Pioneer Library System

In honor of National Inventor Month, the Pioneer Library System offers you its top ten inventors list. For books about these men in your local hometown library, be sure to click on the links.

1. Johannes Gutenberg: invented the movable type press in 1440. This invention set the stage for large scale printing of books and brought books to everyone. Is it any wonder that a library picked Gutenberg as our number one inventor?
2. Alexander Fleming: discovered the penicillin antibiotic in 1928. This discovery has saved countless lives and was one of the first effective drugs for treating syphilis, staph infections, and tuberculosis.
3. Alexander Graham Bell: invented the telephone in 1876-- The first telephone conversation was between Bell and Watson and said "Mr. Watson. Come here. I need you."
4. Thomas Edison: invented the incandescent light bulb in 1879. It is a common misperception that he invented the first electric light, an honor which goes to Humphrey Davie in 1809.
5. Tim Berners Lee: You wouldn't be reading this webpage right now if not for this man. Some have hailed him as the creator of the internet for his invention of http:// protocol in 1990
6. Nikola Tesla: Invented the Tesla coil in 1891, a radio part still used today. Tesla also invented the modern radio, the induction motor, and fluorescent lighting.
7. Karl Benz: invented the first practical automobile powered by an internal combustion engine in 1885. The honor for the first automobile goes to Joseph Cugnot in 1769 for a steam powered automobile.
8. Paul Nipkow: Invented in 1884, Nipkow gave us the first electromechanical television scanning system. If you like television broadcasting, you should learn more about this man.
9. Leonardo Da Vinci: Invented the automated bobbin winder and a machine for testing the tensile strength of wire, conceptualized the helicopter, tank, concentrated solar power, calculator, the double hull and outlined a rudimentary theory of plate tectonics between 1452-1519. Limited mainly by the materials of his time, this man may have been the best conceptual inventor ever.
10. Carlton Magee: This great mind can't be left off of the list! Invented in 1935 and first used in Oklahoma City, the parking meter might have never been invented without Carl Magee.

For more on inventions and inventors, peruse these titles and then see if you agree with our list of the all time greats.