NPR Stories | Invention Stories and the Inventors Behind Them
Over the years NPR has put together a collection of fascinating stories and interviews about inventors and inventrepreneurs. For your convenience here are a few of them which we will be adding to over the next few months.
The Mind of the Inventor. Exploring the Process of Inventing, Talk of the Nation, December 24, 2004. "How do great inventors like Dean Kamen (the Segway), Woody Norris (diagnostic ultrasound), and Max Levchin (PayPal) come up with their innovative ideas? A new book claims that most of them follow an 11-step process. We explore the process of inventing." Ira Flatow speaks with Nick Holonyak (John Bardeen Chair, Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Illinois in Urbana) and Evan I. Schwartz (contributing writer, MIT's Technology Review; author of Juice: The Creative Fuel That Drives World-Class Inventors, Harvard Business School Press). Listen to this NPR interview about innovation and what makes successful inventors so successful.
Steve Wozniak, Computer Pioneer and Inventor. Talk of the Nation, September 29, 2006. "The man who co-founded Apple Computer and helped start the personal computer revolution, Steve Wozniak, talks about hacks and pranks, the early days at Apple, and the present and future of technology. Wozniak's new book is iWoz: From Computer Geek to Cult Icon: How I Invented the Personal Computer, Co-Founded Apple, and Had Fun Doing It. Just over 30 years ago, a group of engineers, hackers, computer enthusiasts met in what today we call Silicon Valley. It was a regular meeting of the Homebrew Computer Club: a discussion of chips, wires, the offerings of a growing number of electronics manufacturers. But at one meeting in 1975, a club member named Steve Wozniak set up a computer he had designed and built on his own. It had features that no one had ever seen before, features like a keyboard. You could type on it instead of having to flip toggle switches or deal with punch cards. It had a TV screen, not a paper tape or a printout. And it was what today we know as the Apple I, and it sparked a revolution in computing, starting to put the personal into personal computers." Wozniak was inducted into the Inventors Hall of Fame in 2000. View Wozniak's patent for the Apple IIe. Listen to Ira Flatow's interview with Steve Wozniak. Discover the latest books by Ira Flatow.
Scuderi Family Helps Realize Inventor's Dream, All Things Considered, August 18, 2007. "Carmelo Scuderi, who died in 2002, was an engineer who dreamed about reinventing the engine. . . Today, his children are trying to launch their dad's invention. It's called the Scuderi Air Hybrid. . . [They] hope his innovative engine will present the automotive industry with a new, lower cost, lower pollution driving option." View videos about Carmelo Scuderi's life, his compressor technology invention credited with playing a major role in restoring Earth's ozone layer by reducing CFCs and his Scuderi engine. Listen to the NPR story by Susan Kaplan.
Inventor Dean Kamen, NPR Fresh Air from WHYY, February 10, 2003. "[Dean Kamen] invented the Segway Human Transporter, a high-tech scooter. The scooter relies on sensors, sold-state gyroscopes and software to produce a balanced ride even over rough terrain. Kamen's other inventions include a portable drug-infusion pump, a compact dialysis machine and a wheelchair that can climb stairs. Kamen heads DEKA Research and Development Corporation in New Hampshire." Listen to this Fresh Air NPR interview of Dean Kamen by Terry Gross.
Aaron Sorkin Gives 'Farnsworth Invention' Its Due, NPR Morning Edition, December 4, 2007. Aaron Sorkin's play, The Farnsworth Invention tells the true story of the birth of television and the battle to control the patents for it. Philo T. Farnsworth was a self-trained scientist who grew up on a farm in Idaho; he came up with the first workable idea for television. David Sarnoff was the Machiavellian visionary who was one of the founders of RCA and NBC." The play casts actor Jimmi Simpson as Philo Farnsworth in an imagined conversation with his nemesis, Sarnoff. Listen to the NPR story by Jeff Lunden.
Guitar Legend, Inventor and Innovator Les Paul, NPR, August 13, 2009. "The Life of Les Paul. Music legend Les Paul, credited with changing the music industry with the electric guitar [see Les Paul's patent - patent number 3,018,680] and multitrack recording, died Thursday at age 94." He was inducted into the Inventor Hall of Fame in 2005. "Les Paul delighted in telling stories of his discoveries: he took the diaphragm out of a telephone hand set and wired it to his radio to make his voice come out of the speaker; he made his own disc cutter out of a Cadillac flywheel. In 1941, Paul constructed his famous "Log," as it was called — a four-by-four piece of lumber with strings and a pickup. While others were also experimenting, it was his first solid body electric guitar. It didn't go over so well — the story goes that when he took it to Gibson Mandolin and Guitar Company, they laughed him out of the building. So he continued working on it at the same time he was experimenting with something called "Sound on Sound." Listen to Les Paul and Mary Ford sing "How High The Moon." Listen to the NPR story by Tom Cole or the NPR Fresh Air story aired on WHYY.
Inventive Bunch Heads to Hall of Fame, NPR Morning Edition, May 5, 2006. Renee Montagne talks with Fred Allen, head of the selection committee for the National Inventors Hall of Fame in Akron, Ohio, about this year's inductees. "Their inventions range from fiberglass and the birth-control pill [Gregory Pincus] to Gore-Tex [Robert W. Gore] and the Internet [ Vinton Cerf and Robert Kahn]." Listen to the NPR story by Renee Montagne.
The Computer Chip and the Role of Inventors in Building Today's Digital World, Talk of the Nation - Science Friday, July 1, 2005. "[In The History of the Computer Chip, NPR looks] back at the invention of the computer chip and the role of the inventors who helped build today's digital world." Ira Flatow speaks with "Leslie Berlin, project historian for the Silicon Valley Archives and author of The Man Behind the Microchip. Currently a visiting scholar at Stanford University, Stanford, Calif." Listen to the NPR story by Ira Flatow.
Seat Belt Inventor, All Things Considered, September 20, 2002. "John Ydstie talks to Gunnar Ornmark, stepson of [Swedish inventor] Nils Bohlan, the inventor of the modern three-point seatbelt. Bohlan will be inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame during a ceremony in Akron, Ohio, tomorrow. The three-point seatbelt is believed to have saved as many as one million lives since its development 43 years ago." Listen to this NPR story by John Ydstie.
Inventing a Better -- Colored -- Bubble, NPR Morning Edition, December 22, 2005. "Tim Kehoe spent 11 years on a mission to create bubbles that retain a rich, solid color and don't stain when they pop. The result: colored bubbles being marketed as Zubbles, due to be available in spring of 2006. Renee Montagne talks with Kehoe." Listen.
Cell Phone Inventor Envisioned Wireless World, Implants, NPR Morning Edition, April 1, 2008. “Martin Cooper invented the cell phone, a device that has transformed communication. He tells the Reuters news service that people thought he was ‘crazy’ to talk about phones in people's pockets. But Cooper's dreams were actually bigger, and he's a little disappointed that more progress hasn't been made. He had hoped that one day, all phones would be wireless. He also expected that people would someday have devices embedded in their bodies.” Listen to this NPR story by Steve Inskeep.
Oxford Unversity Professor Joshua Silver's Do-It-Yourself Prescription Glasses. NPR Weekend Edition, February 6, 1999. "[NPR's Scott Simon] talks with Professor Josh Silver [of Oxford University] about his new invention - adjustable prescription eyeglasses [which were developed to correct nearsightedness (myopia) and farsightedness]." Listen to this NPR interview by Scott Simon.
Words of Appreciation to the Inventor of Stove Top Stuffing, NPR Morning Edition, November 23, 2005. "[For] those of us without the time or energy to make oyster stuffing this Thanksgiving, there is an alternative. It only takes five minutes to prepare and you can make it right on your own stove or in your microwave, as you might imagine from the name Stove Top Stuffing. . .[Its lead inventor] Ruth Siems was said to be instrumental at arriving at the precise crumb dimension to get the right texture for the stuffing. And for that, her name was listed first on the patent for Stove Top taken out in 1975. This Thanksgiving, the buyers of 60 million boxes of Stove Top can thank Ruth Siems, who died [in November 2005] at home in Newburgh, Indiana." Listen to this NPR story by Steve Inskeep and other stories about Thanksgiving food gifts, gift-giving and Thanksgiving memories.
Mothers of Invention: Parenthood and Profit, All Things Considered, November 13, 2005. "Tinkle Targets and crustless sandwich cutters: These are just two of the many parenting products invented by mothers. Jennifer Ludden discusses invention and motherhood with Tamara Monosoff, author of The Mom Inventor's Handbook: How to Turn Your Great Idea into the Next Big Thing." Listen to this story by Jennifer Ludden.
