Eureka!: The 20th Century's Top 15 Inventors

As part of its 15th anniversary celebration, BIOGRAPHY presents the top 15 history-makers of discovery, design, and creation – those inventors who have changed our everyday lives. To devise the 20th Century's top 15 inventors, over 250 experts were polled, including academics, journalists and inventors.

This Teacher’s Guide is designed for science and social studies teachers who wish to connect the themes of the program to their own curriculum. The activities and worksheets included in the guide offer creative strategies to support both a science and social studies curriculum for middle to high school students.

The following materials have been designed to accompany BIOGRAPHY's Eureka! The 20th Century’s Top 15 Inventors. They can be used independently or as a 3-4 day unit. Included in this curriculum is an activity that precedes the viewing of the video, two activity options for use with the video, post-viewing activities and two science capsules. In addition, a list of important vocabulary with definitions, brief biographies of all 15 featured inventors and possible extension activities have been included to support student learning. Students can work as a class, in cooperative learning groups or independently.

• DNA
• Electron
• Photon
• aeronautics
• anti-Semitism
• artificial intelligence
• assembly line
• atom
• contraception
• current
• eureka
• excite
• genetic engineering
• ground state
• immunity
• laser
• molecule
• molten
• optics
• patent
• polymer
• proton
• reaction
• serendipity
• synthetic
• transistor
• vaccine

1. What was the intention of Berners-Lee’s invention?

2. What is the downside to Boyer and Cohn’s invention of recombinant DNA technology?

3. What motivated Boyer and Cohn’s invention?

4. Why did popular opinion turned against Henry Ford? Give two reasons for the change.

5. What does LASER stand for?

6. What are some of the uses of Lasers?

7. What did Charles Townes and Gould’s brother in law, Arthur Schlawlow, do to shake Gould’s faith in himself and his invention? What was the outcome?

8. What was Leo Szilard’s concern about his invention?

9. Besides preventing pregnancy, what impact did the discovery of the birth control pill have on the lives of women?

10. What unexpected role did Turing and his computer play in World War II?

11. What was the major advantage of using AC current over DC current that ultimately led to Tesla’s future technological advances and ultimate fame as an inventor?

12. What prompted Baekeland to turn to science and invention?

13. What was the difference between Salk’s vaccine and the one developed by Sabin?

14. How did Philo Farnsworth come up with the idea for TV?

15. What did the invention of transistors do for computers and for technology in general?

16. Why did Shockley, the inventor of the transistor, earn an “F” for citizenship?

17. What was it about the Wright Brothers that was so appealing to the general public?

18. What happened to end Wright Brothers’ partnership?

19. What are four adjectives that could be used to describe Thomas Edison?

20. How did Edison’s attitude toward the nature of invention distinguish him from other inventors?

1. Choose one or two of the inventions from the list. Research the historic, economic, social climate and scientific discoveries that led up to the invention. Were any other people involved in the invention that may have contributed to its success? Take notes and prepare a 5-minute presentation oral on your research.

2. Choose inventions that are linked by subject area such as biology. Research the discoveries that were made from 10 years before the first invention and those that led up to the final invention. Make a flow chart that would show how the preliminary discoveries laid the foundation for the inventions.

3. Choose one of the inventors and research his life and background. Try to determine the personal characteristics and events that put this inventor in the right position to create his invention.

4. Look up the U.S. Patent Office on the Web. Find out what it takes to patent an invention. Prepare a flow chart and a short presentation on your findings.