Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture Money Videos
invention
Table of Contents
References & Edit History Related Topics
Images
incandescent lightbulb Stone tools Sumerian cuneiform tablet Johannes Gutenberg Evangelista Torricelli Thomas Edison carburetor power and precision grips Imhotep Archimedes screw
Quizzes
ball bearing. Disassembled ball bearing. rotational friction Automobile Industry, Engineering, Industry, Machine Part, Metal Industry, Sphere, Steel, Wheel
Inventors and Inventions
ornithopter. Airplane and Aircraft. 3D illustration of Leonardo da Vinci's plans for an ornithopter, a flying machine kept aloft by the beating of its wings; about 1490.
Inventions: From Bayonets to Jet Engines
Beet. Beta vulgaris. Sugar beet. Two rows of harvested beets.
History of Scientists, Inventors, and Inventions Quiz
vintage Leica photo camera at KPI Museum, July 24, 2015, in Kiev, Ukraine
Some Practical Inventions Quiz
Clock face of Big Ben.
Scientists and Their Inventions Quiz
Related Questions
Read Next
A Factory Interior, watercolor, pen and gray ink, graphite, and white goache on wove paper by unknown artist, c. 1871-91; in the Yale Center for British Art. Industrial Revolution England
Inventors and Inventions of the Industrial Revolution
Prince. musician Prince (Prince Rogers Nelson). Prince WELCOME 2 AMERICA tour. Exclusive North American Performances, 2010-11
7 Celebrities You Didn’t Know Were Inventors
The Apple II
10 Inventions That Changed Your World
Aerial view of Florence (Firenze), Italy from the campanile of the Duomo, with the gigantic dome (designed by Filippo Brunelleschi) in the foreground. Unidentifiable tourists are visible on top of the dome, which provide a measure of the building s scale.
25 Famous Paintings to See the Next Time You’re in Florence
Leonardo da Vinci's Salvator Mundi on show at Christies' Kings Street, before it is offered at auction by Christie's New York
Why Is the Salvator Mundi Called the World’s Most Controversial Painting?
Discover
Black widow spider
9 of the World’s Deadliest Spiders
Lusitania sinking, illustration from The War of the Nations (New York), December 31, 1919. World War I, WWI. This image is one of three on the page. (See source file for the other two.)
7 of the World’s Deadliest Shipwrecks
Set of emoticon. Smile icon set.
What’s the Difference Between Emoji and Emoticons?
Close up of books. Stack of books, pile of books, literature, reading. Homepage 2010, arts and entertainment, history and society
12 Novels Considered the “Greatest Book Ever Written”
Snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus) with its Summer coat on the left side and its winter coat on the right.
7 Animals That Turn White in Winter
Statue of Nostradamus
Nostradamus and His Prophecies
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Mozart rehearsing his 12th Mass with singer and musician. (Austrian composer. (Johann Chrysostom Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
7 Famous Child Prodigies

invention: Related Content

verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Share
Share to social media
URL
https://www.britannica.com/facts/invention-technology
Written and fact-checked by
The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

The Information Architects maintain a master list of the topics included in the corpus of  Encyclopædia Britannica, and create and manage the relationships between them.
The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Photos

incandescent lightbulb
Stone tools
Sumerian cuneiform tablet
Johannes Gutenberg
Evangelista Torricelli
Thomas Edison
carburetor
power and precision grips
Imhotep
Archimedes screw
See All Images →

Related Topics and References

Topics

Key People

Leonardo da Vinci: self-portrait
Leonardo da Vinci
Italian artist, engineer, and scientist
Watch a silent short of Thomas Edison, who invented the phonograph and incandescent electric light
Thomas Edison
American inventor
Galileo
Galileo
Italian philosopher, astronomer and mathematician
Alexander Graham Bell
Alexander Graham Bell
American inventor
Carl Friedrich Gauss
Carl Friedrich Gauss
German mathematician
Alfred Nobel
Alfred Nobel
Swedish inventor
Sir Humphry Davy
Sir Humphry Davy
British chemist
Guglielmo Marconi
Guglielmo Marconi
Italian physicist
James Watt
James Watt
Scottish inventor
Donna Strickland
Canadian physicist
Juan Alberto Grieve
Peruvian inventor
Gérard Mourou
French physicist
Arthur Ashkin
American physicist
Elijah McCoy
Elijah McCoy
American inventor
Valerie Thomas
Valerie Thomas
American scientist and inventor
Otis Boykin
American electrical engineer and inventor
David Unaipon
David Unaipon
Australian inventor, writer, and activist
William Kamkwamba
William Kamkwamba
Malawi inventor and author
Christiaan Huygens
Christiaan Huygens
Dutch scientist and mathematician
Samuel F.B. Morse
Samuel F.B. Morse
American artist and inventor

Related Quizzes and Features

Quiz
Beet. Beta vulgaris. Sugar beet. Two rows of harvested beets.
History of Scientists, Inventors, and Inventions Quiz
Clock face of Big Ben.
Scientists and Their Inventions Quiz
ball bearing. Disassembled ball bearing. rotational friction Automobile Industry, Engineering, Industry, Machine Part, Metal Industry, Sphere, Steel, Wheel
Inventors and Inventions
vintage Leica photo camera at KPI Museum, July 24, 2015, in Kiev, Ukraine
Some Practical Inventions Quiz
ornithopter. Airplane and Aircraft. 3D illustration of Leonardo da Vinci's plans for an ornithopter, a flying machine kept aloft by the beating of its wings; about 1490.
Inventions: From Bayonets to Jet Engines
List
Prince. musician Prince (Prince Rogers Nelson). Prince WELCOME 2 AMERICA tour. Exclusive North American Performances, 2010-11
7 Celebrities You Didn’t Know Were Inventors
The Apple II
10 Inventions That Changed Your World
A Factory Interior, watercolor, pen and gray ink, graphite, and white goache on wove paper by unknown artist, c. 1871-91; in the Yale Center for British Art. Industrial Revolution England
Inventors and Inventions of the Industrial Revolution