These are the people who pioneered the technology that defines much of modern American Life. These are the stories of their determination and discoveries. These are the heroes of modern technology some of them are well known, others are probably unknown to you. But all of them can inspire us to pursever in our educations, in our innovative ideas and in our will to succeed.

Eli Whitney Pioneer of Modern Manufacturing

Though perhaps best known for his invention of the cotton gin, Eli Whitney's greatest innovation pioneered the era of mass production and modern manufacturing methods. In 1798, the federal government--fearing war with France--awarded Eli Whitney a contract of $134,000 to produce and deliver 10,000 muskets. With this contract, Whitney refined and successfully applied his revolutionary, "Uniformity System" of manufacturing interchangeable components. Faced with skepticism and delays in implementing his new production method, Whitney convinced President John Adams of the great significance of his innovative approach by demonstrating that randomly selected parts could be fitted together into a complete, working musket lock. Though it took ten years to deliver the last of the muskets, the federal government's investment and support enabled Whitney to prove the feasibility of his system and establish it as the leading source of the modern assembly line.

Philo T. Farnsworth Pioneer of Television

Philo T. Farnsworth had a dream of capturing light pictures in a jar and transmitting them. At the age of 14 he first sketched his concept for his high school science teacher. By the age of 19 he had initiated his research on a set of technologies that would become the basis of television as we know it today. An intriguing part of the story is his legal battles with the Radio Corporation of America. For the unfolding story as told by Paul Schatzkin read The Farnsworth Chronicles.

Nikola Tesla Pioneer of AC Power Distribution

Nikola Tesla arrived in America with four cents in his pocket. He had been trained at the Technical University of Graz and the University of Prague. His first invention was a telephone repeater. He visualized the principle of the induction motor which became the insight that led him to successful utilization of alternating current. Upon arrival in America his first employer was Thomas Edison at Edison's laboratory in New Jersey. The two inventor quickly had a falling out and went their separate ways. Tesla eventually sold the patent rights to his polyphase system of alternating-current dynamos, transformers and motors to George Westinghouse. An intense competition ensued between Edison's direct current power system and Tesla's alternating current system, as we know Tesla won. Tesla received more than 700 patents including alternating-current power transmission, tesla coil transformer, wireless communications, radio, and fluorescent lights. Additional Information

Edwin Howard Armstrong Pioneer of FM Radio

Edwin Howard Armstronginvented the regenerative receiver, superheterodyne circuit and FM radio. He did most of his pioneering work as a student and ultimately as a professor at Columbia University. His story tragic story is told in an excellent biography by Lawrence Lessing entitled "Man of High Fidelity: Edwin Howard Armstrong". PBS also has features Armstrong in the "Empire of the Air".

Charles Martin Hall Pioneer of the Electrolytic Process for Refining Aluminum

Charles Martin Hall became very interested in developing a process for refining Aluminum when he was in high school. When he entered Oberlin College he was encouraged by Professor Frank F. Jewett who encouraged him and gave him some materials. On February 23, 1886 eight months after graduating from college Hall successfully demonstrated the production of Aluminum by the electrolysis of aluminum oxide dissolved in a cryolite-aluminum fluoride mixture in the woodshed behind his families Oberlin home. Hall was also very adept in commercializing his discovery, within three years he and his partners were producing Aluminum metal in quantity. Their new company ultimately became the Aluminum company of America , ALCOA. Additional Information ( This can be a difficult link to connect to, but the story is worth the effort.)

Henry Ford Pioneer of the Automobile

Henry Ford developed the automobile and founded one of America's great companies. In the begining Henry Ford was the creator, chief engineer and CEO. He named his cars after letters of the alphabet and initially you could have any color you wanted as long as it was black. In the first 15 months of his companies operation they produced 1700 cars. But who was Alfred P. Sloan?

Robert Goddard Pioneer of the Rocket

Robert Hutchings Goddard was one of the pioneers of modern rocketry. He was born on October 5, 1882 in Worcester, Massachusetts. He spent his early life there, and received his doctorate at Clark University in Worcester.. In 1919, he published ``A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes,'' in which he proposed using rockets to travel to the moon. Goddard did extensive research to advance the field of rocketry during his life. He was the first to show that rockets could operate in vacuum, developed much of the mathematics of rocketry, and was a pioneer in rocket instrumentation and gyroscopic control. His most significant achievement is considered to be the development of the liquid-fueled rocket, which provides considerably more control of thrust than solid-fueled rockets. His first successful launch of a liquid-fueled rocket was on March 16, 1926. As a visionary, Goddard was often ridiculed, and during World War II, the U.S. government was not convinced of the value of rockets. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center is named in honor of his contribution. for more details.

Orville and Wilbur Wright Pioneers of Flight

Orville and Wilbur Wright working first from their bike shop and later in 1903 at Kitty Hawk, N.C. demonstrated the principles of flight. The Invention of Flight and Orville and Wilbur have detailed descriptions of the brothers experiments and (300) pictures of some of those early tests. It also contains an extensive bibliography and descriptions of the contributions of some of the other pioneers of flight. Original Articles written by Orville and Wilbur.

Dilbert Pioneer of the Comics Dilbert has become the first engineer to be a hero of the comic pages. Dilbert has also invented numerous ideas most of which have yet to be commercialized. For example Dilbert has invented glasses that screen out unpleasant sights. He has also invented the holographic flower bouquet which could be programmed to change on all special occasions, the trans-dimensional radio and a solid particle bridge to permanently connect the earth to the moon. To catch up on other inventions you might have missed or future inventions visit Dilbert at his home page or in the daily comics.

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