Top 10 Inventors of all Time.

1.Thomas Alva Edison

Thomas Edison (1847 – 1931) was an American inventor and businessman who developed and made commercially available many key inventions of modern life.Edison filed over 1,000 patents. He developed and innovated a wide range of products from the electric light bulb to the phonograph and motion picture camera. 

2.Wright Brothers

The Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur Wright are credited with building and flying the first heavier than air aeroplane. They achieved the first recorded flight on 17 December 1903. Over the next 10 years they continued to develop the aircraft making a significant contribution to the development of the modern aeroplane .Successfully designed, built and flew the first powered aircraft, showing that man could fly. One of most important inventions of Twentieth Century. 

Achievements of the Wright Brothers

• 1903 - first powered aircraft Flight
  
• 1905,- built airplane that could fly for more than half an hour at a time. I
  
• 1908 - Orville Wright made the world's first flight of over one hour at Fort Myer, Virginia, in a demonstration for the U.S. army, which subsequently made the Wright planes the world's first military airplanes.
  
• 1908 - Wilbur made over 100 flights near Le Mans, France; the longest one, on Dec. 31, a record flight: 2 hours, 19 minutes.

 3. Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin was a scientist, ambassador, philosopher, statesmen, writer, businessman and celebrated free thinker and wit. He has often been referred to as 'America's renaissance man' and

was emblematic of the fledgling American nation.

Scientific Achievements of Benjamin Franklin

Science experiments were a hobby of Franklin. This led to the:

• Franklin stove - a mechanism for distributing heat throughout a room.
  
• The famous kite and key in the thunderstorm. This proved that lightening and electricity were one and the same thing.
  
• He was the first person to give electricity positive and negative charges
  
• The first flexible urinary catheter
  
• Glass harmonica
  
• Bifocal glasses.

4.Charles Babbage

Charles Babbage, (26 December 1791 – 18 October 1871) was an English mathematician, philosopher, inventor and mechanical engineer who developed the concept of a programmable computer. Created first mechanical computer, which proved to be the prototype for future computers. Considered to be the 'Father of Computers'.

5.James Watt

James Watt (1736 – 1819) was a Scottish inventor, mechanical engineer and chemist. He is famous for developing a separate condensing chamber for the steam engine. This invention greatly improved the efficiency of the steam engine and played a considerable role in advancing the role of steam engines in the Industrial revolution.The development of an efficient steam engine transformed industry and society. It helped Great Britain become the world's first industrialised society leading to an unprecedented pace of economic growth.

6. Alexander Graham Bell

 

Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922) Scottish inventor, most notably credited with inventing the modern telephone.
Credited with inventing the first practical telephone. Also worked on optical telecommunications, aeronautics and hydrofoils.

7. Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci (1452 – 1519) is one the world’s greatest thinkers, artists and philosophers. In several different fields, from science to astronomy, he proved to be both innovative and several centuries ahead of his contemporaries. He is considered to be a key person in the birth of the European renaissance period, which saw a flowering of new ideas, scientific discoveries and creation of beautiful art. He was One of the greatest ever minds, invented models that proved workable 3-500 years later. 

8. Galileo Galilee

 

Astronomer and Scientist 1564-1642. Galileo developed a superior telescope and made many significant discoveries in astronomy. He was sentenced to life imprisonment by the inquisition for his support for the Copernican theory that the sun was at the centre of the solar system.He confirmed revolutionary theories about the nature of the world. Also developed improved compass.

9. Tim Berners Lee

 

 Tim Berners Lee is a British computer scientist who is credited with inventing the World Wide Web (WWW). Berners-Lee enabled a system to be able to view web pages (hypertext documents) through the internet. He also serves as a director fo the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) which overseas standards for the internet and world wide web. Berners-Lee has also been concerned about issues relating to freedom of information and censorship on the internet.He Developed the http:// protocol for the internet. Making the world wide web freely available.

10.  Aristotle (384BC - 322BC) 

Living in the same time period as Plato and Alexander the Great, Aristotle helped lay the foundations for western civilisation through his wide range of intellectual and scientific studies.

Aristotle was one of the great polymaths of his time. He studied under Plato and therefore learnt much about the great philosophic traditions of Socrates. But, Aristotle was more than just a good student; he had an independent mind and was able to question many different things and sought to resolve difficult questions and previously unsolvable problems. He made studies in botany, physics, philosophy, logic, and was well known for being a powerful lecturer and debater. He was also regarded as a kindly man, compassionate to others.

In the field of physics, Aristotle's ideas influenced much of the medieval period, and lasted into the European Renaissance. His ideas were later replaced by the physics of Isaac Newton.

 Source: Biographyonline.net