Week 6 Summary Essay

             This week I learned about four more amazing, life-changing inventions. Here they are listed in order: the platform scale, the railroad t-rail, the multi-coiled magnet, and finally, the mechanical reaper. These inventions were some of my favorites to learn. I am going to tell you a little bit about them.
             
             The first thing I learned about this week was the platform scale. It was invented in 1830 by Thaddeus Fairbanks. He was trying to figure out an easier way to weigh heavy loads. The platform scale uses a smaller weight and a lever system to weigh large items on the platform. He also started a business selling these platform scales which he called Fairbanks. The business is still in use today, and so are the scales! Platform scales make it easy to weigh heavy items without having to use large counterweights or cranes.

             The next day I learned about the railroad t-rail, which is the iron rails of a railroad track. Its inventor was a man named Robert Stevens, who came from the steamboat industry with his father. In 1830, he invented the flanged t-rail after he had become the president of one of the first railroad companies in America. The t-rails were very strong and stable and were able to carry heavier loads. Trains were able to travel faster on them. They were also much easier to install than the I-rails before them. The development of the railroad and train travel played a major role in the American Civil War, which led to the North defeating the South.

              I learned earlier in this course about the electromagnet invented by William Sturgeon. This week, I learned about Joseph Henry and how he took Sturgeon’s electromagnet and insulated the wiring around the magnet. He could also add more coils and layers of coils around the magnet. This made the electromagnet much stronger. These multi-coil electromagnets were used in the telegraph system, and they inspired the invention of the telephone. They are also used in MRI machines to detect certain diseases. One of the biggest uses of the multi-coil electromagnet is in the power grids of our cities and towns.

              The mechanical reaper is what I learned about next. Its inventers name was Cyrus McCormick. His father, Robert McCormick, was an inventor and a farmer. Robert had the idea of the mechanical reaper, but he was not successful in getting it to work. His wife suggested he let Cyrus take over, and Robert agreed. Instead of humans cutting the grain, horses pulled a structure on wheels with blades on the side. When the horses moved, it would turn the blades, which cut the grain. McCormick moved eventually moved West to sell his mechanical reapers. Food production increased and farms became larger in size. However, this machine caused a couple problems. For instance, many farm workers lost their jobs to this new invention. Farmers did not need humans to harvest their grain anymore. This is just one example of machines replacing humans in their work.

               I love these inventions in so many ways. I think it is so awesome how some inventers take a few, small, useless things and put them together and make something that we cannot live without. Inventions have fulfilled lives for decades, and that is amazing!