Curated OER
Reading: An Amazing Swimsuit
In this inventions worksheet, students read a one page text about the new type of swimsuit used in the 2008 Beijing Olympics called the Speedo LZR Racer. Students answer 10 true or false questions about the passage.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Mit: Invention of the Week: Ernesto E. Blanco: Stair Climbing Wheelchair
Read about MIT teacher and practitioner Ernesto Blanco, inventor of the stair-climbing wheelchair. This article provides details on the inventor's life, his career outside of MIT, and his inventions that continue to help the handicapped...
Smithsonian Institution
Lemelson Center: Inventors' Stories: Newman Darby
Article on Newman Darby, the inventor of the windsurfer. It describes the various stages his invention went through as he refined it, and other watercraft that he designed.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Mit: Inventor of the Week: Wilson Greatbatch
Cardiac pacemaker inventor, Wilson Greatbatch, is featured in this brief biography.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Mit: Invention of the Week: Robert Jarvik: Artificial Heart
Read about Robert Koffler Jarvik, the "inventor of the first permanently-implantable artificial heart." This article provides a biography of the inventor, the reasons why he became interested in creating an artificial heart, and his...
Smithsonian Institution
Lemelson Center: Inventors' Stories: Paul Mac Cready
Article on the inventions of Paul MacCready, who developed the world's first human-powered flight machine, called the Gossamer Condor.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Mit: Invention of the Week: Bessie Blount: Self Feeding Device for Amputees
Read about Bessie Blount's contribution to medicine--her work as a physical therapist and her invention of a feeding device for amputees.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Mit: Inventor of the Week: Ruth Wakefield (Inventor of the Chocolate Chip Cookie)
Read a biography of Ruth Wakefield, the inventor of the chocolate chip cookie.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Mit: Inventor of the Week: Helen Murray Free
Biography of Helen Free, detailing her life as a chemist and inventor who developed many products for consumer use, including a convenient at-home glocose level test.
National Inventors Hall of Fame
National Inventors Hall of Fame: James Collip: Isolated, Purified Insulin
Learn about one of the scientists responsible for inventing insulin for use by diabetics. Read a brief biography on James Collip, and follow links to inventors who worked with Collip, Charles Best and Frederick Banting.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Mit: Inventor of the Week: Elizabeth Lee Hazen and Rachel Fuller Brown
Elizabeth Lee Hazen and Rachel Fuller Brown, inventors in New York state who developed the antifungal drug Nystatin, are featured in this brief biography.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Mit: Inventor of the Week: Lloyd Conover
Use this site to learn about Lloyd Conover, the inventor of tetracycline, an antibiotic which is used to treat bacterial infections, such as Lyme Disease.
National Inventors Hall of Fame
National Inventors Hall of Fame: Rachel Fuller Brown
The National Inventors Museum highlights Elizabeth Lee Hazen and Rachel Fuller Brown for their work with the antifungal antibiotic, nystatin.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Mit: Invention of the Week: Forrest Bird: Medical Respirator
Learn about the inventor of "the first reliable low-cost, mass-produced medical respirator," Forrest Bird. This article overviews his education and career, the development of the respirator, and the effects the respirator has had on the...
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Mit: Invention of the Week: Raymond Damadian: Medical Resonance Scanning Machine
Read about the education and career of Raymond V. Damadian, inventor of the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and learn how the MRI has impacted the field of medicine.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Mit: Inventor of the Week: The Antifungal Drug Nystatin
This site from the MIT Invention Dimension provides information regarding the long-distance collaboration of Elizabeth Lee Hazen and Rachel Fuller which resulted in the development of the first anti-fungal antibiotic.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Mit: Inventor of the Week: Gertrude Belle Elion
In a career spannig over 40 years, [Gertrude Belle] Elion (1918-1999 CE) invented some of the 20th century's most significant lifesaving drugs. Read about the life and accomplishments of this scientist who won the Nobel Prize for...
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Mit: Invention of the Week: Colin Twitchell: Multi Terrain Wheelchair
This site provides information on Colin S. Twitchell, inventor of the multi-terrain wheelchair. Learn what inspired Twitchell and about his career at MIT.
National Inventors Hall of Fame
National Inventors Hall of Fame: Thomas Fogarty: Emolectomy Catheter
Learn about Thomas Fogarty, inventor of the embolectomy catheter, a "device [that] allows a thin balloon to be inserted into a patient's artery and guided through an occlusion." Read about the invention's impact and the inventor's career.
National Inventors Hall of Fame
National Inventors Hall of Fame: Wilson Greatbatch: Medical Cardiac Pacemaker
Learn about the inventor of the medical cardiac pacemaker, Wilson Greatbatch. This site provides a brief bio on Greatbatch, information on the invention's impact, and a portrait of the inventor.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Mit: Inventor of the Week: Virginia Apgar
At this site from MIT Invention Dimension you can read about Virginia Apgar and her accomplishments as "One of Columbia University's first female M.D.s," as a researcher of childbirth, and as the inventor of the "Newborn Scoring System."
National Inventors Hall of Fame
National Inventors Hall of Fame: Willem J. Kolff
Read a brief bio on Willem J. Kolff, inventor of the artificial kidney dialysis machine, and learn the extent to which this invention is being used in the U.S.
National Inventors Hall of Fame
National Inventors Hall of Fame: John Gibbon: Heart Lung Machine
This site provides a very brief bio on Dr. John Gibbon, inventor of the heart-lung machine that he used to "complete the first open-heart operation." Learn about the invention's impact on the medical world.
National Inventors Hall of Fame
National Inventors Hall of Fame: Robert Ledley: Diagnostic X Ray System/cat Scan
Read about the inventor of the CAT Scan, Robert S. Ledley. This site includes a brief bio and information on the invention's impact on the medical world and patients.