We often glide through daily life without a second thought about the brilliant minds behind the gadgets we rely on. In this roundup of 10 inventors you probably haven’t heard of, we’ll dive into the daring experiments, stubborn setbacks, and triumphant breakthroughs that gave us everything from steam power to the hovercraft.
10 Inventors You Should Know
1. Thomas Newcomen First Practical Steam Engine
Thomas Newcomen, an enterprising ironmonger from Dartmouth, tackled the costly problem of using horses to pump water from tin mines by adapting James Watt’s early engine concepts into a workable steam pump. Together with his assistant John Calley, he spent over a decade refining the design, eventually surpassing Thomas Savery’s earlier, unreliable pump.
The Newcomen engine operated by allowing steam pressure to push a piston downward, while the resulting condensation created a vacuum inside the cylinder. A system of alternating valves let steam and water flow in a continuous cycle, delivering a steady, dependable lift for water.
This breakthrough solved the long‑standing drainage issue and spurred a wave of installations, cementing the steam engine’s place in industrial history. As a bonus, a brief self‑promo appears at the end: Hi, I’m Sam. I’m a freelance videographer exploring writing, coding, and photography. Check out my site at www.swipe.co.uk, Facebook @samswipestudios, and Twitter @SamPennSimkins.
2. Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Calculus
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz is often celebrated for inventing differential and integral calculus, though the credit is shared with Isaac Newton. To fund his research, Leibniz built a calculating machine and demonstrated it to the Royal Society during a 1673 visit to London.
By 1675, he had formalized the core principles of calculus, laying the groundwork for modern mathematics. Today, calculus enables precise tracking of spacecraft trajectories and can predict structural failures, such as a dam bursting under excessive pressure.
With the advent of computers, solving calculus problems has become far more efficient than the painstaking manual methods of the 17th century, and the subject remains a gateway for anyone pursuing scientific studies.
3. Trevor Baylis Wind‑Up Radio
English inventor Trevor Baylis was inspired in 1991 after a TV documentary highlighted the AIDS crisis in Africa. He wondered why wind‑up record players existed but not wind‑up radios, and set out to create a clockwork‑driven radio powered by a coiled spring—much like the mechanisms in traditional clocks.
His first prototype ran for roughly 14 minutes, earning him a spot on the BBC’s Tomorrow’s World in 1994. By 1995, Baylis founded BayGen Power Industries in Cape Town, employing disabled workers to produce the radios.
A 1997 redesign made the device lighter, portable, and capable of an hour of playback after just 20 seconds of winding. An added solar panel allowed for completely self‑sufficient operation, and Baylis’s invention garnered numerous awards for its humanitarian impact.
4. Guglielmo Marconi Radio
Italian pioneer Guglielmo Marconi built upon the discoveries of Heinrich Hertz and James Clerk Maxwell, conducting his first radio experiments in 1894 on his family’s estate near Bologna. By 1895 he could transmit signals up to 1.6 km (one mile) away using simple gear: an induction coil, Morse key, and a coherer detector.
Facing little support from the Italian government, Marconi moved to England in 1896, where he met Sir William Preece, chief engineer of the Post Office. Though some accounts suggest he initially approached the Secretary of State for War about radio‑controlled torpedoes, his true breakthrough came in 1901 when he received a trans‑Atlantic signal in St. John’s, Newfoundland, sent from Poldhu, Cornwall.
This historic reception launched the era of radio broadcasting, laying the foundation for the global communications network we still rely on today.
5. John Logie Baird Television
Engineer‑turned‑inventor John Logie Baird endured early hardship, becoming penniless at 35 after several failed ventures. In 1923 he began developing a device that could transmit moving images and accompanying sound via radio waves.
By 1924 Baird successfully televised simple outlines, and in 1925 he produced recognizable human faces. A public demonstration of moving objects at London’s Royal Institution followed in 1926, and the German post office funded a television service for him in 1929.
When the BBC launched its own service in 1936, Baird’s system competed with Marconi’s EM‑I technology. The BBC ultimately chose Marconi’s approach in 1937, but Baird’s pioneering work remains the cornerstone of modern television.
6. Heinrich Hertz Radar
German physicist Heinrich Hertz proved the reality of electromagnetism, confirming James Clerk Maxwell’s 1865 theory. While teaching at Karlsruhe Polytechnic between 1885 and 1889, he conducted experiments that generated and measured electromagnetic waves, showing they behaved like light and heat.
In 1888 Hertz designed a setup where an electrical circuit sparked across a pair of metal rods, producing pulses that were detected by a distant circuit. This experiment marked the first successful transmission and reception of radio waves.
Tragically, Hertz died at just 36, never witnessing Guglielmo Marconi’s later achievements in long‑distance radio communication.
7. Charles Babbage The Computer
While studying mathematics at Cambridge, Charles Babbage set out to create a mechanical table capable of calculating logarithms with pinpoint accuracy. This ambition led to the 1820s “Difference Engine,” a prototype that demonstrated automated computation to eager audiences.
Babbage also envisioned a more sophisticated “Difference Engine 2,” convincing the British government to invest £17,000—an enormous sum for the era—and contributing another £6,000 of his own money.
Although the project never reached completion, Babbage’s visionary designs earned him the title “grandfather of the modern computer,” cementing his legacy as a true pioneer of computing.
8. Peter Durand Tin Can
Peter Durand secured the first patent for the tin can, building on French inventor Nicolas Appert’s earlier method of preserving food in glass jars through sterilization. Durand adapted this technique to metal, placing food inside a sealed tin container, heating it in water, and then resealing it.
The idea originated from French engineer Philippe de Girard, who relayed the concept to Durand and acted as his patent agent. Despite Girard’s involvement, only Durand’s name appeared on the 1810 patent granted by King George III.
Durand’s innovation revolutionized food preservation, paving the way for the modern canned goods industry we rely on today.
9. Frank Whittle The Jet Engine
During his time at the Royal Air Force College, Frank Whittle penned a forward‑thinking paper titled “Future Developments in Aircraft Design,” predicting aircraft capable of exceeding 800 km/h (500 mph) using jet propulsion instead of propellers.
After the Air Ministry dismissed his ideas, Whittle founded Power Jets Ltd. in 1936 while studying at Cambridge. He filed patents for both turbojet and turbofan engines, conducting the first ground test on 12 April 1937.
Four years later, in May 1941, his engine powered the Gloster E28/39 aircraft, proving its superiority. Whittle’s design remains the foundation for the jet engines that propel most modern airplanes.
10. Christopher Cockerell The Hovercraft
Christopher Cockerell’s fascination with hovercraft began after scientists demonstrated a rudimentary prototype that floated on a cushion of air, yet leaked rapidly from its sides. He solved this by inventing an “air wall” that trapped the cushion, preventing escape.
To prove his concept, Cockerell placed a cat‑food tin inside a coffee tin and pumped air between them using a vacuum cleaner, effectively creating a sealed air pocket.
Patented in 1955, his hovercraft successfully completed a test run along England’s south coast four years later. The vehicle proved invaluable for traversing diverse terrains—rivers, deserts, and poorly maintained roads—especially in regions lacking conventional infrastructure.