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Learn About Famous Inventors Who Have Changed the World

Browse List of Inductees
Browse List of Inductees
Showing 1 - 25 of 44 results

Semi Joseph Begun

Magnetic Recording

Semi Joseph Begun was a pioneer of magnetic recording. Begun was born in Danzig, Germany. He graduated in 1929 from the Institute of Technology in…
Inducted in: 1998
Born:
U.S. Patent Nos.: 2,048,487, 2,048,488
Died:

Valdemar Poulsen

Magnetic Wire Recorder

Danish engineer Valdemar Poulsen demonstrated magnetic recording in 1898. While working at the Copenhagen Telephone Company, Poulsen began…
Inducted in: 2011
Born:
U.S. Patent No.: 661,619
Died:

John Joseph Lynott

Magnetic Disk Drive

John Lynott and William Goddard, together with Louis Stevens and a team of engineers, invented a unique magnetic disk storage device at the IBM Lab…
Inducted in: 2007
Born:
U.S. Patent No.: 3,503,060
Died:
Military Service: U.S. Navy
Lubomyr T. Romankiw

Lubomyr Romankiw

Magnetic Thin-Film Storage Head

IBM researchers Lubomyr Romankiw and David Thompson invented magnetic thin film storage heads in the late 1970s, creating new designs for both read…
Inducted in: 2012
Born:
U.S. Patent No.: 3,908,194
Died:

Louis Stevens

Data Storage Machine

Louis Stevens, working with William Goddard and John Lynott and a team of engineers, invented a unique magnetic disk storage device. Their disk drive…
Inducted in: 2008
Born:
U.S. Patent No.: 3,134,097
Died:
Military Service: U.S. Marine Corps

Percy L. Spencer

High-Efficiency Magnetron

Percy Spencer, while working for the Raytheon Company, discovered a more efficient way to manufacture magnetrons. This discovery led to significant…
Inducted in: 1999
Born:
U.S. Patent No.: 2,408,235
Died:
Military Service: U.S. Navy

Paul Christian Lauterbur

Magnetic Resonance Imaging

By developing the use of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to create images of organs, joints and other tissues in the human body, Paul Lauterbur…
Inducted in: 2007
Born:
U.S. Patent No.: 5,081,992
Died:
Military Service: U.S. Army

William A. Goddard

Magnetic Disk Drive

William Goddard and John Lynott, together with Louis Stevens and a team of engineers, invented a unique magnetic disk storage device at the IBM Lab…
Inducted in: 2007
Born:
U.S. Patent No.: 3,503,060
Died:

Lee de Forest

Audion Amplifier

In the early 1900s, the great requirement for further development of radio was an efficient and delicate detector of electromagnetic radiation. Lee…
Inducted in: 1977
Born:
U.S. Patent No.: 879,532
Died:

David A. Thompson

Magnetic Thin-Film Storage Head

IBM researchers David Thompson and Lubomyr Romankiw invented the first practical magnetic thin film storage heads in the late 1970s, creating new…
Inducted in: 2012
Born:
U.S. Patent No.: 4,295,173

Willem Einthoven

Electrocardiograph

Willem Einthoven designed the first instrument that accurately recorded the electrical activity of the heart and produced the first reliable…
Inducted in: 2008
Born:
U.S. Patent No.: 1,592,628
Died:
Marvin Camras photo

Marvin Camras

Magnetic Recording

Marvin Camras' inventions are used in modern magnetic tape and wire recorders, including high frequency bias, improved recording heads, wire and tape…
Inducted in: 1985
Born:
U.S. Patent No.: 2,351,004
Died:

An Wang

Magnetic Core Memory

An Wang made many contributions to the advancement of computer technology, including the magnetic pulse controlling device, the principle upon which…
Inducted in: 1988
Born:
U.S. Patent No.: 2,708,722
Died:

Daryl Chapin

Silicon Solar Cell

Daryl Chapin, with Bell Labs colleagues Calvin Fuller and Gerald Pearson, invented the first practical device for converting sunlight into useful…
Inducted in: 2008
Born:
U.S. Patent No.: 2,780,765
Died:

Robert N. Hall

Semiconductor Laser

Robert Hall invented the version of the magnetron that operates most microwave ovens, the semiconductor laser found in compact disc players, and…
Inducted in: 1994
Born:
U.S. Patent No.: 2,994,018
Died:

Charles G. Page

High-Voltage Induction Coil

Charles Grafton Page invented the first high-voltage induction coil in 1836. The high-voltage induction coil became an important tool of scientific…
Inducted in: 2006
Born:
U.S. Patent No.: 76,654
Died:
Raymond V. Damadian headshot

Raymond V. Damadian

Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Raymond Damadian invented the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner, which has revolutionized the field of diagnostic medicine. Born in Forest…
Inducted in: 1989
Born:
U.S. Patent No.: 3,789,832
Died:
Military Service: U.S. Air Force
Robert H. Dennard

Robert H. Dennard

Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM)

Robert Heath Dennard invented one-transistor Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), which significantly increased computer memory density while…
Inducted in: 1997
Born:
U.S. Patent No.: 3,387,286
Died:
Peter Mansfield headshot

Peter Mansfield

Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Peter Mansfield invented echo-planar imaging (EPI), the first fast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique. EPI provides precise images of the…
Inducted in: 2007
Born:
U.S. Patent No.: 4,115,730
Died:
Ernest Orlando Lawrence

Ernest Orlando Lawrence

Cyclotron

Ernest Orlando Lawrence invented the cyclotron, a particle accelerator that uses a strong magnetic field to bend the path of charged particles, or…
Inducted in: 1982
Born:
U.S. Patent No.: 1,948,384
Died:
Charles Proteus Steinmetz headshot

Charles Proteus Steinmetz

Alternating Current

Without Charles Steinmetz's theories of alternating current, the expansion of the electric power industry in the United States in the early 20th…
Inducted in: 1977
Born:
U.S. Patent No.: 533,244
Died:

Thomas Seavey Hall

Improvement in Electrical Signals

The 1860s and 1870s were pivotal decades for improving safety in the railroad industry. Many of these innovations were invented by Thomas Seavey Hall…
Inducted in: 2007
Born:
U.S. Patent No.: 89,308
Died:

Carl Djerassi

Oral Contraceptives

Carl Djerassi is recognized for his breakthroughs in chemistry and for his effective translation of theory into practice. His achievements include…
Inducted in: 1978
Born:
U.S. Patent No.: 2,744,122
Died:
Edwin Howard Armstrong headshot

Edwin Howard Armstrong

FM Radio

The inventions of engineer Edwin Howard Armstrong were so important that to this day every radio or television set makes use of one or more of his…
Inducted in: 1980
Born:
U.S. Patent No.: 1,342,885
Died:
Military Service: U.S. Army

William D. Coolidge

X-Ray

William D. Coolidge's name is inseparably linked with the X-ray tube -- popularly called the "Coolidge tube." This invention completely…
Inducted in: 1975
Born:
U.S. Patent No.: 1,203,495
Died: