The first invention I learned about this week was the crystal oscillator. The Curies discovered the piezoelectric effect in 1880 and after this the crystal oscillator was invented. It is a small slice or piece of crystal that vibrates at a high frequency when voltage is applied. It produces a signal that can be used in radio and microprocessors. This invention produced better signals then before. Oscillators are in all modern electronics.
The first person I learned about this week was George Washington Carver. George was born a slave. Lucky he received a collage education with Booker T. Washington. George pioneered crop rotation. George promoted peanuts as a crop in the South as an alternative to cotton.
The second invention I learned about this week was the Yagi Uda antenna. Yagi and Uda invented their antenna in 1926. It uses a reflector and directors to focus the beam produced by a dipole antenna. The Yagi Uda antenna has above 30 MHz for tv broadcasting. The Yagi Uda antenna are very popular models today. The antenna help cable tv spread across the world.
The third invention I learned about this week was the penicillin. Alexander Fleming invented penicillin in 1929 after noticing something peculiar in his laboratory. Penicillin is produced from a fungus that kills bacteria. It can be injected or swallowed. This invention allowed after the war for less infections and death.
Fleming “Eureka” moment was when he got back from his vacation one of his dishes had fungus on it and sat there for a month with germs next to the fungus but the fungus kill the germs and that was when he had his “Eureka” moment.
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