Inventors & Inventions

Think about motor cars, planes, computers and medical cures. None of these have been around that long. Throughout history both men and women have tried to make our lives easier. So many of the comforts we have around us today didn’t use to exist.

Many inventors produce new and exciting machines from all sorts of bits and pieces just to see if an idea works. One of the first television sets made by John Logie Baird in 1925 (c), used an old electric motor, some wooden discs and parts from some old pairs of glasses.

A Swedish scientist called Alfred Nobel, invented a highly powerful explosive he called dynamite. He was really excited because he thought it would make life easier for men working down in the mines. However, even though he thought it would be used positively, others used it in terrible ways in war. He was so upset that he sold all of his factories and donated the money for an annual award given to people who promote peace in the world.

One of the first scientists to be given a Nobel Peace prize was Marie Curie (b). In 1898, her hard work helped her discover a radioactive material called radium. This was used to treat patients with cancer.

In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell (a) invented the first telephone, but you wouldn’t be able to recognise it today. It was a very basic model and the modern day portable phone has come a long way since then.