Mormon Inventors and their Inventions

While surfing the net this evening, I came across an interesting web page that lists various Mormon inventors and their inventions. Of course, the inventors benefitted from and worked with others who contributed to their inventions, directly or indirectly.

I was aware of some of the items in the list, such as the television and the word processor. But others surprised me.

For example, I wasn’t aware that a Mormon invented the artificial heart. I wasn’t aware of Mormons’ contributions to bionic body parts. And who would have thought a Mormon invented the electric guitar?

Here’s an edited list:

• Television (Philo Farnsworth)
• Electric traffic light (Lester Wire)
• Odometer (William Clayton)
• Headphones (Nathaniel Baldwin)
• Hearing aid (Harvey Fletcher)
• Audiometer (Harvey Fletcher)
• Stereo sound (Harvey Fletcher)
• Video games (Nolan Bushnell)
• Transistor radio (Marvin Harris)
• Modern word processor (Alan Ashton)
• CD/DVD technology (Robert B. Ingebretsen)
• Electric guitar (Alvino Rey)
• Department store (Brigham Young)
• Fry sauce (Don Carlos Edwards)
• Zip drive (Iomega)
• Repeating rifle (Jonathan Browning)
• Automatic shotgun (John Moses Browning)
• Network Operating System (Drew Major)
• Condominiums (Keith Romney)
• Women’s buttonless one-piece bathing suit (Rose Marie Reid)
• Photopermeable swimsuit (Rose Marie Reid)
• Artificial heart (Robert K. Jarvik)
• Heart bypass machine (Homer R. Warner)
• Beam-surface processes (Norman Tolk)
• Slurry explosives (Melvin Cook)
• Tetrahedron press (William Hall)
• Synthetic diamonds (William Hall)
• Bionic arm (Stephen C. Jacobsen)

By the way, my father, Layne Cannon, contributed to the invention of the word processor both while studying with Alan Ashton at BYU and later as the VP of Engineering at WordPerfect Corporation.