Necessity is the mother of invention, it is said. And women have long stepped up to create solutions to the problems that they encountered in daily life as housewives, mothers and agricultural workers.<\/p>\n
I don’t think necessity is the mother of invention – invention, in my opinion, arises directly from idleness, possibly also from laziness. To save oneself trouble.
\n<\/u><\/strong>– Agatha Christie<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\nIt is believed that women invented agriculture and certainly it was women who invented pottery, ovens and weaving. But, of course we do not know that for sure.<\/p>\n
The first woman inventor on record was Hypatia of Alexandria who crafted the first pane astrolabe, used to measure the positions of the sun and stars and to calculate the ascendant sign of the zodiac. She also invented circa 400 A.D. a device for measuring the level of water and another system for distillation, as well as the hydrometer. The hydrometer\u2014or hydroscope\u2014was a sealed tube about the size of a flute, weighted at one end. The depth to which the hydrometer sunk in a particular liquid gave a reading on the substances, specific gravity.<\/p>\n
Sybilla Masters was the first American woman inventor. In 1712 she developed a new corn mill, but was denied a patent because she was a woman. Three years later the patent was filed successfully in her husband’s name.<\/p>\n
Sara E. Goode was the first African American woman to be awarded a patent in 1884 for a Folding Cabinet Bed.<\/p>\n
We’ll probably never know how many women inventors there were. That’s because in the early years of the United States, a woman could not get a patent in her own name. A patent is considered a kind of property, and until the late 1800s laws forbade women in most states from owning property or entering into legal agreements in their own names. Instead, a woman’s property would be in the name of her father or husband.<\/p>\n
Women have been responsible for the invention of a wide range of domestic devices to make house work easier such as ironing boards, clothes wringers, the pastry forks, dishwasher, the flat bottomed paper shopping bag, etc. These were practical solutions to everyday problems.<\/p>\n
Want is the mistress of invention
\n<\/strong>– Susanna Centlivre <\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\nHere is a small selection of domestic and beauty inventions by women:<\/p>\n
1799 – Mary Moore – Pain Relief Composition
\n1867 – Elizabeth Hawk – Cooking Stove
\n1872 – Josephine Cochran – Dishwasher
\n1875 – Susan Taylor Conversa – One-piece Emancipation Suit to replace suffocating corsets
\n1880 – Ellen Elgin – Clothes Wringer
\n1882 – Adeline D. T. Whitney – Alphabet Blocks
\n1891 – Catherine Deiner – Rolling Pin
\n1892 – Sarah Boone – Ironing Board
\n1896 – Julia Terry Hammonds – Apparatus for Holding Yarn Skeins
\n1898 – Lydia D, Newman – Hair Brush
\n1905 – Madame C.J. Walker – Hair Care Products with Straightening Comb
\n1930 – Ruth Wakefield – Chocolate-chip Cookies
\n1950 – Marion Donovan – Disposable Diaper
\n1956 – Mary B. Kenner – Sanitary Belt
\n1959 – Mary B. Kenner – Sanitary Belt with Moisture Proof Napkin Pocket
\n1983 – Maxine Snowden – Rain Hat
\n1983 – Theora Stephens – Pressing\/Curling Iron
\n1987 – Ruane Jeter – Digital Toaster<\/p>\nWomen were also responsible to inventing major military, industrial, commercial and medical improvements:<\/p>\n
1812 – Tabitha Babbitt – Circular saw
\n1843 – Ada Augusta Lovelace – Early Computer
\n1845 – Sarah Mather – Submarine Lamp and Telescope
\n1871 – Martha J. Costen – Maritime Night Signal Flares
\n1871 – Margaret Knight – Paper Bag Making Machine
\n1875 – Ellen Fitz – Globes
\n1879 – Mary Walton – Locomotive Chimney
\n1881 – Mary Walton – Elevated Railway
\n1882 – Maria Beaseley – Life Raft
\n1887 – Anna Connelly – Fire Escape
\n1888 – Miriam E. Benjamin – Gong and Signal Chair (used in the US House of Representatives.)
\n1893 – Margaret Wilcox – Car Heater
\n1893 \u2013 Harriet Tracy Sands \u2013 Gravity Safety Elevator
\n1899 – Letitia Geer – Medical Syringe
\n1900 – Florence Parpart \u2013 Street Cleaning machine
\n1903 – Mary Anderson – Windshield Wiper
\n1904 – Margaret Knight – Rotary Engine
\n1917 – Ida Forbes – Electric Hot Water Heater
\n1917 – El Dorado Jones – Engine Muffler
\n1951 – Bessie Nesmith – Liquid Paper\u00ae
\n1952 – Virginia Apgar – Apgar Tests, which evaluate a baby\u2019s health upon birth
\n1952 – Grace Hopper – The First Compiler, a program that translates instructions for a computer from English to machine language
\n1956 – Patsy O. Sherman – Scotchgard\u2122 Fabric Protector
\n1959 – Ruth Handler – The Barbie doll
\n1966 \u2013 Stephanie Kwolek – Kevlar, a steel-like fiber used in radial tires, crash helmets, and bulletproof vests
\n1969 – Marie V. Brittan Brown – Home Security System Utilizing Television Surveillance
\n1999 – Randi Altschul – Disposable Cell Phone<\/p>\n* ***
\nDonna Henes is the author of The Queen of My Self: Stepping into Sovereignty in Midlife<\/em>.<\/a> She offers counseling and upbeat, practical and ceremonial guidance for individual women and groups who want to enjoy the fruits of an enriching, influential, purposeful, passionate, and powerful maturity. Consult the MIDLIFE MIDWIFE\u2122<\/a><\/p>\n