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Table of Contents
Inventing Modern America: From the Microwave to the Mouse celebrates the best of American ingenuity and inventiveness. The book features in-depth profiles of these 35 inventors, organized into five categories: Medicine and Health Care, Consumer Products, Transportation, Energy and Environment, and Computing and Telecommunications. One inventor from each category is featured on this web site—look for the  button. |
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Medicine and Health Care Raymond Damadian: MRI scanner (1977) Thomas Fogarty: balloon embolectomy catheter (1961)  Wilson Greatbatch: implantable cardiac pacemaker (1962) Dean Kamen: portable medication technology (1970s) Mary-Claire King: advances in the treatment of breast cancer (1990) Robert Langer: biomedical applications of polymers (1980s) Rosalyn Yalow: RIA, or radioimmunoassay (1959) |
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Consumer Products Leo Baekeland: Bakelite, the first modern plastic (1907) Harold "Doc" Edgerton: stop-action photography (1931) Philo T. Farnsworth: electronic television (1927) Stephanie Kwolek: Kevlar (1964) Jerome Lemelson: apparatus for driving tape in a cartridge (1972) Jacob Rabinow: self-regulating clock (1954) Percy Spencer: microwave oven (1947) |
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Transportation Ole Evinrude: outboard boat motor (1907) Henry Ford: assembly line (1913) Robert Goddard: liquid-fueled rocket (1926) Paul MacCready: human-powered aircraft (1977) Garrett Morgan: traffic signal (1923) Elmer Ambrose Sperry: gyrocompass (1911) |
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Energy and Environment George Washington Carver: industrial applications for agricultural products (1910s) Carl Djerassi: non-toxic pest control products (1960s) Sally Fox: naturally colored cotton (1989) Buckminster Fuller: geodesic dome (1950) Ashok Gadgil: ultraviolet water purification system (1993) Stanford Ovshinksy: mass production of photovoltaic cells (1983) John Todd: ecosystems for combating pollution (1984) |
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Computing and Telecommunications Nolan Bushnell: video game (1971) Douglas Engelbart: computer mouse (1968) Al Gross: walkie-talkie (1937) Erna Schneider Hoover: computerized telephone switching system (1965) Grace Murray Hopper: computer compiler (1952) Raymond Kurzweil: optical reading machine for the blind (1976) Carver Mead: very-large-scale integrated circuits (1971) Steve Wozniak: personal computer (1976) |
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Inventing Modern America also includes a Foreword by Lester C. Thurow, Introductions—to the book and to each category of inventions—by James Burke, and a full bibliography. 
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Doug Engelbart
Thomas Fogarty
Ashok Gadgil
Stephanie Kwolek
Paul MacCready
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