Objectives

The learner will be able to understand the development of Industrial America.

In this presentation you will learn about inventors.

Make notes about each inventor and his invention during the presentation.

At the end of the presentation there will be writing directions.

In the beginning . . . .

Since 1790 the United States Patent Office has granted more than 6 million patents.

The number of patents issued increased dramatically during the 19th century, stimulated by the American industrial revolution and further fueling it.

In the beginning . . . .

The middle and late 19th century was a golden age for American invention.

The technology envisioned by American inventors has improved our standard of living and linked us across physical and cultural divides.

The Box Telephone

George Washington Carver

George Washington Carver was born into slavery.

By the late 1890s, after overcoming poverty and racial discrimination, he became the director of agricultural teaching and research at Alabama's Tuskegee Institute.

George Washington Carver

Carver discovered more than 450 products that could be made from the peanut and other cultivated plants.

He made it possible for many Southern farmers to diversify their crops, and became known as "the miracle worker" throughout the South.

The Light Bulb

Thomas Edison developed a practical light bulb toward the end of 1879.

In 1880 he designed this version, the first to have all the essential features of a modern light bulb--an incandescent filament in an evacuated glass bulb with a screw base.

The Light Bulb

Creating a successful filament was the most critical factor.

For it to be practical, it had to glow when an electric current passed through it, possess high electrical resistance, and last a long time.

Albert Einstein

By the time German-born Albert Einstein was 30, his theory of relativity and work in quantum mechanics had set off a revolution in physics.

Fleeing Nazi Germany in 1933, he came to the United States.

He spent the rest of his career at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey.

Albert Einstein

In 1939 he warned President Roosevelt that Germany was moving toward developing nuclear weaponry and urged that this country do the same, inspiring the Manhattan Project.

Having paved the way for this new weapon with his warning and own discoveries, Einstein devoted much time in later years working for nuclear arms control.

The Artificial Heart

The Telegraph Key and
the Telegraph

The telegraph key Samuel Morse used on his first line in 1844 was very simple--a strip of spring steel that could be pressed against a metal contact.

Alfred Vail, Morse's partner, designed this key, in which the gap was more easily adjustable because of changes in its spring tension.

It was used on the expanding telegraph system, perhaps as early as the fall of 1844 and certainly by 1845.

The Telegraph Key and
the Telegraph

The Sewing Machine

Isaac Merritt Singer was the most flamboyant of 19th-century sewing machine inventors, having sharpened his skills as an actor before becoming an inventor.

Around 1850, he began concentrating on improving an existing sewing machine. Success followed quickly.

This 1853 model is a commercial sewing machine.

The Sewing Machine

The patent claims were for the methods of feeding the cloth, regulating the tension on the needle thread, and lubricating the needle thread so that leather could be sewn.

The development of practical sewing machines contributed to the growth of the ready-made clothing industry in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The Computer

The invention of the personal computer is having an effect on our lives equal to, if not greater than, that of the electric light bulb, telegraph, and telephone.

The Computer

The Altair was the most popular early personal computer. It was programmed by flipping switches on the front panel. Its output was simply a pattern of lights.

Communications, word processing, and other applications required additional components.

Directions for writing: Write an essay about 3 inventors that were discussed in this presentation.


	The learner will be able to understand the development of Industrial America.


	Make notes about each inventor and his invention during the presentation.
	At the end of the presentation there will be writing directions.


	Since 1790 the United States Patent Office has granted more than 6 million patents.
	The number of patents issued increased dramatically during the 19th century, stimulated by the American industrial revolution and further fueling it.


	The middle and late 19th century was a golden age for American invention.
	The technology envisioned by American inventors has improved our standard of living and linked us across physical and cultural divides.


	George Washington Carver was born into slavery.
	By the late 1890s, after overcoming poverty and racial discrimination, he became the director of agricultural teaching and research at Alabama's Tuskegee Institute.


	Carver discovered more than 450 products that could be made from the peanut and other cultivated plants.
	He made it possible for many Southern farmers to diversify their crops, and became known as "the miracle worker" throughout the South.


	Thomas Edison developed a practical light bulb toward the end of 1879.
	In 1880 he designed this version, the first to have all the essential features of a modern light bulb--an incandescent filament in an evacuated glass bulb with a screw base.


	Creating a successful filament was the most critical factor.
	For it to be practical, it had to glow when an electric current passed through it, possess high electrical resistance, and last a long time.


	By the time German-born Albert Einstein was 30, his theory of relativity and work in quantum mechanics had set off a revolution in physics.
	Fleeing Nazi Germany in 1933, he came to the United States.
	He spent the rest of his career at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey.


	In 1939 he warned President Roosevelt that Germany was moving toward developing nuclear weaponry and urged that this country do the same, inspiring the Manhattan Project.
	Having paved the way for this new weapon with his warning and own discoveries, Einstein devoted much time in later years working for nuclear arms control.


	The telegraph key Samuel Morse used on his first line in 1844 was very simple--a strip of spring steel that could be pressed against a metal contact.
	Alfred Vail, Morse's partner, designed this key, in which the gap was more easily adjustable because of changes in its spring tension.
	It was used on the expanding telegraph system, perhaps as early as the fall of 1844 and certainly by 1845.


	Isaac Merritt Singer was the most flamboyant of 19th-century sewing machine inventors, having sharpened his skills as an actor before becoming an inventor.
	Around 1850, he began concentrating on improving an existing sewing machine. Success followed quickly.
	This 1853 model is a commercial sewing machine.


	The patent claims were for the methods of feeding the cloth, regulating the tension on the needle thread, and lubricating the needle thread so that leather could be sewn.
	The development of practical sewing machines contributed to the growth of the ready-made clothing industry in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.


	The invention of the personal computer is having an effect on our lives equal to, if not greater than, that of the electric light bulb, telegraph, and telephone.


	The Altair was the most popular early personal computer. It was programmed by flipping switches on the front panel. Its output was simply a pattern of lights.
	Communications, word processing, and other applications required additional components.