Supersonic passenger plane

The invention: 

The first commercial airliner that flies passengers at
speeds in excess of the speed of sound.


The people behind the invention:

Sir Archibald Russell (1904- ), a designer with the British
Aircraft Corporation
Pierre Satre (1909- ), technical director at Sud-Aviation
Julian Amery (1919- ), British minister of aviation, 1962-1964
Geoffroy de Cource (1912- ), French minister of aviation,
1962
William T. Coleman, Jr. (1920- ), U.S. secretary of
transportation, 1975-1977

Supercomputer

The invention: 

A computer that had the greatest computational power that then existed.

The person behind the invention: 

Seymour R. Cray (1928-1996), American computer architect and designer

Steelmaking process

The invention: 

Known as the basic oxygen, or L-D, process, a
method for producing steel that worked about twelve times
faster than earlier methods.

The people behind the invention:

Henry Bessemer (1813-1898), the English inventor of a process
for making steel from iron

Robert Durrer (1890-1978), a Swiss scientist who first proved
the workability of the oxygen process in a laboratory

F. A. Loosley (1891-1966), head of research and development at
Dofasco Steel in Canada

Theodor Suess (1894-1956), works manager at Voest

Stealth aircraft

The invention:

The first generation of “radar-invisible” aircraft, stealth planes were designed to elude enemy radar systems.

The people behind the invention: Lockhead Corporation, an American research and development firm Northrop Corporation, an American aerospace firm

Sonar

The invention:

A device that detects soundwaves transmitted
through water, sonar was originally developed to detect enemy
submarines but is also used in navigation, fish location, and
ocean mapping.

The people behind the invention:

Jacques Curie (1855-1941), a French physicist
Pierre Curie (1859-1906), a French physicist
Paul Langévin (1872-1946), a French physicist

Solar thermal engine

The invention:
The first commercially practical plant for generating
electricity from solar energy.

The people behind the invention:

Frank Shuman (1862-1918), an American inventor
John Ericsson (1803-1889), an American engineer
Augustin Mouchout (1825-1911), a French physics professor

Silicones

The invention:

Synthetic polymers characterized by lubricity, extreme
water repellency, thermal stability, and inertness that are
widely used in lubricants, protective coatings, paints, adhesives,
electrical insulation, and prosthetic replacements for body parts.

The people behind the invention:
Eugene G. Rochow (1909 - 2002 ), an American research chemist
Frederic Stanley Kipping (1863-1949), a Scottish chemist and
professor
James Franklin Hyde (1903- ), an American organic chemist

Scanning tunneling microscope

The invention:

A major advance on the field ion microscope, the
scanning tunneling microscope has pointed toward new directions
in the visualization and control of matter at the atomic
level.


The people behind the invention:

Gerd Binnig (1947- ), a West German physicist who was a
cowinner of the 1986 Nobel Prize in Physics
Heinrich Rohrer (1933- ), a Swiss physicist who was a
cowinner of the 1986 Nobel Prize in Physics
Ernst Ruska (1906-1988), a West German engineer who was a
cowinner of the 1986 Nobel Prize in Physics
Antoni van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723), a Dutch naturalist

Salvarsan

The invention:

The first successful chemotherapeutic for the treatment
of syphilis

The people behind the invention:

Paul Ehrlich (1854-1915), a German research physician and
chemist
Wilhelm von Waldeyer (1836-1921), a German anatomist
Friedrich von Frerichs (1819-1885), a German physician and
professor
Sahachiro Hata (1872-1938), a Japanese physician and
bacteriologist
Fritz Schaudinn (1871-1906), a German zoologist

SAINT

The invention:

Taking its name from the acronym for symbolic automatic
integrator, SAINT is recognized as the first “expert system”—
a computer program designed to perform mental tasks requiring
human expertise.

The person behind the invention:

James R. Slagle (1934-1994), an American computer scientist

Rotary dial telephone

The invention:

The first device allowing callers to connect their
telephones to other parties without the aid of an operator, the rotary
dial telephone preceded the touch-tone phone.

The people behind the invention:

Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922), an American inventor
Antoine Barnay (1883-1945), a French engineer
Elisha Gray (1835-1901), an American inventor

Rocket

The invention: Liquid-fueled rockets developed by Robert H. Goddard
made possible all later developments in modern rocketry,
which in turn has made the exploration of space practical.
The person behind the invention:

Robert H. Goddard (1882-1945), an American physics professor

Robot (industrial)

The people behind the invention:

Karel Capek (1890-1938), a Czech playwright
George C. Devol, Jr. (1912- ), an American inventor
Joseph F. Engelberger (1925- ), an American entrepreneur

Nuclear reactor

The invention: 

The first nuclear reactor to produce substantial
quantities of plutonium, making it practical to produce usable
amounts of energy from a chain reaction.

The people behind the invention:

Enrico Fermi (1901-1954), an American physicist
Martin D. Whitaker (1902-1960), the first director of Oak Ridge
National Laboratory
Eugene Paul Wigner (1902-1995), the director of research and
development at Oak Ridge

Nuclear power plant

The invention: 

The first full-scale commercial nuclear power plant, which gave birth to the nuclear power industry.  



The people behind the invention:

Enrico Fermi (1901-1954), an Italian American physicist who
won the 1938 Nobel Prize in Physics
Otto Hahn (1879-1968), a German physical chemist who won the
1944 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Lise Meitner (1878-1968), an Austrian Swedish physicist
Hyman G. Rickover (1898-1986), a Polish American naval officer

Nuclear magnetic resonance

The invention: 

Procedure that uses hydrogen atoms in the human
body, strong electromagnets, radio waves, and detection equipment
to produce images of sections of the brain.

The people behind the invention:

Raymond Damadian (1936- ), an American physicist and
inventor
Paul C. Lauterbur (1929- ), an American chemist
Peter Mansfield (1933- ), a scientist at the University of
Nottingham, England

The Internet

The invention: 

A worldwide network of interlocking computer
systems, developed out of a U.S. government project to improve
military preparedness.

The people behind the invention:

Paul Baran, a researcher for the RAND corporation
Vinton G. Cerf (1943- ), an American computer scientist
regarded as the “father of the Internet”

Interchangeable parts

The invention: 

A key idea in the late Industrial Revolution, the
interchangeability of parts made possible mass production of
identical products.


The people behind the invention:

Henry M. Leland (1843-1932), president of Cadillac Motor Car
Company in 1908, known as a master of precision
Frederick Bennett, the British agent for Cadillac Motor Car
Company who convinced the Royal Automobile Club to run
the standardization test at Brooklands, England
Henry Ford (1863-1947), founder of Ford Motor Company who
introduced the moving assembly line into the automobile
industry in 1913

Heat pump

The invention:

A device that warms and cools buildings efficiently
and cheaply by moving heat from one area to another.

The people behind the invention:

T. G. N. Haldane, a British engineer
Lord Kelvin (William Thomson, 1824-1907), a British
mathematician, scientist, and engineer
Sadi Carnot (1796-1832), a French physicist and
thermodynamicist

Gas-electric car

The invention: 

A hybrid automobile with both an internal combustion engine and an electric motor.

The people behind the invention: 

Victor Wouk -   an American engineer Tom Elliott, executive vice president of
                           American Honda Motor Company
Hiroyuki Yoshino - president and chief executive officer of Honda Motor Company
Fujio Cho              -  president of Toyota Motor Corporation