Inventions and Inventors Volume 1 - Online Public Access Catalog

Publisher’s Note
Publisher’s Note
To many people, the word “invention” brings to mind cleverly contrived
gadgets and devices, such as safety pins, zippers, typewriters,
and telephones—all of which have fascinating stories of invention
behind them. However, the word actually has a much broader meaning,
one that goes back to the Latin word invenire, for “to come upon.”
In its broad sense, an invention can be any tangible device or contrivance,
or even a process, that is brought into being by human imagination.
It is in this broad sense that the term is used in Inventions and Inventors,
the latest contribution to the Magill’s Choice reference books.
This two-volume set contains articles on 195 twentieth century
inventions, which span the full range of human imagination—from
simple gadgets, such as disposable razors, to unimaginably complex
medical breakthroughs, such as genetically engineered insulin.
This set is not an encyclopedic catalog of the past century’s greatest
inventions but rather a selective survey of noteworthy breakthroughs
in the widest possible variety of fields.
A combination of several features sets Inventions and Inventors
apart from other reference works on this subject: the diversity of its
subject matter, the depth of its individual articles, and its emphasis
on the people behind the inventions. The range of subjects covered
here is unusually wide. In addition to articles on what might be considered
“classic” inventions—such as airplanes, television, and satellites—the
set has articles on inventions in fields as diverse as agriculture,
biology, chemistry, computer science, consumer products,
drugs and vaccines, energy, engineering, food science, genetic engineering,
medical procedures, music, photography, physics, synthetics,
transportation, and weapons technology.
Most of this set’s essays appeared earlier in Twentieth Century:
Great Events (1992, 1996) and Twentieth Century: Great Scientific
Achievements (1994). Its longest essays are taken from Great Events
from History II: Business and Commerce Series (1994). Information in
the articles has been updated, and completely new bibliographical
notes have been added to all of them. Half the essays also have original
sidebars on people behind the inventions.
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