| Scientific
Instruments and Devices |
| Invention |
Date |
Inventor |
Nationality |
| Compound
microscope |
1590 |
Zacharias
Janssen |
Dutch |
| Thermometer
|
1593 |
Galileo
|
Italian |
| Barometer
|
1643 |
Evangelista
Torricelli |
Italian |
| Pendulum
clock |
1656 |
Christiaan
Huygens |
Dutch |
| Reflecting
telescope |
1668 |
Isaac
Newton |
English |
| Achromatic
lens |
1733 |
Chester
M. Hall |
English |
| Marine
chronometer |
1749 |
John
Harrison |
English |
| Bifocal
spectacles * |
1760 |
Benjamin
Franklin |
American |
| Illuminating
gas |
1792 |
William
Murdoch |
Scottish |
Murdoch
House -- Cornwall
"James
Watt and Matthew Boulton sent the young engineer William
Murdoch to Cornwall in 1779. As their Senior engine-erector
he made his home in Cross Street from 1782 to 1798.
Murdoch's spare time was spent in design and innovation.
In 1792 William Murdoch succeeded in lighting his house
and office in Cross Street, Redruth, by piped coal gas.
This was a world first which provided the foundation
for today's giant international gas industry."
Source: The
Cornish-American Connection
Historical
Cornwall; Discoveries, Inventions and Achievements
either in Cornwall or by the Cornish. |
| Hygrometer
|
1820 |
J.F.
Daniell |
English |
| Gyroscope
|
1852 |
J.B.L.
Foucault |
French |
| Bunsen
burner |
1855 |
Robert
Bunsen |
German |
| Welsbach
(gas) mantle |
1885 |
K.A.
von Welsbach |
Austrian |
| Bathysphere
|
1930 |
Charles
William Beebe |
American |
| Cyclotron
|
1931 |
E.O.
Lawrence |
American |
| Electron
microscope |
1932 |
Max
Knoll
Ernst Ruska |
German
German |
| Betatron
|
1940 |
D.W.
Kerst |
American |
| Nuclear
reactor |
1942 |
Enrico
Fermi** |
American |
| Head
of team that developed the project. |
| Synchrocyclotron
|
1945 |
E.M.
McMillan***
Vladimir Veksler*** |
American
Soviet |
|
Each worked independently on developing technologies. |
| Maser
|
1953 |
Charles
Townes** |
American |
| Head
of team that developed the project. |
| Carbon
dating |
1955 |
W.F.
Libby** |
American |
| Head
of team that developed the project. |
| Superconducting
magnetic levitation * |
1968 |
James
Powell
Gordon Danby |
American
U.S. citizen; born in Canada |
| Scanning
tunneling microscope |
1983 |
Gerd Binnig
Heinrich Rohrer |
German
German |
