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Science marches forward, led by
great inventors who changed America and the world. This program focuses on
inventors who revolutionized communications and those whose brilliance gave
us lasers, plastic, computers, and transistors.
Strong Connections:
Thomas Edison still holds the
record for patents – he held 1,093 patents and claimed countless inventions,
including many that changed our lives: the incandescent light bulb, the phonograph,
and the first movie camera. Alexander Graham Bell developed the first version
of the telephone in 1876, and his invention still has people all over the
world talking more than a century later. Guglielmo Marconi invented the
radio, which entered America’s living rooms as the primary source of
entertainment early in the 20th century. His invention also saved lives on
the Titanic. Software engineer Tim Berners-Lee invented software that became
the World Wide Web, which debuted in 1991 and allowed for the universal
exchange of information from any digital port.
Brave New World:
Physicist Gordon Gould discovered
lasers, which are used for such diverse purposes as buying groceries,
correcting vision, and sending packages. Chemist Leo Baekeland discovered one
of the most important products of the 20th century – plastic. Alan Turing
invented computers, originally to crack German code during World War II. Now
we use computers in nearly every facet of our lives. Leo Szilard developed
the theory of chain reaction and worked with the Manhattan Project to develop
the atomic bomb. When the United States dropped the bomb on Hiroshima in
1945, the event helped shape the modern world. In 1947, William Shockley
contributed one of the greatest inventions of the modern world – the
transistor, which revolutionized electronics, from cell phones to computers
and radios to rockets.
The Just the Facts Learning Series™
offers outstanding programming presented in a fast-paced format that makes
learning fun.
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