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List of contents
- Preface: Facts, Alternative Facts and Patent Literature
- 1: Electric telegraph (1840)
- 2: Vulcanisation of rubber (1844)
- 3: Mauveine (1857)
- 4: Dynamite (1868)
- 5: Celluloid (1869)
- 6: Barbed wire (1874)
- 7: Gelignite (1875)
- 8: The telephone (1876)
- 9: Electric lamp (1880)
- 10: Alternating current motors (1888)
- 11: Diesel compressor engine (1896)
- 12: Acetylsalicylic acid (1900)
- 13: Wireless telegraphy (1901)
- 14: Tarmac (1904)
- 15: The diode (1905)
- 16: The triode (1907)
- 17: Haber-Bosch process (1910)
- 18: Cellophane (1918)
- 19: Insulin (1923)
- 20: Television (1924)
- 21: Frozen food (1930)
- 22: Monopoly (1935)
- 23: Polythene (1937)
- 24: Nylon (1938)
- 25: Xerography (1940)
- 26: Polytetrafluoroethylene (1941)
- 27: Frequency-hopping (1942)
- 28: Synthetic polymers: Terylene (1946)
- 29: Radar (1947)
- 30: Point-contact transistor (1947)
- 31: Semiconductor amplifier (1950)
- 32: Programmable stored-memory computer (1951)
- 33: Barcode (1952)
- 34: Cavity magnetron (1953)
- 35: Building construction (1954)
- 36: Cortisone (1956)
- 37: Contraceptive pill (1956)
- 38: Solar cells (1957)
- 39: The maser (1959)
- 40: Silicon chip: I. R.N. Noyce (1961)
- 41: Velcro (1961)
- 42: Lycra (1962)
- 43: Bouncing bomb (1963)
- 44: Silicon chip: II J.S. Kilby (1964)
- 45: Silicon chip: III. R.N. Noyce (1964)
- 46: Shape memory alloys (1965)
- 47: Light-emitting diodes (1966)
- 48: Ruby laser (1967)
- 49: Superalloys (1967)
- 50: Ring-pull (1967)
- 51: Silicon chip: IV. J.S. Kilby (1969)
- 52: Computer mouse (1970)
- 53: Quorn (1971)
- 54: Kevlar (1972)
- 55: Post-it notes (1972)
- 56: Computerised tomography (1973)
- 57: Cephalosporins (1973)
- 58: Charge-coupled device (1974)
- 59: Miniature electronic calculator (1974)
- 60: Antidepressants: fluoxetine (1977)
- 61: Artificial heart (1980)
- 62: Lithium-ion batteries (1981)
- 63: Monoclonal antibodies (1982)
- 64: RSA encryption (1983)
- 65: Recombinant DNA technology (1984)
- 66: Stereolithography (1986)
- 67: Polymerase chain reaction (1987)
- 68: Ceramic oxide superconductors (1988)
- 69: Digital compression (1988)
- 70: Cyanobiphenyl liquid crystals (1990)
- 71: Vancomycin (1992)
- 72: Magnetic resonance imaging (1992)
- 73: Personalised medicine (1992)
- 74: Organic light-emitting diodes (1993)
- 75: Fuel cells (1995)
- 76: Blue light-emitting diodes (1995)
- 77: Herceptin (trastuzumab) (1998)
- 78: Tencel (1998)
- 79: Three-dimensional printing (1998)
- 80: Automated DNA sequencing (1998)
- 81: Patenting genes (1998)
- 82: PageRank (2001)
- 83: Robotic surgery (2002)
- 84: Quantum computing (2003)
- 85: Flash memory (2004)
- 86: Hydrogels (2004)
- 87: Lithography (2008)
- 88: iPod (2008)
- 89: Hyaluronic acid (2008)
- 90: Wireless mesh networks (2008)
- 91: Polylactic acid (2009)
- 92: Electric vehicles (2009)
- 93: Biodiesel (2009)
- 94: Stem cells (2011)
- 95: Fibre optics (2013)
- 96: Drones (2014)
- 97: Graphene (2014)
- 98: Metamaterials (2017)
- 99: Gene editing (CRISPR) (2017)
- 100: Video streaming (2017)
About the author
After graduating with a degree in natural sciences from Trinity Hall at Cambridge University, David Segal obtained an M.Sc. in surface chemistry and colloids with commendation at Bristol University and a Ph. D in foaming in lubricating oils at the same university. Postdoctoral work was carried out at Brunel University on the surface chemistry of organic pigments. He has worked for the UK Atomic Energy Authority at the Harwell Laboratory, AEA Technology, and Coller IP management. Segal maintained interests in materials chemistry and patent literature in his working life. He is an author or co-author of over 40 scientific papers, and an inventor or co-inventor of over 25 patent families. Examples of his interests include high-temperature ceramic superconductors, gas-to-liquid technology for the preparation of synthetic diesel, and ceramic nanofiltration membranes. He has analysed patent portfolios including three-dimensional printing, light-emitting diodes and medical devices.
Summary
Patent documents describe inventions and offer accurate information about the history of technology. This book shows how patents and the inventions they describe have shaped the modern world. Patent documents from the 19th century to the present are covered, from frozen foods and ring-pulls for soft drink cans, to Monopoly, to MRI and insulin.
Additional text
Segal is not afraid to include equations and structural formulae where they add clarity. His approach is chronological, thus we have the board game Monopoly (1935) and the photocopying method of xerography (1940) sandwiching polythene (1937) and nylon (1938), and later, the polyamide Kevlar (1972) between the computer mouse (1970) and Post-it notes (1972).
