Week 11 Summary Essay
This week I learned about more inventions, a couple of them are even lifesavers! The inventions were ether, invented by Crawford Long, and the fax machine, invented by Alexander Bain, who also invented the electric clock. I also learned about the iron steam passenger ship, which was invented by Isambard Brunel. Finally, my personal favorite invention I learned about this week, the homemade ice cream maker, which was invented by Nancy Johnson. Here is a short paragraph about each of them.
The first invention I learned about was ether, and how it was invented. The crazy thing is that many people think different men invented it. Joseph Priestly, the inventor of soda water, experimented with different gases, including nitrous oxide. Later, Humphrey Davy experimented with nitrous oxide, and ether. He discovered that the chemical ether is a drug that makes you nauseous. It makes you do actions or activities you wouldn’t normally do, therefore, it may cause wounds. No one, however, has remembered the event. Crawford Long, was a doctor in Georgia and became interested in ether. He too, experimented with it and, when satisfied, he used it during surgery, and was successful. After his death, three men, Drs. Jackson, Morton, and Wells experimented with the chemical, but each wanted to get credit for it. They fought for it until all three men passed away, after which Crawford Long received credit for ether.
The next lesson was about the fax machine. It was invented by Alexander Bain. You see, after Bain invented and patented the electric clock, he started inventing more things. He became interested in electricity and electromagnetism. He studied and experimented and finally invented his fax machine. When finished, he improved it, but when he went to patent his fax machine, a better one had already been patented two years earlier by someone else. Many people have invented their own fax machines, and it evolved into what we have today. Of course, computers and other mechanical devices have replaced it almost entirely, but they are still in use a little today.
The next thing I learned about in week eleven was the iron steam passenger ship, invented by Isambard Brunel, son of Marc Brunel, the inventor of the tunneling shield. At the age of four, Isambard was taught engineering by his father. At the age of eight, he knew many things, including geometry. He was born in England in 1806, but his parents were French. He became the apprentice to a clockmaker. There he learned the art of clockmaking. He retired from his apprenticeship and came back to England. That was when his father was working on his invention, the tunneling shield. He worked with Mark Brunel and became interested in inventing. He later built his first iron steam passenger steam ship, which was named the SS Great Britain. Many doubted him and said that the ship would need so much fuel that there would be no room for cargo, but he discovered that, the bigger the ship, the less fuel. He also found that the bigger the ship, the more efficient it is. Another company used steam for their ship also, which set sail four days earlier than the SS Great Britain. Brunel’s SS Great Britain arrived only a day after the other ship. Iron steam passenger ships are still in use today.
In the next lesson, I learned about the ice cream maker. Unlike all the other inventions I have learned about in this course, the ice cream maker was invented by a female, whose name was Nancy Johnson. Her invention was more efficient than the old method and could make ice cream so much faster! No one really knows much about her, but we do know that she patented her invention. However, she sold her patent rights for about $2,000 to $15,000, for she did not have enough money for food, and ice cream shops began to sprout up everywhere. Before the ice cream maker, a modern cone of ice cream cost almost $200, when now, it costs around $5! Ice cream is a delicious treat that has made a wonderful impact in history.
Remember earlier when I said that some of these inventions were lifesavers? They actually are! I’m not really talking about the ice cream maker when I say that; I mostly mean ether, or the iron steam passenger ship. Either way, all these inventions have made incredible impacts on history, and many are still in use today.