food safer, to a toxic gas that helped form the basis of international trade, to an invention that led to the sexual revolution and liberated people, each of these creations had a direct impact on people's lives. Find out about 25 outstanding inventions that changed our world!

25. Cyanide

While cyanide is a pretty grim way to start this list, it's Chemical substance played important role in the history of mankind. While its gaseous form has caused the death of millions of people, cyanide serves as the main factor in extracting gold and silver from ore. And since world economy was tied to the gold standard, cyanide served and continues to be an important factor in the development of international trade.

24. Airplane


There is no doubt in anyone's mind that the invention of the "iron bird" had one of the greatest influences on human history.

Radically reducing the time needed to transport people and cargo, the airplane was invented by the Wright brothers, who built on the work of previous inventors such as George Cayley and Otto Lilienthal.

Their invention was readily accepted by a significant part of society, after which the “golden age” of aviation began.

23. Anesthesia


Before 1846, there was little difference between surgical procedures and painful experimental torture.

Anesthetics have been used for thousands of years, although their early forms were much simplified versions, such as alcohol or mandrake extract.

The invention of modern anesthesia in the form of nitrous oxide (“laughing gas”) and ether allowed doctors to perform operations without fear of causing pain to patients. (Bonus fact: Cocaine is said to have become the first effective form of local anesthesia after it was used in eye surgery in 1884.)

22. Radio


The history of the invention of radio is not so clear: some claim that it was invented by Guglielmo Marconi, others insist that it was Nikola Tesla. In any case, these two men relied on the work of many famous predecessors before successfully transmitting information via radio waves.

And while this is commonplace today, try to imagine telling someone in 1896 that you could transmit information through the air. You would be mistaken for insane or possessed by demons!

21. Telephone

The telephone has become one of the most important inventions of the modern world. As with most great inventions, its inventor and the people who made significant contributions to its creation are hotly debated and debated to this day.

The only thing that is known for certain is that the first patent for a telephone was issued by the US Patent Office to Alexander Graham Bell in 1876. This patent served as the basis for further research and development of electronic sound transmission over long distances.

20. "World Wide Web, or WWW


Although most of us assume that this invention is recent, the Internet has actually existed in its outdated form since 1969, when the US military developed the ARPANET (Advanced Research Project Agency Network).

The first message that was planned to be sent over the Internet - "log in" ("log in") - crashed the system, so only "lo" could be sent. The World Wide Web as we know it today began when Tim Berners-Lee created the hypertext document network and the University of Illinois created the first Mosaic browser.

19. Transistor


It seems like there's nothing easier than picking up the phone and contacting someone in Bali, India or Iceland, but it wouldn't work without a transistor.

Thanks to this semiconductor triode, which amplifies electrical signals, it became possible to transmit information over vast distances. The man who co-invented the transistor, William Shockley, founded the laboratory that pioneered the creation of Silicon Valley.

18. Quantum clocks


While it may not seem as revolutionary as many of the things listed previously, the invention of quantum (atomic) clocks was crucial to the development of humanity.

Using microwave signals emitted by the changing energy levels of electrons, quantum clocks and their precision have made possible a wide range of modern inventions, including GPS, GLONASS and the Internet.

17. Steam turbine


Charles Parsons' steam turbine pushed the boundaries of human technological progress, powering industrialized nations and enabling ships to cross vast oceans.

The engines operate by rotating a shaft using compressed water steam, which generates electricity - one of the main differences between a steam turbine and a steam engine, which revolutionized the industry. In 1996 alone, 90% of all electricity generated in the United States was generated by steam turbines.

16. Plastic


Despite widespread use in modern society, plastic is a relatively recent invention, appearing only more than a hundred years ago.

This moisture-resistant and incredibly pliable material is used in almost every industry - from food packaging to toy production and even spacecraft.

Although most modern plastics are made from petroleum, there are growing calls for a return to the original version, which was partly natural and organic.

15. Television


Television has a long and legendary history, which began in the 1920s and is still evolving today, up to the advent of modern capabilities such as DVDs and plasma panels.

As one of the most popular consumer products around the world (almost 80% of households have at least one television), this invention was the cumulative result of numerous previous ones, resulting in a product that has become a major source of influence public opinion in the middle of the 20th century.

14. Oil


Most of us don't think twice about filling up our car's gas tank. Although humanity has been producing oil for a millennium, modern gas and oil industry began its development in the second half of the 19th century - after modern lanterns appeared on the streets.

Having appreciated the enormous amount of energy that is generated by burning oil, industrialists rushed to build wells to extract “liquid gold.”

13. Internal combustion engine

Without productive oil, there would be no modern internal combustion engine.

Used in many areas of human activity - from cars to agricultural combines and excavators - internal combustion engines make it possible to replace people with machines that can perform back-breaking, painstaking and time-consuming work in a matter of time.

Also, thanks to these engines, people gained freedom of movement, as they were used in the original self-propelled vehicles (cars).

12. Reinforced concrete


Before the advent of reinforced concrete in the mid-19th century, humanity could safely erect buildings only up to a certain height.

Embedding steel reinforcing bars before pouring concrete strengthens it so that man-made structures can now support much more weight, allowing us to build larger and taller buildings and structures than ever before.

11. Penicillin


Today on our planet there would be much less people, if not for penicillin.

Officially discovered by Scottish scientist Alexander Fleming in 1928, penicillin was one of the most significant inventions (or discoveries, to a large extent) that made our modern world possible.

Antibiotics were among the first drugs that could properly treat staphylococcus, syphilis and tuberculosis.

10. Cooling


Taming fire was perhaps humanity's most important discovery to date, but it would take millennia until we tamed cold.

Although humanity has long used ice for cooling, its practicality and availability have been limited for some time. In the 19th century, humanity made significant progress in its development after scientists invented artificial cooling using chemical elements that absorb heat.

By the early 1900s, nearly every meatpacking plant and large wholesaler used refrigeration to store food.

9. Pasteurization


Helping to save many lives half a century before the discovery of penicillin, Louis Pasteur invented the process of pasteurizing, or heating foods (originally beer, wine and dairy products) to a temperature high enough to kill most bacteria that cause putrefaction.

Unlike sterilization, which kills all bacteria, pasteurization, while preserving the taste of the product, reduces the number of potential pathogens only, reducing it to a level at which they are not capable of causing harm to health.

8. Solar battery


Just as oil fueled industry, the invention of the solar cell has allowed us to use renewable energy in a much more efficient way.

The first practical solar battery was developed in 1954 by specialists from the Bell Telephone laboratory based on silicon. Over the years, the efficiency of solar panels has increased dramatically along with their popularity.

7. Microprocessor


If the microprocessor had not been invented, we would never have known about laptops and smartphones.

One of the most widely known supercomputers, ENIAC, was created in 1946 and weighed 27,215 kg. Intel electronics engineer and global hero Ted Hoff developed the first microprocessor in 1971, packing the functions of a supercomputer into one small chip, making portable computers possible.

6. Laser


An acronym for "Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation", the laser was invented in 1960 by Theodore Maiman. The amplified light is anchored through spatial coherence, allowing the light to remain focused and concentrated over long distances.

In today's world, lasers are used almost everywhere, including laser cutting machines, barcode scanners and surgical equipment.

5. Nitrogen fixation (nitrogen fixation)


Although the term may seem overly scientific, nitrogen fixation is actually responsible for the dramatic increase in human population on Earth.

By converting atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia, we have learned to produce highly effective fertilizers, which have made it possible to increase production on the same plots of land, significantly improving our agricultural products.

4. Assembly line


The impact of commonplace inventions in their time is rarely remembered, but the importance of the assembly line cannot be overstated.

Before his invention, all products were painstakingly made by hand. The assembly line made it possible to create mass production of identical components, significantly reducing the time to manufacture a new product.

3. Birth control pill


Although pills and tablets have been one of the main methods of taking medicine for thousands of years, the invention of the birth control pill was the most revolutionary of them all.

Approved for use in 1960 and now taken by more than 100 million women worldwide, this combined oral contraceptive was a major impetus for the sexual revolution and changed the conversation about fertility, largely shifting the responsibility of choice from men to women.

2. Mobile phone/smartphone


Chances are, you're reading or viewing this list on your smartphone right now.

Although the first widely known smartphone was the iPhone, which hit the market in 2007, we have Motorola, its “ancient” predecessor, to thank for that. In 1973, it was this company that released the first wireless pocket mobile phone, which weighed 2 kilograms and charged for 10 hours. To make matters worse, you could talk on it for only 30 minutes before the battery needed charging again.

1. Electricity


Most of the modern inventions on this list would not be even remotely possible if it were not for the greatest of them all: electricity. While some might think that the Internet or the airplane should top this list, both of these inventions have electricity to thank.

William Gilbert and Benjamin Franklin were the pioneers who laid the original foundation on which great minds such as Alessandro Volta, Michael Faraday and others built, sparking the Second Industrial Revolution and discovering era of lighting and power supply.

01/17/2012 02/12/2018 by ☭ USSR ☭

There were many in our country prominent figures, which we, unfortunately, forget about, not to mention the discoveries that were made by Russian scientists and inventors. The events that turned the history of Russia upside down are also not known to everyone. I want to correct this situation and recall the most famous Russian inventions.

1. Airplane - Mozhaisky A.F.

The talented Russian inventor Alexander Fedorovich Mozhaisky (1825-1890) was the first in the world to create a life-size airplane capable of lifting a person into the air. As is known, people of many generations, both in Russia and in other countries, worked on solving this complex technical problem before A.F. Mozhaisky; they followed different paths, but none of them managed to bring the matter to practical experience with a full-scale aircraft. A.F. Mozhaisky found the right way to solve this problem. He studied the works of his predecessors, developed and supplemented them, using his theoretical knowledge and practical experience. Of course, he did not manage to resolve all the issues, but he did, perhaps, everything that was possible at that time, despite the extremely unfavorable situation for him: limited material and technical capabilities, as well as distrust of his work on the part of the military-bureaucratic apparatus Tsarist Russia. Under these conditions, A.F. Mozhaisky managed to find spiritual and physical strength to complete the construction of the world's first airplane. It was a creative feat that forever glorified our Motherland. Unfortunately, the surviving documentary materials do not allow us to describe in the necessary detail the aircraft of A.F. Mozhaisky and its tests.

2. Helicopter– B.N. Yuryev.

Boris Nikolaevich Yuryev is an outstanding aviator scientist, full member of the USSR Academy of Sciences, lieutenant general of the engineering and technical service. In 1911, he invented a swashplate (the main component of a modern helicopter) - a device that made it possible to build helicopters with stability and controllability characteristics acceptable for safe piloting by ordinary pilots. It was Yuryev who paved the way for the development of helicopters.

3. Radio receiver— A.S.Popov.

A.S. Popov first demonstrated the operation of his device on May 7, 1895. at a meeting of the Russian Physical-Chemical Society in St. Petersburg. This device became the world's first radio receiver, and May 7th became the birthday of radio. And now it is celebrated annually in Russia.

4. TV - Rosing B.L.

On July 25, 1907, he filed an application for the invention “Method of electrically transmitting images over distances.” The beam was scanned in the tube magnetic fields, and modulation of the signal (change in brightness) using a capacitor, which could deflect the beam vertically, thereby changing the number of electrons passing to the screen through the diaphragm. On May 9, 1911, at a meeting of the Russian Technical Society, Rosing demonstrated the transmission of television images of simple geometric figures and their reception with reproduction on a CRT screen.

5. Backpack parachute - Kotelnikov G.E.

In 1911, the Russian military man Kotelnikov, impressed by the death of the Russian pilot Captain L. Matsievich at the All-Russian Aeronautics Festival in 1910, invented a fundamentally new parachute RK-1. Kotelnikov's parachute was compact. Its dome is made of silk, the slings were divided into 2 groups and attached to the shoulder girths of the suspension system. The canopy and lines were placed in a wooden, and later aluminum, backpack. Later, in 1923, Kotelnikov proposed a backpack for stowing a parachute, made in the form of an envelope with honeycombs for lines. During 1917, 65 parachute descents were registered in the Russian army, 36 for rescue and 29 voluntary.

6. Nuclear power plant.

Launched on June 27, 1954 in Obninsk (then the village of Obninskoye, Kaluga Region). It was equipped with one AM-1 reactor (“peaceful atom”) with a capacity of 5 MW.
The reactor of the Obninsk Nuclear Power Plant, in addition to generating energy, served as a base for experimental research. Currently, the Obninsk NPP is decommissioned. Its reactor was shut down on April 29, 2002 for economic reasons.

7. Periodic table of chemical elements– Mendeleev D.I.

The periodic system of chemical elements (Mendeleev's table) is a classification of chemical elements that establishes the dependence of various properties of elements on the charge of the atomic nucleus. The system is a graphic expression of the periodic law established by the Russian chemist D. I. Mendeleev in 1869. Its original version was developed by D.I. Mendeleev in 1869-1871 and established the dependence of the properties of elements on their atomic weight (in modern terms, on atomic mass).

8. Laser

Prototype laser masers were made in 1953-1954. N. G. Basov and A. M. Prokhorov, as well as, independently of them, the American C. Townes and his employees. Unlike the Basov and Prokhorov quantum generators, which found a way out by using more than two energy levels, the Townes maser could not operate in a constant mode. In 1964, Basov, Prokhorov and Townes received the Nobel Prize in Physics “for their seminal work in the field of quantum electronics, which made it possible to create oscillators and amplifiers based on the principle of the maser and laser.”

9. Bodybuilding

Russian athlete Evgeniy Sandov, the title of his book “bodybuilding” was literally translated into English. language.

10. Hydrogen bomb– Sakharov A.D.

Andrey Dmitrievich Sakharov(May 21, 1921, Moscow - December 14, 1989, Moscow) - Soviet physicist, academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences and political figure, dissident and human rights activist, one of the creators of the first Soviet hydrogen bomb. Winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for 1975.

11. The first artificial satellite of the earth, the first astronaut, etc.

12. Plaster - N. I. Pirogov

For the first time in the history of world medicine, Pirogov used a plaster cast, which accelerated the healing process of fractures and saved many soldiers and officers from ugly curvature of their limbs. During the siege of Sevastopol, to care for the wounded, Pirogov used the help of sisters of mercy, some of whom came to the front from St. Petersburg. This was also an innovation at that time.

13. Military medicine

Pirogov invented the stages of providing military medical service, as well as methods for studying human anatomy. In particular, he is the founder of topographic anatomy.

Antarctica was discovered on January 16 (January 28), 1820 by a Russian expedition led by Thaddeus Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev, who approached it on the sloops Vostok and Mirny at point 69°21? Yu. w. 2°14? h. d. (G) (region of the modern Bellingshausen ice shelf).

15. Immunity

Having discovered the phenomena of phagocytosis in 1882 (which he reported in 1883 at the 7th Congress of Russian Naturalists and Doctors in Odessa), he developed on their basis the comparative pathology of inflammation (1892), and later the phagocytic theory of immunity (“Immunity in infectious diseases” , 1901 - Nobel Prize, 1908, together with P. Ehrlich).

The basic cosmological model in which consideration of the evolution of the Universe begins with a state of dense hot plasma consisting of protons, electrons and photons. The hot universe model was first considered in 1947 by Georgiy Gamow. The origin of elementary particles in the hot universe model has been described since the late 1970s using spontaneous symmetry breaking. Many of the shortcomings of the hot universe model were resolved in the 1980s as a result of the theory of inflation.

The most famous computer game, invented by Alexey Pajitnov in 1985.

18. The first machine gun - V.G. Fedorov

An automatic carbine designed for hand-held burst fire. V.G. Fedorov. Abroad, this type of weapon is called an “assault rifle.”

1913 - prototype chambered for a special cartridge intermediate in power (between pistol and rifle).
1916 - adoption (under the Japanese rifle cartridge) and first combat use (Romanian Front).

19. Incandescent lamp– lamp by A.N. Lodygin

The light bulb does not have one single inventor. The history of the light bulb is a whole chain of discoveries made by different people at different times. However, Lodygin's merits in the creation of incandescent lamps are especially great. Lodygin was the first to propose using tungsten filaments in lamps (in modern light bulbs the filaments are made of tungsten) and twisting the filament in the shape of a spiral. Lodygin was also the first to pump air out of lamps, which increased their service life many times over. Another invention of Lodygin, aimed at increasing the service life of lamps, was filling them with inert gas.

20. Diving apparatus

In 1871, Lodygin created a project for an autonomous diving suit using a gas mixture consisting of oxygen and hydrogen. Oxygen had to be produced from water by electrolysis.

21. Induction oven

The first caterpillar propulsion device (without a mechanical drive) was proposed in 1837 by staff captain D. Zagryazhsky. Its caterpillar propulsion system was built on two wheels surrounded by an iron chain. And in 1879, the Russian inventor F. Blinov received a patent for the “caterpillar track” he created for a tractor. He called it “a locomotive for dirt roads”

23. Cable telegraph line

The St. Petersburg-Tsarskoe Selo line was built in the 40s. XIX century and had a length of 25 km. (B. Jacobi)

24. Synthetic rubber from petroleum– B. Byzov

25. Optical sight

“A mathematical instrument with a perspective telescope, with other accessories and a spirit level for quick guidance from a battery or from the ground at the shown location to the target horizontally and along the levation.” Andrey Konstantinovich NARTOV (1693-1756).

In 1801, the Ural master Artamonov solved the problem of lightening the weight of the cart by reducing the number of wheels from four to two. Thus, Artamonov created the world's first pedal scooter, a prototype of the future bicycle.

27. Electric welding

The method of electric welding of metals was invented and first used in 1882 by the Russian inventor Nikolai Nikolaevich Benardos (1842 - 1905). He called the “stitching” of metal with an electric seam “electrohephaestus.”

The world's first personal computer was invented not by the American company Apple Computers and not in 1975, but in the USSR in 1968
year by a Soviet designer from Omsk Arseny Anatolyevich Gorokhov (born 1935). Copyright certificate No. 383005 describes in detail the “programming device,” as the inventor then called it. They didn’t give money for an industrial design. The inventor was asked to wait a little. He waited until the domestic “bicycle” was invented abroad once again.

29. Digital technologies.

- the father of all digital technologies in data transmission.

30. Electric motor– B.Jacobi.

31. Electric car

The two-seater electric car of I. Romanov, model 1899, changed the speed in nine gradations - from 1.6 km per hour to a maximum of 37.4 km per hour

32. Bomber

Four-engine aircraft “Russian Knight” by I. Sikorsky.

33. Kalashnikov assault rifle

A symbol of freedom and the fight against oppressors.

In this article you will find the 10 most outstanding inventors in the world, I offer information in the usual rating format. Go!

No. 10. Leonardo da Vinci

Is there no limit to your surprise that such a famous inventor opens the top ten? There is a simple explanation for this: his inventions were ahead of science for decades, and therefore it was almost impossible to implement them. Leonardo had a well-developed imagination, he could create all sorts of innovations in his mind, but, unfortunately, he was never able to invent anything truly necessary and real. In addition, he was a fickle person and his interests replaced each other so quickly that Leonardo did not have time to fully penetrate his ideas. Such structures as: a submarine, a tank, a glider are included in the list of his inventions.

No. 9. Edwin Lan

The physicist and more famous inventor Edwin Land, originally from Connecticut, is not the direct inventor of photography, but he did much more to ensure that everything connected with it reached our times and was improved. As a first-year student at Harvard in 1926, the future scientist created a new type of polarizer by combining and supplementing a plastic sheet with crystals; he gave his perfection the name Polaroid. Later he applied the principle of polarization to light filters, optics devices and film processes and became the founder of the Polaroid Corporation. 535 US patents added to his treasury of awards and achievements.

No. 8. Benjamin Franklin

Ben Franklin, who was truly versatile developed person, this amazing scientist was engaged in writing, politics, social and government activities, was a satirist, postmaster, great scientist, diplomat, but few people know that Franklin was also a legendary inventor. He provided the whole world with a lightning rod, thanks to which countless houses were saved from fires and lightning, Armonica glass, a stove that got its name in honor of the scientist, bifocal glasses and the now famous flexible urinary catheter and many more inventions. But unfortunately, many of them have been forgotten, the reason for this was that Franklin did not patent his innovations, wanting them to be available to the whole world.

No. 7. Heron of Alexandria

All his inventions could have turned history around and given impetus to the industrial revolution back in 50 AD, if Heron had told the whole world about them. But the great scientist of those years was mistaken, considering the steam engine just a personal amusement; in his opinion, there were many slaves in Rome, and the invention of such a unit for the entire people would be useless! The same brilliant inventor made many other objects needed in life, for example, a pump, a syringe, a fountain, a windmill - it’s hard to imagine that all these works were carried out during the pre-industrial era. Many of his inventions remained just projects.

No. 6. Jerome "Jerry" Hal Lemelson

Lemelson is considered one of many inventors whose results have reached the highest levels. His inventive fruits helped him obtain 605 patents. His crazy number of inventions also include automated warehouses, industrial robots, wireless phones, faxes, video players, video cameras and magnetic tapes, tapes for Walkman players from Sony. But Jerome didn’t even think about stopping there and sent his patents in the field of medical equipment that can detect cancer and begin its treatment, he is also the author of diamond coating, and also has a patent for consumer electronics and television

No. 5. George Westinghouse

Electricity systems operating on the basis of alternating current became a grandiose scientific discovery (the work was based on the works of Nikola Tesla); in the end, they became an order of magnitude higher than Edison’s device, which in turn operated on constant current, and became, in a way, the progenitors of modern energy systems. But before leapfrogging Edison's achievements, George Westinghouse invented railroad brakes based on air masses. He was also one of many who attempted to invent a perpetual motion machine. But his labors were in vain. Earned 361 patents.

No. 4. Alexander Graham Bell

Everyone knows this wonderful inventor of telephones, young and old. But, in addition to phones, he also has very useful inventions, for example, a device for detecting icebergs, and a well-known metal detector that has survived to this day.

No. 3. Thomas Edison

Yes, yes, the famous and talented inventor, whose number of patents has exceeded a thousand, is not the first number on our top list. In fact, everything is very simple. Even though he invented the light bulb, the phonograph, the movie camera, and brought light to New York, a lot of his work was created with the help of people who worked under his direction or it was a team invention, which does not make him, ultimately the main inventor.

No. 2. Nikola Tesla

Like many great scientists, Nikola Tesla's fame came after his death, although thanks to his work, commercial electricity now exists. After all, it was the theory and patents he developed that became a kind of basis for a modern electrical system based on alternating current, as well as a multiphase electrical distribution system for alternating current, with the help of which another revolution took place in the industrial sphere. But this is far from his only merit to the world; Tesla left a mark in the field of robotics, created a starting point in the improvement of remote control, radar, and information technology, and, very importantly, took part in scientific research in the field of ballistics, nuclear physics and theoretical physics. There is information about his hobbies in antigravity, teleportation and lasers, alas, there is no evidence of this. However, he is the holder of 111 patents and is considered the best innovator in the whole world.

No. 1. Archimedes of Syracuse

So we got to the leader of our top ten. And again it’s your turn to wonder why exactly a scientist from Ancient Greece took the top of the list? To begin with, he is the greatest scientist in the field of mathematics. In particular, he, like no one else, determined the most specific calculation of the value of Pi, compiled a formula for determining the area under the arc of a parabola, this list can be supplemented forever, this is exactly the person whom even modern schoolchildren dislike in mathematics lessons. In addition, his works include the development of machines, siege weapons, and few people know that he invented a device that could burn Roman ships to the ground, only with the help of a simple mirror, by using the “sunbeam effect.” Well, the most powerful argument in his favor is that all his discoveries were made more than two thousand years ago, when the age of technology was practically in its infancy. And what is equally important, Archimedes was self-taught and acquired all his knowledge on his own, by trial and error!