“Famous Women Inventors in History”, Amanda Carlson

Famous Women Inventors in History

For the most part, people think of the men who have created devices when the subject of inventions is brought up. Few people will ever bring up the contributions women have made throughout history. Many of these inventions have laid the ground work for adaptations and advancements that we utilize today. Without these women, many things we take for granted daily may not exist or could be greatly altered beyond our own comprehension.

1. Miriam Benjamin – The second black woman to ever receive a patent created a Gong and Signal Chair. Originally designed as a hotel accoutrement, one would sit in this chair and be able to “buzz” the waiter station informing the wait-staff that he or she needed assistance. It was later adapted and used in the House of Representatives in the United States.

2. Marie Curie – In the late 1800s, Maire Curie and her husband, Pierre, discovered two new elements from ore in the form of radium and polonium. Studying the x-rays these elements radiated, she discovered that they had the potential to kill tumors.

She won two Nobel Prizes for her work with radium and polonium and for discovering radium’s atomic weight.

3. Grace Hopper – The computer system you are using at this very second could have been somewhat different if Grace Hopper hadn’t assisted Howard Aiken in the creation of the Harvard Mark I Computer system.

Developed in 1944, this computer was in use until 1959. The Mark I computer was nearly as large as a semi-truck with a trailer attached and could take several seconds to calculate multiplication operations.

4. Anna Keichline – The first woman as a registered architect in Pennsylvania, Anna Keichline patented several inventions for home improvement. These included sloped counter-tops, glass-door cabinets, and a bed that folded into the wall in order to save space in a room.

She is also famous for developing what is called a “K” Brick. It was a fireproof clay brick that was cheaper and lighter to construct in opposition of materials at the time. These bricks were the precursor to concrete.

5. Ann Moore – Do you carry your child close to you when you are out and about in a back-pack type of carrier? You could thank Ann Moore for bringing the idea to the States and patenting the Snugli.

Although her invention is a derivative of the packs used in African tribes, Moore and her husband created a business around the idea and developed the construction for the civilized world.

6. Ann Tsukamoto – In more recent times, Ann Tsukamoto is one of the co-patentees in the development of isolating human stem cells.

As stem cell research has been vital to understanding cancers and biomedical advancements, Tsukamoto is one of the leading ladies in the field and holds two patents of her own regarding human hematopoietic stem cell research and development.

7. Julie Newmar – Although originally invented by Allen Gant, pantyhose took on a whole new meaning after Julie Newmar added her own innovations to the design.

Before long, she patented ultra-sheer and ultra-snug pantyhose. Women all over the world began to adore these designs pushing Julie Newmar’s continued celebratory status even farther.

When it comes to the capacity of the mind for creation and innovation, there really isn’t much of a difference between man and woman. As part of a single species, humans have the ability to create tools when none exist for any situation.

It doesn’t matter what sex you are as this is a general human trait. Humans are resourceful and any person can make the world a better place by providing a solution to a need.

Author Bio:

Amanda Carlson, a blogger as well as a former newborn care nurse contributed this post. To stay connected to her previous career and share the knowledge she gained, she began writing for www.newborncare.com.

You can reach her at amanda.newborncare @ gmail.com.