Famous Inventors Spotlight: Women
When someone asks you to name a famous inventor, a few names instantly may come to mind, such as Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, Nikola Tesla, or even Benjamin Franklin. But have you noticed that when we think of these names, we can only imagine men? I noticed myself that I was unable to name a single female inventor throughout history. Sadly, this seems to be the case for most scientific and math related fields. Thankfully, the landscape is shifting and women are getting more freedom, education, and worldly in the modern landscape. Here are a few of their names and their contributions…
Hedy Lamarr
Hedy is known for her Hollywood prowess as a beauty icon. I mean, even Snow freaking White was based on her looks. But this woman didn’t just have beauty; she was incredibly brilliant as well. During the second World War she noticed that telecommunications weren’t particularly good at the time. With co-inventor George Antheil, she invented the radio system for preventing jamming unsing a system known as frequency hopping. This is still in widespread use today, and even laid the groundwork for WiFi later in history. Outstanding!
Mary Anderson
Mary Anderson travelled to New York City in 1889 during winter. On a trolley ride there, she noticed that the driver kept getting sleet and snow on his windshield, obstructing the view of the road. He has to keep getting out of the trolley to wipe away the excess. It was then and there, she came up with the idea for the windshield wiper. It’s model closely resembles the ones of today, operated by a lever within the vehicle. In 1903 she received the patent for her device, but nobody she approached thought the invention was marketable….boy if they could only see us now!
Margaret E. Knight
Margaret invented a machine that would automatically cut, fold, and glue together flat-bottomed paper bags. Her invention revolutionized the paper bag industry, replacing the work of 30 people with a single machine! (jeeze, way to take away jobs with automation, amirite?) She went on to found the Eastern Paper Bag Company in Hartford, Connecticut. Between 1870 and 1915, she was granted patents for at LEAST 26 inventions, from window frames to a shoe sole cutting machine. She truly worked mentally on another level than the rest of us!
Josephine Cochran
Josephine invented something I can completely see a woman of the time inventing. The dishwasher! (That’s not sexist, right?) She was a wealthy woman who loved to entertain her guests. She simply decided she wanted a machine to clean the dishes faster, and without breaking them. When she searched everywhere for the device but couldn’t find one, she decided to make one herself! She made the wire components to hold the dishes and utensils, then she placed a wheel that lay flat within a copper boiler. A motor turned the wheel while hot, soapy water squirted from the bottom of the boiler, raining down on the dishes. It worked! At first, only commercial businesses showed any interest in it, but we know the rest is history…
Do you know of any other female inventors? Please, tell us! And don’t forget, you have a unique viewpoint as a woman to make inventions too!