List of inventors

This is a of people who are described as being inventors or are credited with an invention.

Alphabetical list

A Vitaly Abalakov (1906–1986), Russia – camming devices, Abalakov thread (or V-thread), gearless ice climbing anchor Ernst Karl Abbe (1840–1905), Germany – Condenser (microscope), apochromatic lens, refractometer Hovannes Adamian (1879–1932), USSR/Russia/Armenia – tricolor principle of the color television Samuel W. Alderson (1914–2005), U.S. – crash test dummy Alexandre Alexeieff (1901–1982), Russia/France – Pinscreen animation (with his wife Claire Parker) Rostislav Alexeyev (1916–1980), Russia/USSR – Ekranoplan Randi Altschul (born 1960), U.S. – Disposable cellphone Abram Alikhanov (1904–1970), Armenia/USSR – Soviet atomic bomb, nuclear reactor Bruce Ames (1928–2024), U.S. – Ames test (Cell biology) Giovanni Battista Amici (1786–1863), Italy – Dipleidoscope, Amici prism Ruth Amos (born 1989), UK – StairSteady Mary Anderson (1866–1953), U.S. – windshield wiper blade Momofuku Ando (1910–2007), Japan – Instant noodles Hal Anger (1920–2005), U.S. – Well counter (radioactivity measurements), gamma camera Anders Knutsson Ångström (1888–1981), Sweden – Pyranometer Ottomar Anschütz (1846–1907), Germany – single-curtain focal-plane shutter, electrotachyscope Hermann Anschütz-Kaempfe (1872–1931), Germany – Gyrocompass Virginia Apgar (1909–1974), U.S. – Apgar score (for newborn babies) Nicolas Appert (1749–1841), France – canning (food preservation) using glass bottles, see also Peter Durand Archimedes (c. 287–212 BC), Greece – Archimedes' screw Guido of Arezzo (c. 991–c. 1033), Italy – Guidonian notation, see musical notation and also staff (music) Ami Argand (1750–1803), France – Argand lamp William George Armstrong (1810–1900), UK – hydraulic accumulator Neil Arnott (1788–1874), UK – waterbed Emil Artin (1889–1962), Armenia/Austria/Germany – modern abstract algebra Joseph Aspdin (1788–1855), UK – Portland cement John Vincent Atanasoff (1903–1995), Bulgaria/U.S. – electronic digital computer Marcel Audiffren, France – refrigeration, patent Alexander Anim-Mensah, Ghanaian/American – Chemical engineer, inventor

B Boris Babayan (born 1933), Armenia/USSR/Russia – Soviet computers, Superscalar processor Charles Babbage (1791–1871), UK – Analytical engine (semi-automatic) Tabitha Babbit (1779–1853), U.S. – Saw mill circular saw Victor Babeș (1854–1926), Romania – Babesia, the founder of serum therapy Leo Baekeland (1863–1944), Belgian–American – Velox photographic paper and Bakelite Ralph H. Baer (1922–2014), German born American – video game console Adolf von Baeyer (1835–1917), Germany – Fluorescein, synthetic Indigo dye, Phenolphthalein John Logie Baird (1888–1946), Scotland – World's first working television, 26 January 1926 and electronic colour television Abi Bakr of Isfahan (c. 1235), Persia/Iran – mechanical geared astrolabe with lunisolar calendar George Ballas (1925–2011), U.S. – String trimmer Oscar H. Banker (1895–1979), Armenia/U.S. – automatic transmission for automobiles Frederick Banting (1891–1941), Canada – technique to isolate Insulin Vladimir Baranov-Rossine (1888–1944), Russia/France – Optophonic Piano John Barber (1734–1801), UK – gas turbine John Bardeen (1908–1991), U.S. – co-inventor of the transistor, with Brattain and Schockley Vladimir Barmin (1909–1993), Russia – first rocket launch complex (spaceport) Anthony R. Barringer (1925–2009), Canada/U.S. – INPUT (Induced Pulse Transient) airborne electromagnetic system Earl W. Bascom (1906–1995), Canada/U.S. – rodeo bucking chute (1916 and 1919), rodeo bronc saddle (1922), rodeo bareback rigging (1924), rodeo riding chaps (1926) Nikolay Basov (1922–2001), Russia – co-inventor of laser and maser Patricia Bath (1942–2019), U.S. – laser cataract surgery Émile Baudot (1845–1903), France – Baudot code Eugen Baumann (1846–1896), Germany – PVC Trevor Baylis (1937–2018), UK – a wind-up radio Maria Beasley (1847–1904), U.S. – barrel-hooping machine, improved life raft Francis Beaufort (1774–1857), Ireland/UK – Beaufort scale, Beaufort cipher Hans Beck (1929–2009), Germany – inventor of Playmobil toys Arnold O. Beckman (1900–2004), U.S. – electric pH meter Vladimir Bekhterev (1857–1927), Russia – Bekhterev's Mixture Josip Belušić (1847–1905), Croatia – electric speedometer Michael Bell (born 1938), together with Melanie Chartoff (born 1950), U.S. – a gray water recycling device for reuse of shower and sink water in the home Alexander Graham Bell (1847–1922), UK, Canada, and U.S. – telephone Nikolay Benardos (1842–1905), Russian Empire – arc welding (specifically carbon arc welding, the first arc welding method) Ruth R. Benerito (1916–2013), U.S. – Permanent press (no-iron clothing) Miriam Benjamin (1861–1947), Washington, D.C. – Gong and signal chair (adopted by House of Representatives and precursor to flight attendant signal system) William R. Bennett Jr. (1930–2008), together with Ali Javan (1926–2016), U.S./Iran – Gas laser (Helium-Neon) Melitta Bentz (1873–1950), Germany – paper Coffee filter Karl Benz (1844–1929), Germany – the petrol-powered automobile Hans Berger (1873–1941), Germany – first human EEG and its development Friedrich Bergius (1884–1949), Germany – Bergius process (synthetic fuel from coal) Emile Berliner (1851–1929), Germany and U.S. – the disc record gramophone Tim Berners-Lee (born 1955), UK – with Robert Cailliau, the World Wide Web Marcellin Berthelot (1827–1907), France – Berthelot's reagent (chemistry) Heinrich Bertsch (1897–1981), Germany – first fully synthetic laundry detergent "Fewa" (chemistry) Charles Best (1899–1978), Canada – Insulin (chemistry) Max Bielschowsky (1869–1940), Germany – Bielschowsky stain (histology) Alfred Binet (1857–1911), France – with his student Théodore Simon (1872–1961), first practical Intelligence test Lucio Bini (1908–1964), together with Ugo Cerletti (1877–1963), Italy – Electroconvulsive therapy Gerd Binnig (born 1947), with Christoph Gerber, Calvin Quate and Heinrich Rohrer, Germany/Switzerland/U.S. – Atomic force microscope and Scanning tunneling microscope Clarence Birdseye (1886–1956), U.S. – Flash freezing László Bíró (1899–1985), Hungary – Ballpoint pen John Brislin (1838–1907), United States – Feeding mechanism for rolling mills Thor Bjørklund (1889–1975), Norway – Cheese slicer J. Stuart Blackton (1875–1941), U.S. – Stop-motion film Otto Blathy (1860–1939), Hungary – co-inventor of the transformer, wattmeter, alternating current (AC) and turbogenerator John Blenkinsop (1783–1831), UK – Blenkinsop rack railway system Charles K. Bliss (1897–1985), Austro-Hungary/Australia – Blissymbols Katharine Burr Blodgett (1898–1979), U.S. – nonreflective glass Alan Blumlein (1903–1942), UK – stereo David Boggs (1950–2022), U.S. – Ethernet Nils Bohlin (1920–2002), Sweden – the three-point seat belt Sarah Boone (1832–1908), U.S. – improved ironing board design Charlie Booth (1903–2008), Australia – Starting blocks Bob Born (1924–2023), U.S. – automated marshmallow confection production Sam Born (1891–1959), Russia/U.S. – lollipop-making machine Jagdish Chandra Bose (1858–1937), India – Crescograph Matthew Piers Watt Boulton (1820–1894), UK – aileron Seth Boyden (1788–1870), U.S. – nail-making machine Herbert Boyer (born 1936), together with Paul Berg (1926–2023), and Stanley Norman Cohen (born 1935), U.S. – created first Genetically modified organism Willard Boyle (1924–2011) together with George E. Smith (1930–2025), U.S. – Charge-coupled device (CCD) Hugh Bradner (1915–2008), U.S. – Wetsuit Louis Braille (1809–1852), France – Braille writing system, Braille musical notation Archie Brain (born 1942), UK – Laryngeal mask Jacques E. Brandenberger (1872–1954), Switzerland – Cellophane Édouard Branly (1844–1940), France – Coherer Charles F. Brannock (1903–1992), U.S. – Brannock Device (shoe size) Walter Houser Brattain (1902–1987), U.S. – co-inventor of the transistor Karl Ferdinand Braun (1850–1918), Germany – cathode-ray tube oscilloscope Wernher von Braun (1912–1977), Germany/U.S. – V-2 rocket, Saturn V rocket Stanislav Brebera (1925–2012), Czech Republic – Semtex explosive David Brewster (1781–1868), UK – Kaleidoscope Charles B. Brooks (1865–1908), U.S. – first self-propelled street sweeping truck Rachel Fuller Brown (1898–1980), U.S. – Nystatin, the world's first antifungal antibiotic William C. Brown (1916–1999), U.S. – crossed-field amplifier Marie Van Brittan Brown (1922–1999), U.S. – home security system Friedrich Wilhelm Gustav Bruhn (1853–1927), Germany – Taximeter Nikolay Brusentsov (1925–2014), USSR, Russia – ternary computer (Setun) Dudley Allen Buck (1927–1959), U.S. – Cryotron, content-addressable memory Edwin Beard Budding (1795–1846), UK – lawnmower Gersh Budker (1918–1977), Russia – electron cooling, co-inventor of collider Edward Bull (1759–1798), England – Bull engine (a modified steam engine) Robert Bunsen (1811–1899), Germany – Bunsen burner Henry Burden (1791–1871), Scotland and U.S. – Horseshoe machine, first usable iron railroad spike

C Ve Elizabeth Cadie (1893–1956), U.S. – heat insulating handle for small home appliances Herminie Cadolle (1845–1926), France – modern brassiere Robert Cailliau (born 1947), Belgium – with Tim Berners-Lee, the World Wide Web Edward A. Calahan (1838–1912), U.S. – Stock ticker tape Nicholas Callan (1799–1864), Ireland – Induction coil Spéranza Calo-Séailles (1885–1949), Greece – "Lap" decorative concrete Alan Archibald Campbell-Swinton (1863–1930), Scotland – Television Tullio Campagnolo (1901–1983), Italy – Quick release skewer Charles Cantor (born 1942), U.S. – Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (molecular biology) Mario Ramberg Capecchi (born 1937), together with Sir Martin John Evans (born 1941), and Oliver Smithies (1925–2017), U.S. – Gene targeting Roxey Ann Caplin (1793–1888), UK – Victorian-style corset Arturo Caprotti (1881–1938), Italy – Caprotti valve gear Gerolamo Cardano (1501–1576), Italy – Cardan grille (cryptography) Philip Cardew (1851–1910), UK – Hot-wire galvanometer Chester Carlson (1906–1968), U.S. – Xerographic copier Wallace Carothers (1896–1937), U.S. – Nylon and Neoprene (together with Arnold Collins) Antonio Benedetto Carpano (1764–1815), Italy – Vermouth Mary P. Carpenter (1840–1900), U.S. – mosquito nets, mosquito traps Giovanni Caselli (1815–1891), Italy/France – Pantelegraph George Cayley (1773–1857), UK – tension-spoke wheels Anders Celsius (1701–1744), Sweden – Celsius temperature scale Vint Cerf (born 1943), together with Bob Kahn (1938–), U.S. – Internet Protocol (IP) Claude Shannon (1916–2016), founder of information theory and modern cryptography, invented Minivac 601, and co-invented the first wearable computer (with Edward O. Thorp) Ugo Cerletti (1877–1963), together with Lucio Bini (1908–1964), Italy – Electroconvulsive therapy Leona Chalmers (c. 1937), U.S. – modern menstrual cup Charles Chamberland (1851–1908), France – Chamberland filter Min Chueh Chang (1908–1991), together with Gregory Goodwin Pincus (1903–1967), U.S./China – Combined oral contraceptive pill Thomas Chang (born 1933), Canada/China – Artificial cell Chang Yŏngsil (c. 1390–after 1442), South Korea (Joseon dynasty) – Jagyeokru (Water clock) and Ch'ŭgugi (rain gauge) Emmett Chapman (1936–2021), U.S. – Chapman Stick Claude Chappe (1763–1805), France – Semaphore line Melanie Chartoff (born 1950), together with Michael Bell (born 1938), U.S. – a gray water recycling device for reuse of shower and sink water in the home David Chaum (born 1955), U.S. – Digital signatures, ecash Vladimir Chelomey (1914–1984), USSR – First space station (Salyut) Joyce Chen (1917–1994), China – stir fry pan Pavel Cherenkov (1904–1990), USSR – Cherenkov detector Evgeniy Chertovsky (1902–1961), Russia – pressure suit