# People with more than one major invention **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 14, 2017, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-more-than-one-major-invention/782127 "2017-03-14T02:27:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![boffking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/858c86/32.png) [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-more-than-one-major-invention/782127/21 "2017-03-14T12:22:43Z")
Does starting a company really count as an invention? ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-more-than-one-major-invention/782127/22 "2017-03-14T12:45:54Z")
> [@ssgenius](#): > > Another interesting item is that almost all of these people with multiple patents are male. 😃 > > It must be something about the Male mind that leads to invention although there certainly are exceptions. > > Thanks This is going to go well. What are you looking to do with this list? Bottom line is that there is a combo of innovation and commercialization which translates to a serial patenter. As mentioned upthread, Edison was as much of a commercializer as Jobs. Both set up cultures that attracted innovation and combined them in commercializable ways, ways visionary enough to be at the edge of what folks were ready to accept. Culturally, women have been aggressively held back from leadership roles in innovation and business commercialization. Your observation about women and patents suggests more cultural influence on innovation more than on genetic deficiency. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-more-than-one-major-invention/782127/23 "2017-03-14T13:07:36Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Culturally, women have been aggressively held back from leadership roles in innovation and business commercialization. Your observation about women and patents suggests more cultural influence on innovation more than on genetic deficiency. There’s also the matter of recognition. In about half my projects, when we explain that SAP prepares purchasing requisitions automatically, the women find it normal or at most say ‘oh, nice’ sotto voce; most of the guys find it an incredibly amazing notion, ‘what? But, but, how?’. Call it the grocery list and it’s nothing worth talking about; call it MRP and you get books and articles out of it. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-more-than-one-major-invention/782127/24 "2017-03-14T14:03:37Z")
Back to Tesla, who is mythologized and misunderstood in a dozen different ways, especially by the crew over at \*Cracked, \*in the context of the OP question… credit him with both the implementation of AC power, essential to the modern world, and the pneumatic brake, still use on trains, trucks and other large vehicles with greater safety than other methods. Very different inventions rather than fifteen variations on a theme as some others have, or as Tesla himself is often credited with. (That is, he did more than electrical stuff.) ---
**Author:** ![drewder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-more-than-one-major-invention/782127/25 "2017-03-14T14:18:47Z")
Leonardo da Vinci ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-more-than-one-major-invention/782127/26 "2017-03-14T14:21:37Z")
George Stephenson invented the miner’s safety lamp (before/independently of Humphry Davy, who took the credit) and the steam locomotive. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-more-than-one-major-invention/782127/27 "2017-03-14T14:24:22Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > This is going to go well. > > … > > Culturally, women have been aggressively held back from leadership roles in innovation and business commercialization. Your observation about women and patents suggests more cultural influence on innovation more than on genetic deficiency. Word, man. Women were busy with laundry, cooking, and dying in childbirth, leaving the men with a bit more free time to pursue their tinkering with machines and chemicals. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-more-than-one-major-invention/782127/28 "2017-03-14T14:44:07Z")
> [@ssgenius](#): > > Yes, I am well aware that a lot of these inventions are build on other people’s ideas and the person who takes credit for it is the one who knows it the best. > > Very good point with Steve Woznick and Steve Jobs. Yes, Woz was the technical genius behind the Apple but it was the Steve Jobs combination of making it useable and presenting as a great idea to the public. > > Also, a lot of the subcomponents of the Apple (Floppy Drive and Hard-drive for example) were developed by others but it was Steve Jobs that put it all together in one package first. I still want to push back against this. It’s very natural for us as humans to want to put a singular human face on things. To trace everything back to a single hero or villain. Modern technology isn’t very amenable to that, but our instincts can’t be changed – all we can do is resist them. Steve Jobs was working in a company with thousands of engineers including wozniak, and dozens, maybe hundreds, of designers. And combining ideas and tech that was out there. Yes all inventions do this, but it’s a question of degree. There were already smartphones out there. Making a particularly sweet variant is not normally what we call inventing. > [@](#): > > Same point with Thomas Edison as no doubt he had a large staff supporting him, but there has to be someone putting this all together and history has given him credit even though others may have done more of the ground work. Doesn’t really address what I said. I wouldn’t call just buying a patent and then having a flair for salesmanship “inventing”. I don’t want to minimize their contributions. But describing them as the sole inventors definitely minimizes others’. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-more-than-one-major-invention/782127/29 "2017-03-14T14:54:55Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > There were already smartphones out there. Making a particularly sweet variant is not normally what we call inventing. And the iPhone was famously (among the tech-aware) built from “last week’s” technology in all but a few places, using established components rather than the newest razzle-dazzle ones. The combination brought something new into the world, but more on the order of an innovative wedding cake than a completely new food group. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-more-than-one-major-invention/782127/30 "2017-03-14T15:24:57Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > Doesn’t really address what I said. I wouldn’t call just buying a patent and then having a flair for salesmanship “inventing”. I think defining Edison in this way sells him dramatically short. I know it’s in vogue to go after Edison as some sort of dullard businessman, but he did indeed invent the phonograph and long lasting carbon filament in light bulbs. Two absolutely incredible inventions that he didn’t purchase the patent for nor did he just ‘sell’ it. ---
**Author:** ![ssgenius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@ssgenius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ssgenius)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-more-than-one-major-invention/782127/31 "2017-03-14T15:56:58Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > This is going to go well. > > What are you looking to do with this list? Bottom line is that there is a combo of innovation and commercialization which translates to a serial patenter. As mentioned upthread, Edison was as much of a commercializer as Jobs. Both set up cultures that attracted innovation and combined them in commercializable ways, ways visionary enough to be at the edge of what folks were ready to accept. > > Culturally, women have been aggressively held back from leadership roles in innovation and business commercialization. Your observation about women and patents suggests more cultural influence on innovation more than on genetic deficiency. Yes, I know it is the cultural influence. Just found that fascinating. Plus men in general are more likely to be risk takers. Thanks ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-more-than-one-major-invention/782127/32 "2017-03-14T16:24:44Z")
Just listened to a podcast about [Garrett Morgan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garrett_Morgan), a crazy-inventive guy who came up with: [ul] [li]a belt fastener for sewing machines[/li][li]hair straightening oil[/li][li]a “safety hood” that allowed you to breathe and see in a fire[/li][li]an improved traffic light[/li][/ul] Not a fellow who confined himself to a single discipline. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-more-than-one-major-invention/782127/33 "2017-03-14T17:47:50Z")
Archimedes: The Archimedes screw, the claw of Archimedes, the heat ray (the “200s BC Death Ray”) and may other inventions and mathematical principles. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-more-than-one-major-invention/782127/34 "2017-03-14T18:09:34Z")
**Max Torque** , I was just about to mention Morgan. We Clevelanders are rather proud of him. And **panache** , while Archimedes did invent an impressive variety of things, many of them far before their times, he probably did _not_ actually build his legendary deathray. The only historical references to such a device come only centuries after his death, and you’d think that would be the sort of thing that people would notice and talk about. ---
**Author:** ![Atomic\_Alex](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atomic_alex/32/175_2.png) [@Atomic\_Alex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Alex)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-more-than-one-major-invention/782127/35 "2017-03-14T19:40:15Z")
> [@ssgenius](#): > > The obvious example is Steve Jobs with > > [Steve Jobs - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Jobs) > > Apple/Mac > Ipad > Iphone OK I have no strong opinion on Apple or Steve Jobs either way but aren’t those just a refining of an idea rather than an original idea or invention in themselves? Apple/Mac = Personal Computer Ipad = Tablet (granted the Ipad seemed to take off but there were tablet devices before) Iphone = Mobile Phone I would consider that more good marketing and technological refinement rather than new inventions. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-more-than-one-major-invention/782127/36 "2017-03-14T20:07:42Z")
> [@ssgenius](#): > > Another interesting item is that almost all of these people with multiple patents are male. 😃 Yeah, I’m sure men controlling access to education, money, political power and the like had nothing to do with that… and counterpoint: [Hedy Lamarr](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedy_Lamarr#Inventor) ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-more-than-one-major-invention/782127/37 "2017-03-14T20:35:26Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > **Max Torque** , I was just about to mention Morgan. We Clevelanders are rather proud of him. In case you were interested, here’s the episode I listened to: [The Dollop #243: Garrett Morgan](http://thedollop.libsyn.com/243-garrett-morgan). It’s irreverent and the language is R-rated, but they like Morgan a lot. I highly recommend the podcast in general. ---
**Author:** ![ssgenius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@ssgenius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ssgenius)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-more-than-one-major-invention/782127/38 "2017-03-14T21:44:29Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Yeah, I’m sure men controlling access to education, money, political power and the like had nothing to do with that… > > and counterpoint: [Hedy Lamarr](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedy_Lamarr#Inventor) I am familiar with Hedy Lamarr’s idea of frequency shifting. (I wonder if a Star Trek author knew of her as they seem to use frequency shifting in about every other episode)😃 I did mention “ALMOST”. There are usually exceptions to most rules and even though Hedy came up with the concept (in partnership with another person), it was not implemented until the 1960s even though the concept was from 1941. Quite a few people involved with various forms of communications have mentioned her and that particular concept. Interesting in that she used a piano as her basis for the frequency shifting but it was a little too difficult to implement at the time of the patent. Thanks ---
**Author:** ![ssgenius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@ssgenius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ssgenius)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-more-than-one-major-invention/782127/39 "2017-03-14T21:52:32Z")
> [@Atomic\_Alex](#): > > OK I have no strong opinion on Apple or Steve Jobs either way but aren’t those just a refining of an idea rather than an original idea or invention in themselves? > > Apple/Mac = Personal Computer > Ipad = Tablet (granted the Ipad seemed to take off but there were tablet devices before) > Iphone = Mobile Phone > > I would consider that more good marketing and technological refinement rather than new inventions. I listed him because his name is familiar and somewhat recent and certainly the personal computer is an invention (even though the original Apple PC was not the first, just one of the most well known when PCs originally became common. Thanks ---
**Author:** ![ssgenius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@ssgenius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ssgenius)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2017, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-more-than-one-major-invention/782127/40 "2017-03-14T22:07:34Z")
Another point is that most “inventions” are usually building on something already existing. For example: Take a lock at Rockets Von Braun (and his group) built on Robert Goddard’s idea’s (as well as a Russian who came up with the concept whose name I forget) In turn, Von Braun’s rockets were further refined by multiple people each adding to what he was developing. As a further example The same analogy could be made with music - Gramaphone - Record Player - Tape Player - Walkman - Ipod/Ipad - to the current Android/I-phone/Windows Phone Thanks [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-more-than-one-major-invention/782127.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-more-than-one-major-invention/782127.md?page=3)