The World's Greatest Inventors And What They Invented

Home Technology 40 Greatest Inventors In World History And What They Invented

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40 Greatest Inventors In World History And What They Invented

By Joe Burgett - March 25, 2020

14. Alexander Fleming

Most Famous For Inventing: The First True Antibiotic & The Enzyme Lysozyme

Alexander Fleming was a brilliant biologist, physician, and pharmacologist. We know Fleming more for his discoveries than inventions but they work hand-in-hand. Alexander randomly discovered the infamous mold known as benzylpenicillin had bacteria-fighting power. He had been doing research on staphylococci beforehand.

This is a very dangerous bacteria that Fleming wanted to learn more about, ideally to fight it. He stacked all of his staph cultures in the corner of his lab but upon returning, one had a fungus on it that completely destroyed the bacteria. This benzylpenicillin mold was the key to fighting bacteria. As a result, he invented the first antibiotic we know today as Penicillin. He earned the Nobel Prize for this along with his colleagues in 1945, despite having discovered and invented everything years prior.

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13. Humphry Davy

Most Famous For Inventing/Discovering: Davy/Arc Lamp, Laughing Gas, Multiple Scientific Elements

Humphry Davy is one of the greatest inventors in history but technically one of the best discoverers too. Davy came up with ingenious concepts to actually make major discoveries. He often worked with electricity, allowing him to make lamps such as the now infamous Davy & Arc Lamps that miners used while mining. Through electricity, he was also able to isolate major elements for the first time.

He essentially discovered Potassium, Sodium, Calcium, Strontium, Barium, Magnesium, & Boron. He then discovered the elemental nature of Chlorine & Iodine as well. By doing this, Humphry invented a new form of electrochemistry. Davy also worked and experimented with nitrous oxide, claiming it made him laugh yet also had pain-relieving properties. He nicknamed it, “laughing gas.”

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12. Louis Pasteur

Most Famous For Inventing: Pasteurization, Germ Theory, Vaccines For Rabies & Anthrax

Before French chemist & biologist Louis Pasteur came along, drinking milk or wine was a gamble. He invented a treatment to rid both of possible bacterial contamination. This makes them safer and able to last forever nearly, as well as many of the products they are used in. Pasteurization as it came to be called, is now in use all over the world. Yet Pasteur did far more than this.

He invented the first vaccines for rabies and anthrax, something we still use today. He even found a way to reduce the death rate of puerperal fever, which is a postpartum infection that affects a child or mother. Louis also invented and proved the case of Germ Theory, in that germs are what lead to disease.

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11. Albert Einstein

Most Famous For Inventing/Proposing: Theory Of Relativity, Quantum Physics

The brilliant scientist and theoretical physicist, Albert Einstein is also one of the greatest inventors in world history. This truly has to do with his scientific breakthroughs that allowed other ideas to spark. His Theory of Relativity nowadays is not so much a theory than a fact. This connects to Special Relativity and General Relativity. He is also famous for the invention of Quantum Physics. Einstein also discovered the Cosmological Constant & the Unified Field Theory.

During his work on the Manhattan Project, he assisted the Allies scientifically during World War II. Einstein’s equation (E=mc2) made the bomb theoretically possible, starting the bomb research by the Americans. His work led to the invention of the atom bomb, which was developed during the Manhattan Project, even though Albert did not make it himself.

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10. Hedy Lamarr

Most Famous For Inventing: Spread-Spectrum Technology (The Basis Of Wireless Technology)

Hedy Lamarr was known as one of the world’s most beautiful women. Yet one couldn’t overlook her brilliance, as she went on to invent something we still use to this day. During World War II, Hedy invented a radio guidance system that was designed for Allied torpedoes. It works on frequency-hoping spread spectrum technology that made jamming torpedoes impossible.

Yet the United States Navy did not adopt this technology until the 1960s!! This spread-spectrum tech was more important than anyone ever realized, as it actually changed communication technology forever. It is the true technological backbone of all Wireless technology, including Wi-Fi. We also see it in Bluetooth technology, fax machines, and cell phones.

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9. James Watt

Most Famous For Inventing: Watt Steam Engine, International System Of Units (SI Unit Of Power)

James Watt is a chemist and mechanical engineer that became one of the world’s greatest inventors during his life. He invented the Watt Steam Engine, a major improvement on previous steam engines. The way it differed was through his separate condenser. This helped to make the steam engine more energy efficient as it had been wasting more by having to repeatedly cool and heat the cylinder.

Although his steam engine was a massive innovation, it took time to become a commercial success. Companies had to give it a try, which they were hesitant to do. Upon doing so, people loved it and it became THE steam engine used throughout Europe. In his later years, he developed the concept of horsepower as well as the International System of Units and its unit of power, known today as the SI unit of power. “The Watt” would be included later on as part of this, which is to honor SI’s founder.

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8. Michael Faraday

Most Famous For Inventing: Electromagnetic Rotary Devices, System Of Oxidation Numbers

Michael Faraday is one of the greatest inventors and scientists in world history. He often worked alongside Humphry Davy, where the two worked in the electrical field. Yet it was Faraday who discovered the electromagnetic field. He also proved that magnetism can affect rays of light. Faraday then discovered the principles of electromagnetic induction and diamagnetism.

Through this, he learned the laws of electrolysis, allowing him to invent various electromagnetic rotary devices. This is the main concept behind electric motor technology. Faraday’s work with electricity ultimately made it an energy source possible to use for everyone. He also invented the system of oxidation numbers and even popularized terms like Anode, Cathode, Electrode, and Ion.

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7. George Westinghouse

Most Famous For Inventing: Railway Air Brake, Alternating Current Distribution System

George Westinghouse was a brilliant man and one of the world’s greatest inventors during his time. Working as an engineer, he invented the railway air brake, something that helped all trains stop. In fact, this essential fail-safe system is still in place today in both trains and subways. This made him a wealthy man, allowing him to get into the electrical game with Nikola Tesla.

This allowed Westinghouse to develop the electrical distribution system for alternating current. It’s actually in use today every time you plug something in at home. His AC electrical concept was far better than the direct current because it could flow both ways while DC could only flow one way. George’s AC system is what we all use to power things today.

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6. Robert Fulton

Most Famous For Inventing: First Commercially Successful Steamboat, The Submarine

When you talk about the world’s greatest inventors, the list could not be complete without Robert Fulton. While Fulton did not invent the steamboat, but he did invent the first commercially successful version that could travel long distances.

He was even commissioned by former French General & Emperor Napolean Bonaparte to build what would become the first-ever submarine. He called it the Nautilus and it actually worked very well. On top of this, Fulton invented the first successful naval torpedoes for the British Royal Navy. The man changed travel and how militaries operated forever.

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5. Thomas Edison

Most Famous For Inventing: Phonograph, Movie Camera, Direct Current, The Light Bulb

Thomas Edison is not only one of the greatest inventors in history but possibly the greatest ever. It is not hard to see why. Edison held over 1,000 patents for his inventions during his life. This includes the Phonograph, which was the first sound recorder and player. He also invented the first motion picture camera and opened the first film studio.

Edison used his knowledge of sound to make the first automatic telegraph. He then improved on Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone design by inventing a better transmitter, the “Carbon Telephone Transmitter.” Edison also improved the automobile with his invention of the Alkaline Storage Battery. Thomas is also responsible for inventing direct electrical currents for commercial energy use. This helped in his invention of the light bulb, likely his most notable invention.

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4. Leonardo Da Vinci

Most Famous For Inventing: Helicopter, Parachute, Diving Suit, Machine Gun, Tank

People know Leonardo Da Vinci most for his paintings usually. He painted masterpieces like the Mona Lisa & The Last Supper. Both of these are some of the best artworks in world history. However, Da Vinci was a genius who invented several different yet important things. This includes The Parachute, The Tank, The Machine Gun, Diving Suits, and multiple flying machines.

Da Vinci’s most notable flying machine, the Ariel Screw, is the basis for how helicopters work today. He also invented a robot but passed before building it. We know of this due to the discovery of his notebooks with multiple drawings of inventions he had planned. Leonardo also invented the Revolving Bridge, those bridges that open up to let boats go underneath them when the ship is too large.

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3. Hero of Alexandria

Most Famous For Inventing: The Syringe, Force Pump, First Wind-Powered & Automatically Powered Machines

Hero of Alexandria lived during the Greco-Roman era in Alexandria, Egypt. He is notably a skilled machine maker and mathematician. Hero invented the force pump, the hose firemen use today. The first Syringe was his making, which holds and delivers liquid or air of various types. He is also responsible for the first vending machine!

Hero also invented the first wind-powered machine & the first truly automatic machine. The latter was a fountain that worked on hydro-static energy, now called Heron’s Fountain. He also invented a programmable cart that was powered by a falling weight, which consisted of strings wrapped around a drive axle. The man was even was able to uncover the principle for the shortest path of light. This later became the basis for Alhacen’s principle of reflection & refraction.

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2. Nikola Tesla

Most Famous For Inventing: Alternating Current Tech, Hydro-Electric Energy, Tesla Coil, The Remote Control

Many consider Nikola Tesla to be one of the greatest inventors in history due to inventing multiple things we use in some form today. While working for Thomas Edison, Tesla came up with alternating current technology. Deciding to leave Edison behind, he met with George Westinghouse who financed Tesla’s AC ideas, allowing both men to eventually win the “Current War.”

Yet Tesla knew other ways energy could be utilized. This was when he came up with Hydro-Electric Energy, which he used to power the city of Buffalo, NY at one point. Many feel his Telsa Coil is his most notable invention, however. It laid the foundation for wireless technology, with the radio world still using a form of it today. Oh yeah, and he invented the remote control & discovered Violet Rays.

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1. Archimedes of Syracuse

Most Famous For Inventing: Geometry Of Shapes, Pi, Compound Pullies, Archimedes Screw

Any list of the world’s greatest inventors is not complete without the inclusion of the infamous Archimedes of Syracuse. He invented geometric algorithms, laying the foundation for Calculus among other math forms to work. This includes being the first to use theorems like the area of a circle, surface area, volume, sphere, and the area under a parabola.

He used this to come up with “Pi” too. These theorems allowed him to discover and found statics and hydrostatics, including the entire concept of how levers operated. Later on, people credited him for the invention of compound pullies and the screw pump. The Principle of Buoyancy is credited to him, referred to as the Archimedes Principle. He is also known for, of course, the Archimedes Screw.

Sources: [Live Science, National Geographic, Britannica, Biography.com, History.com, InterestingEngineering.com, AllThatsInteresting.com]

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