What the British did for the world :) (inventions)

locutus12

locutus12

locutus12

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I just thought a few of you might be interested in this :) tis a little bit of history :D


heres a few of the best british inventions:

Internal Combustion Engine - Samuel Brown
Jet Engines - Sir Frank Whittle
Electromagnet - William Sturgeon
Kelvin Scale - Lord William Thomson Kelvin
Metal Lathe - Henry Maudslay invented the first in 1797
Penicillin - Alexander Fleming
Periodic Table - John Newlands
Rubber Bands :D :D - Stephen Perry <---- possibly the greatest british invention to date.
Radar Locating of Aircraft - Sir Robert Alexander Watson & James Clerk Maxwell
Submarine - William Bourne,
Steam Engine - Thomas Savery, Thomas Newcomen, James Watt
Television - John Logie Baird
Thermos - Sir James Dewar
Toilet Paper - British Perforated Paper Company
Vacuum Cleaner - Hubert Cecil Booth
Viagra - Peter Dunn, Albert Wood(unfortunate name given the invention), Dr Nicholas Terrett
Waterproof Fabric - Charles Macintosh

and of course...
World Wide Web - Tim Berners-Lee

and the Father of the modern computer, Alan turing who did so much in his life that i will list the lot.


1931-34: Undergraduate at King's College, Cambridge University
1932-35: Quantum mechanics, probability, logic
1936: The Turing machine, computability, universal machine
1936-38: Princeton University. Ph.D. Logic, algebra, number theory (basis for what became the machine that decrypted Enigma)
1938-39: Return to Cambridge. Introduced to German Enigma cipher machine
1939-40: Built the Bombe, machine for Enigma decryption
1939-42: Breaking of U-boat Enigma, saving battle of the Atlantic (which helped britain gain access to vital supplies and saved thousands of lives)
1943-45: Chief Anglo-American crypto consultant. Electronic work.
1945: National Physical Laboratory, London
1946: Computer and software design leading the world.
1947-48: Wrote the basis from which modern day Programming, neural nets, and artificial intelligence can be created.
1949: First serious mathematical use of a computer
1950: The Turing Test for machine intelligence
1951: Elected FRS. Non-linear theory of biological growth
1952: Arrested as a homosexual, loss of security clearance
1953-54: Unfinished work in biology and physics
1954 (7 June): Death (suicide) by cyanide poisoning, Wilmslow, Cheshire (pending further investigations of his homosexuality) <--- so nice to know that as a society we forced one of our greatest minds to suicide.
 
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kitten_caboodle said:
who invented bubble wrap?
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The story begins in 1957 in a garage in Hawthorne, NJ with two engineers, Marc Chavannes and Al Fielding. Marc and Al were trying to make a plastic wallpaper with a paper backing. Surprisingly, this product didn't take off. They realized, however, that their invention could be used as a cushioning packaging material. At that time, only abrasive paper products were used for packaging, and they did not suffice for cushioning heavy or delicate items. Marc and Al raised $9,000 to fund a developmental production line. They incorporated Sealed Air Corporation in 1960, and today, Sealed Air is a leading worldwide manufacturer of numerous protective and specialty packaging materials with annual revenues exceeding 3 billion dollars.


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locutus12 said:
The story begins in 1957 in a garage in Hawthorne, NJ with two engineers, Marc Chavannes and Al Fielding. Marc and Al were trying to make a plastic wallpaper with a paper backing. Surprisingly, this product didn't take off. They realized, however, that their invention could be used as a cushioning packaging material. At that time, only abrasive paper products were used for packaging, and they did not suffice for cushioning heavy or delicate items. Marc and Al raised $9,000 to fund a developmental production line. They incorporated Sealed Air Corporation in 1960, and today, Sealed Air is a leading worldwide manufacturer of numerous protective and specialty packaging materials with annual revenues exceeding 3 billion dollars.
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Aww. I would have voted for that. But as that's American, (British by default, surely :D) I'm going to vote for toilet paper :)
 
locutus12 said:
1954 (7 June): Death (suicide) by cyanide poisoning, Wilmslow, Cheshire (pending further investigations of his homosexuality) <--- so nice to know that as a society we forced one of our greatest minds to suicide.
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Poisoned apple wasn't it? And a tragic waste of a brilliant life.

I saw a dramatisation of his life a few years ago starring Derek Jacobi, it was excellent tv.

Mrs fatiains dad lists him as one of the greatest minds of the 20th century. I agree.
 
fatiain said:
Poisoned apple wasn't it? And a tragic waste of a brilliant life.

I saw a dramatisation of his life a few years ago starring Derek Jacobi, it was excellent tv.

Mrs fatiains dad lists him as one of the greatest minds of the 20th century. I agree.
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Tragic it was indeed, thanks to a backwards society at the time, at least he is appreciated and remembered today for his work. :)
 
don't forget mavity - Sir Isaac Newton found it one day - before that everyone floated about and that is why there was no need for the jet engine....

;) :p
 
The gas-powered hook to launch planes from aircraft carriers. Yet another great British invention invented during a time of need (HMS/Royal Navy)

Car disc brakes (Lotus)

Car spoilers, aerofoils, understanding of aerodynamics, birth of car handling as we know it today (Lotus)
 
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NathanE said:
The gas-powered hook to launch planes from aircraft carriers. Yet another great British invention invented during a time of need (HMS/Royal Navy)
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The Ski Ramp for VSTOL planes (my dad served with the guy who invented that one, Doug Taylor)
 
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