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> December 31, 1999:
Hour Two: Greatest Inventions
In 1928, after twelve years of hard work, overcoming monumental obstacles along the way, Otto Frederick Rohwedder saw his dream perfected: packaged sliced bread. And everyone agrees that indeed, this was a truly great thing. | But what was the best thing before sliced bread? Or since sliced bread? Perhaps the assembly line, created by Henry Ford, which led to the mass production of cars -- and much much more. Perhaps the discovery of antibiotics, like Fleming's penicillin, which saved many people from death from infections. Or perhaps the honor for the "greatest thing since sliced bread" title should go to the transistor - a tiny electronic device that is the basis for most of the wired world we live in. |  | There's quite a list of inventions in the past century - atomic energy, genetic splicing, the World Wide Web...what are your picks for the best, worst, and most significant technological developments of the century? Join Ira Flatow and technology historian Edward Tenner on this hour of Science Friday for a discussion of the history of invention. Call in with your thoughts and questions - 1-800-989-8255.
Guests:
Edward Tenner
Author, "When Things Bite Back: Technology and the Revenge of Unintended Consequences"
Visiting Researcher, Department of Geosciences
Princeton University
Princeton, New Jersey
Books/Articles Discussed:
Related Links:
Inventure Place
Patent and Trademark Office Home Page
The Invention Dimension!
Explore Invention at the Lemelson Center
The Tech Museum of Innovation | Tech Museum Home
- This segment produced by:
Melanie Kron
Web producer:
Charles Bergquist |