The Four “Great” Inventions of Ancient

China
• Gunpowder
• The Compass
• Papermaking
• Printing

A South Facing Chinese compass

 Sericulture (Silk Production)
• Legend says that around 2700 BCE, the
Empress Hsi Ling Shi had a silkworm cocoon
fall into her hot tea. As she watched the
stands of fiber unravel, she had a vision of
how to harvest and weave the threads into
silk.
• Making Silk
 Decimal System
• An example of how the Chinese used the
decimal system appears in a transcription
from the 13th century BCE, in which '547 days'
is written 'Five hundred plus four decades plus
seven of days'.
 Spinning Jenny and Power Loom

• Before the Industrial

Revolution, clothes were
made at home.
• Afterwards, clothes
were made by
machines in factories.
• Often these machines
were run by children.
 Steamboat
• Robert Fulton designed a
steam engine for a
steamboat that could
move against the current
of a river or against the
wind.
• The steamboat created
more opportunities for
trade and transportation
on rivers.
 Thomas Edison
1847 – 1931

• His first successful invention was

to improve the stock ticker
• First great invention was the tin foil
phonograph which recorded sound
• First demonstrated the electric
light in 1879
• Invented the kinetoscope
or motion picture camera
 George Eastman
1854 - 1932

• He invented easy use cameras

• And dry, transparent film on rolls
• His inventions made it possible
for Thomas Edison’s motion
picture camera
 Philo T. Farnsworth
1906 - 1971
• September 7, 1927 first components of
the television were demonstrated
• He invented the first electron
microscope and the first
infant incubator
• Electronic eyes he invented
were used in moon landings
 Alexander Graham Bell
1847- 1922

Inventor of the Telephone

1876
The Microphone
The microphone has a
diaphragm where the
sounds waves vibrate.
The amplifier, a small
part of the telephone
then sends it through
to the other line’s
speaker, reinterpreting
the sounds into physical
vibrations.
Components

The speaker picks up

the sounds waves from
the other line, and
sends them through
the network to your
ear drums. The sounds
vibrate in your ear, and
you then have sound.
The Telephone Today
 The
Wright Brothers

Orville and Wilbur Wright developed

the first glider in 1903
Science Fiction ….
Science Fact …