Tag: inventions

Edison’s Battery

By Edward Willett in Blog, Columns, Science Columns
July 12, 2012
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[podcast]https://edwardwillett.com/wp-content/uploads//2012/07/Edisons-Battery.mp3[/podcast] Thomas Edison gave us many wonderful inventions, mainstays of 20th century life. However, since he died in 1931, you might be forgiven for asking, “What has he done for us lately?” Him personally, not so much, what with being dead and all: but one of his inventions has just taken on new life, thanks …

Air conditioning

By Edward Willett in Blog
July 22, 2002
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If you were fortunate enough to be able to spend last week in a climate-controlled environment, give thanks to Willis Haviland Carrier, whose new-fangled invention, air conditioning, first went into service 100 years ago, on July 17, 1902. Modern air conditioning is an offshoot of an earlier invention, mechanical refrigeration, which is based on the …

The 2001 Discover Awards

By Edward Willett in Blog, Columns, Science Columns
January 7, 2002
8 mins to read
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Each year, Discover Magazine honors a number of scientists with Innovation Awards, which spotlight inventions and discoveries with the potential to change our lives. A look at the 2001 winners provides a snapshot of how science and technology are advancing, and just maybe gives us a look at what the future holds. (OK, OK, the awards were …

The 2000 Discover Awards

By Edward Willett in Blog, Columns, Science Columns
July 11, 2000
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Each year, the folks at Discover Magazine honor a number of scientists with Innovation Awards, which spotlight inventions and discoveries with the potential to change our lives. This year, 19 scientists were honored. I’ve chosen a few from the list to highlight this week, to give you a taste of the remarkable discoveries that are occurring now–and …

Clocks

By Edward Willett in Blog, Columns, Science Columns
January 4, 2000
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The passage of time has had a lot of attention lately–which makes this the ideal time to honor the clock. The earliest timekeeping device, used as far back as 3,500 B.C., was a vertical stick that casts a shadow. As the sun crossed the sky, the shadow moved; by measuring its movement, the ancients could …

Comdex ’97

By Edward Willett in Blog, Columns, Science Columns
November 18, 1997
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Each year, more than 200,000 people descend on Las Vegas with more on their minds than gambling and Wayne Newton. They’re there for Fall Comdex, the largest computer show in the world (a.k.a. “Nerdvana”). This year’s Fall Comdex just wrapped up, and the one trend that stood out was the ongoing effort to change the …

Canadian inventions

By Edward Willett in Blog, Columns, Science Columns
November 25, 1996
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As a boy in Texas, I learned that Americans invented just about everything worth inventing, from the cotton gin to the steamboat to the electric light bulb to the telephone (more on that later). But, like so many other things I learned in school, it “ain’t necessarily so.” In honor of National Science and Technology …

Climate control

By Edward Willett in Blog, Columns, Science Columns
November 18, 1992
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Humans (at least, this human) are creatures of comfort; and the story of civilization is, to a certain extent, the quest to keep from being either too hot or too cold. The earliest form of climate control was the fire. Room temperature was controlled by adding (or having the servants add) more wood or coal …