Wheelbarrow (Han Dynasty) [Ancient Inventions Series]
Wheelbarrow is a hand-propelled carrier that places a load on a frame supported partly by a single wheel. Its historical setting is also noted.
Anchor [Ancient Inventions Series]
Anchors limit vessel drift through weight, friction, or seabed penetration, with materials, early evidence, uses, and later development traced.
Lock and Key [Ancient Inventions Series]
Lock and key systems use matching keys to align internal parts and release or secure fasteners, with their early forms and later development traced.
Groma Surveying Instrument [Ancient Inventions Series]
Groma Surveying Instrument used suspended plumb lines to establish straight alignments and right angles. Its later development is also traced.
Plumb Bob [Ancient Inventions Series]
Plumb Bob is a dense weight suspended from a cord to create a visible local vertical reference. Early evidence and later changes are traced.
Balance Scale [Ancient Inventions Series]
Balance Scale is a measuring instrument that compares unknown and known masses through beam equilibrium. Its later development is traced.
Nilometer [Ancient Inventions Series]
Nilometer is a fixed river-level gauge used to measure the rise and fall of the Nile against a marked scale. Its later development is traced.
Shaduf [Ancient Inventions Series]
Shaduf is a hand-operated, counterweighted lever that raises water from a lower source to a higher channel, basin, or field.
Steam engine (Watt design) [Industrial Age Inventions Series]
Steam engine is a more fuel-efficient steam engine design that kept the working cylinder hot while condensing steam in a separate chamber.
Electric light arc lamp [Industrial Age Inventions Series]
Electric light arc lamp is a lamp that creates intense light from an electric arc between two separated electrodes. Its later development is traced.
Electric tram [Industrial Age Inventions Series]
Electric tram is a rail-guided urban passenger vehicle powered by electricity. The surviving record and later development are also considered.
Elevator (Otis safety brake) [Industrial Age Inventions Series]
Elevator (Otis safety brake) was designed to stop a hoist or elevator platform if the lifting rope failed. Its later development is traced.
Automobile (Benz Patent-Motorwagen) [Industrial Age Inventions Series]
Automobile (Benz Patent-Motorwagen) is a three-wheeled, gasoline-powered motor vehicle designed as an integrated self-propelled automobile.
Internal combustion engine [Industrial Age Inventions Series]
Internal combustion engine burns fuel inside the engine so expanding gases can produce mechanical work. Its historical setting is also noted.
Refrigeration machine [Industrial Age Inventions Series]
Refrigeration machine moves heat from a colder space or liquid to a warmer surroundings by using mechanical work, a refrigerant, or another cooling cycle.
Gramophone [Industrial Age Inventions Series]
Gramophone is a mechanical sound recording and playback system based on a laterally cut disc record and an acoustic reproducer.
Linotype machine [Industrial Age Inventions Series]
Linotype machine cast a complete line of type as one metal slug. The record follows its origins, use, surviving evidence, and later development.
Rotary press [Industrial Age Inventions Series]
Rotary press prints by passing paper between rotating cylinders carrying inked printing surfaces. Early evidence and later changes are traced.
Type casting machine [Industrial Age Inventions Series]
Type casting machine was used to cast metal printing type from a mold or matrix for letterpress printing. Its later development is also traced.
Morse code [Industrial Age Inventions Series]
Morse code is a signal code that represents letters, numbers, and signs through short and long signals. Its later development is also traced.
Analytical engine (Babbage) [Industrial Age Inventions Series]
Babbage’s Analytical Engine proposed programmable mechanical computing with memory, arithmetic processing, punched-card control, and output.
