The Woman Behind The Invention
When you take a look around the room what do you see? Well you see things, inventions, that have made daily life so easy for us. But what we don’t think about a lot is who really invented these things? Well in honor of women’s history month we would like to share a few amazing things that women invented!
Monopoly
The story behind who invented monopoly is a fascinating, yet very frustrating one. Monopoly was thought to be created by some Philadelphia business man Charles Todd that was published by Charles Darrow. They used silly rules that expressed the themes of greed and arrogant decision making. The true inventor of Monopoly was Elizabeth Magie. A brave, strong woman who wanted to express through Monopoly the inequalities and flaws in these new monopolists in society. These progressive views on politics were unknown to be seen by a woman. Elizabeth worked night after night on Monopoly, she was the breadwinner of the household and was unmarried. Elizabeth received $500 from the game while Charles Darrow received millions. Elizabeth’s whole goal was to teach people about the insane inequalities in the American economy. Elizabeth made two versions of the game, one for monopolists who crushed each other for power and one was made for anti-monopolists who created wealth together and all were rewarded. Guess which one became popular.
The Fire Escape
The fire escape was in 1887, after the Civil War by Anna Connelly, right after women were legally allowed to file patents themselves. She designed the exterior fire escape, with a steel railing and an accessible railing. This invention targeted the common problems of buildings in the 1800’s of catching fire, due to the undiscovered infrastructure problems at the time. However, Connelly’s invention was not only safe, but it also was an easy fix, since it didn’t have to change the internal workings of a building. Eventually, her invention spread across the country and soon became a requirement in New York’s building codes. Over the years the fire escape saved countless lives and made apartment buildings an easy access to firefighters in cases of an emergency. Now, after 150 years fire escapes have become a requirement by law and have become a simple solution to a deadly problem.
Hydyne Rocket Fuel
After Russia made the first satellite to successfully launch into space in 1957 America needed to get one out too. But they hit a major speed bump; they didn’t have the propellant to get it in space. Rocket propellant is a mixture of fuel and oxidiser. But America had to find the exact right proportion to successfully get a rocket into space. Then when America had no idea what to do Mary Sherman Morgan came and produced the properties needed for the perfect rocket fuel. Mary Sherman Morgan was just from the country before she became a rocket fuel scientist. This woman’s hard work and perseverance led to some of the greatest accomplishments in history. Without her we wouldn’t have been able to make a lot of amazing discoveries. Mary Sherman Morgan made a major breakthrough in rocket science.
BulletProof Fiber
In 1965, a Dupont chemist Stephanie Kowlek created a stronger-than-steel fiber at the Wilignton company in Delaware. Stephanie Kowlek was born and raised in New Kensington, Pennsylvania, and her love for chemistry grew as she got older. Eventually, she graduated from the women’s college of Carnegie Mellon and was appointed a chemist at the Dupont Company. There she worked on polymer research that earned her notability and respect amongst the chemist community. But, it was in her forties when her breakthrough discovery all began. Kowlek was initially assigned to find fibers that could withstand extreme conditions. She devised an experiment that consisted of synthesizing polyamides, dissolving them into solvents, then spinning them into fibers. On the first try, she obtained the seemingly unbreakable fiber, that was later known as Kevlar. Stephanie’s Kowlek’sinvention saved countless lives and is now used in boats, airplanes, ropes, cables, and automobiles. She earned herself a place in the National Women’s Hall of Fame, the National Inventors Hall of Fame, and the National Medal of Technology. Stephanie Kowlek will always be remembered as one of the most influential chemists in history.v
Stem Cell Isolation
Dr. Ann Tsukamoto and her co-patentee, her husband Professor Irv Weissman earned the patent for the process of stem cell isolation in 1991. She was a scientist at Stem Cells Inc. doing a research program with her other world-renowned colleagues when she made her groundbreaking discovery. What was so remarkable about her discovery was that by using an isolated stem, a blood cell, she could find a way to replace a damaged immune system in a patient, through a transplant. This meant that blood cancer patients could now receive a blood transplant with a lower risk of rejection by the immune system. Dr. Ann Tsukamoto’s medical research solved a problem that conflicted scientists for decades and it will not save the lives of patients for years to come.
Takeaways
As technology has advanced, we’ve seen the greatest inventions come and go, but women have commonly been excluded from the discussion. Their accomplishments have been overlooked and underestimated for years, even though women have made some remarkable inventions that have changed history. This just goes to show how women’s creations are often weighed less than mens even though these are some of the most important inventions. Women deserve a lot more credit than what they get. Happy Women’s History Month!!
