List of inventions named after people

This is a list of inventions followed by name of the inventor (or whomever else it is named after). For other lists of eponyms (names derived from people) see Lists of etymologies.

The list

A to F

Bailey bridge in Libya

Büchner funnel and flask

A round, white Botts' dot

A Codd bottle

Crompton's mule

Dr. Martens boots

An Éolienne Bollée

London Eye Ferris wheel

• Abney level – William de Wiveleslie Abney
• Appertization – Nicolas Appert
• Aldis lamp – Arthur Cyril Webb Aldis^[1]
• Aldrin – Kurt Alder^[2]
• Alexanderson alternator – Ernst Alexanderson
• Archimedes' screw – Archimedes
• Anderson shelter – John Anderson, 1st Viscount Waverley^[3]
• Anderton Shearer Loader – James Anderton^[4]
• Argand lamp – Aimé Argand^[5]
• Armstrong's acid – Henry Edward Armstrong^[6]
• Austenite – William Chandler Roberts-Austen^[7]
• Avtomat Kalashnikova (AK-47) – Mikhail Kalashnikov
• Armstrong breech-loading gun – William Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong
• Bailey bridge – Donald Bailey
• Barlow lens, Barlow's wheel – Peter Barlow^[8]
• Bath Oliver – William Oliver
• Bakelite – Leo Baekeland
• Beaufort scale – Sir Francis Beaufort
• Beecham's Pills – Thomas Beecham
• Belisha beacon – Leslie Hore-Belisha, 1st Baron Hore-Belisha
• Benedict's reagent – Stanley Rossiter Benedict^[9]
• Benson raft – Simon Benson^[10]
• Bessemer converter – Henry Bessemer
• Billinghurst Requa Battery – William Billinghurst and Josephus Requa
• Bird's Custard – Alfred Bird
• Biro – László Bíró
• Birch Gun – Noel Birch^[11]
• Blacker Bombard – Stewart Blacker
• Bloomers – Amelia Bloomer
• Botts' dots – Elbert Dysart Botts
• Bowie knife – James Bowie
• Bowden cable – Ernest Monnington Bowden
• Bowler hat – Thomas and William Bowler
• Bradshaw's Railway Guide – George Bradshaw
• Brannock Device – Charles F. Brannock
• Braille – Louis Braille
• Bramah Press – Joseph Bramah
• Brennan torpedo – Louis Brennan^[12]
• Bourdon gauge – Eugene Bourdon
• M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle – John Browning
• Büchner funnel, Büchner flask – Ernst Büchner
• Brougham – Henry Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux
• Bunsen burner – Robert Bunsen
• Burr Arch Truss – Theodore Burr^[13]
• Callanetics – Callan Pinckney
• Cardigan – James Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan
• Carnot cycle, Carnot heat engine – Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot
• Cassegrain telescope – Laurent Cassegrain
• Catherine Wheel – Catherine of Alexandria
• Clerihew – Edmund Clerihew Bentley
• Coade stone – Eleanor Coade
• Codd-neck bottle – Hiram Codd
• Coddington magnifier – Henry Coddington
• Colt revolver – Samuel Colt
• Coffey still – Aeneas Coffey
• Congreve rocket – Sir William Congreve, 1st Baronet
• Crookes tube – William Crookes^[14]
• Crompton's mule – Samuel Crompton
• Cunningham – Briggs Cunningham
• Daguerreotype – Louis Daguerre
• Dalén light – Gustaf Dalén
• Daly detector – Norman Richard Daly
• Daniell cell – John Frederic Daniell
• Davenport desk – Captain John Davenport
• Davis Gun – Cleland Davis
• Davy lamp – Humphry Davy
• Derringer – Henry Deringer
• Derrick – Thomas Derrick
• Dewar flask – James Dewar
• Diesel engine – Rudolf Diesel
• Dimroth condenser – Otto Dimroth
• Dr. Martens – Klaus Märtens
• Dolby noise-reduction system – Ray Dolby
• Doppler radar – Christian Doppler
• Draisine – Karl Drais
• Edison screw – Thomas Edison
• Éolienne Bollée – Ernest Sylvain Bollée
• Ericsson engine – John Ericsson
• Ehrlich's reagent – Paul Ehrlich
• Erlenmeyer flask – Emil Erlenmeyer
• Euclidean geometry – Euclid
• Fairbairn-Sykes Fighting Knife – William Ewart Fairbairn and Eric Anthony Sykes
• Faraday cage – Michael Faraday
• Farrimond friction hitch – Barry Farrimond
• Ferris wheel – George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr.
• Flinders bar – Matthew Flinders
• Foley catheter – Frederic Foley
• Foucault pendulum – Léon Foucault
• Francis turbine – James B. Francis
• Franklin stove – Benjamin Franklin
• Fresnel lens – Augustin-Jean Fresnel
• Friedrichs condenser – Fritz Walter Paul Friedrichs
• Frost Airship Glider – William Frost

G to M

A British 1865 Gatling gun

Gladstone bag

Gramme dynamo

Jacquard loom

Mausoleum – The Taj Mahal

Mills bomb

Minié balls

Moog synthesiser

• IMI Galil – Yisrael Galil
• Gallup Poll – George Gallup
• Galvanometer, Galvanic cell – Luigi Galvani
• Gatling gun – Richard Jordan Gatling
• Gatso cameras – Maus Gatsonides
• Geiger counter – Hans Geiger
• Geiger–Müller tube – Hans Geiger and Walther Müller
• M1 Garand – John Garand
• George Foreman Grill – George Foreman
• Gillette safety razor – King Camp Gillette
• Gladstone bag – William Ewart Gladstone
• Glauber's salt – Johann Rudolf Glauber
• Gore-Tex – Bill Gore
• Graham condenser – Thomas D. Graham
• Graham cracker – Rev Sylvester Graham
• Gramme dynamo – Zénobe Gramme
• Gregorian telescope – James Gregory
• Guillotine – Joseph-Ignace Guillotin
• Gurney Stove – Goldsworthy Gurney^[15]
• Halkett boat – Peter Halkett
• Hallidie ropeway – Andrew Smith Hallidie
• Halligan bar – Hugh Halligan
• Hammond organ – Laurens Hammond
• Heimlich Maneuver – Henry Heimlich
• Hele-Shaw clutch – Henry Selby Hele-Shaw
• Henry rifle – Benjamin Tyler Henry
• Higgins boat – Andrew Higgins
• Hobbs Meter – John Weston Hobbs^[16]
• Holter Monitor – Norman Holter^[17]
• Horlicks – James and William Horlick
• Hoover – William Henry Hoover
• Horsley–Clarke apparatus – Victor Horsley and Robert H. Clarke
• Horstmann suspension – Sidney Horstmann
• Howell torpedo – John Adams Howell^[18]
• Hutchinson Patent Stopper – Charles G. Hutchinson
• Inglis Bridge – Charles Inglis
• Jacuzzi – Candido Jacuzzi
• Jacquard loom – Joseph Marie Jacquard
• Josephson junction – Brian David Josephson
• Kalashnikov – Mikhail Kalashnikov
• Kaplan turbine – Viktor Kaplan
• Kay's flying shuttle – John Kay
• Kégresse track – Adolphe Kégresse^[19]
• Kelvin bridge – William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin
• Ketchum Grenade – William F. Ketchum
• Kilner jar – John Kilner
• Kipp's apparatus – Petrus Jacobus Kipp
• Krarup cable – Carl Emil Krarup
• Land Camera – Edwin H. Land
• Langmuir probe – Irving Langmuir
• Leigh light – Humphrey de Verd Leigh
• Leotard – Jules Léotard
• Leslie speaker – Donald Leslie
• Lewis Gun – Isaac Newton Lewis
• Littlejohn adaptor – František Janeček
• Loganberry – James Harvey Logan
• Lyot filter, Lyot stop and Lyot depolarizer – Bernard Lyot
• Macadam, Tarmac – John Loudon McAdam
• Mae West – Mae West
• Machmeter – Ernst Mach
• Mackintosh – Charles Macintosh
• Mansard roof – François Mansart
• Marconi rig – Guglielmo Marconi
• Mallet's Mortar – Robert Mallet
• Manby Mortar – George William Manby^[20]
• Mason jar – John Landis Mason
• Mausoleum – Mausolus
• Maxim gun – Hiram Stevens Maxim
• McCormick reaper – Cyrus McCormick
• Mercator projection – Gerardus Mercator
• Mercerised cotton – John Mercer
• Michelson interferometer – Albert Abraham Michelson
• Mills bomb – William Mills
• Minié ball, Minié rifle – Claude-Étienne Minié^[21]
• Momsen Lung, Charles B. Momsen^[22]
• Newtonian telescope – Isaac Newton
• Peach Melba, Melba toast, Melba sauce – Nellie Melba
• Melvillade – Robert Melville
• Molotov cocktail – Vyacheslav Molotov
• Moog synthesizer – Robert Moog
• Morse code – Samuel Morse
• Muntz metal – George Frederic Muntz

N to S

Early Odhner Arithmometer

John J. Pershing wearing a Sam Browne belt

Sousaphones in Switzerland

Sir Wilfred Stokes with Stokes Mortars

• Napier's bones – John Napier
• Newcomen steam engine – Thomas Newcomen
• Nissen hut – Peter Norman Nissen
• Northrop Loom – James Henry Northrop
• Ostwald viscometer – Wilhelm Ostwald
• Odhner Arithmometer – Willgodt Theophil Odhner^[23]
• Odón Device – Jorge Odón^[24]
• Owen submachine gun – Evelyn Owen
• Ormerod link – Edward Ormerod
• Parkesine – Alexander Parkes
• Pavlova – Anna Pavlova
• Pasteurization – Louis Pasteur
• Patchett gun – George William Patchett
• Payne's grey – William Payne
• Peavey – Joseph Peavey
• Pelton turbine – Lester Allan Pelton
• Penning trap – Frans Michel Penning
• Petri dish – Julius Richard Petri
• Pilates – Joseph Pilates
• Pimm's – James Pimm
• Pinchbeck – Christopher Pinchbeck
• Pintsch gas – Julius Pintsch
• Phillips screw – Henry F. Phillips
• Pitman shorthand – Isaac Pitman
• Pitot tube – Henri Pitot
• Plimsoll line – Samuel Plimsoll
• Pulaski – Ed Pulaski
• Puretic power block – Mario Puratić
• Pupin coil – Mihajlo Idvorski Pupin
• Prusik – Karl Prusik
• Raglan sleeve – Fitzroy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan^[25]
• Raman spectroscopy – C. V. Raman
• Rawlplug – John Joseph Rawlings
• Richter magnitude scale – Charles Francis Richter
• Ripley machine gun – Ezra Ripley
• Rorschach test – Hermann Rorschach
• Rozière balloon – Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier
• Rubik's Cube – Ernő Rubik
• Rumford fireplace – Benjamin Thompson
• Prince Rupert's Drop – Prince Rupert of the Rhine
• Salk vaccine – Jonas Salk
• Salter's duck – Stephen Salter
• Sam Browne belt – Sam Browne
• Sandwich – Earl of Sandwich
• Savery engine – Thomas Savery
• Saxophone – Adolphe Sax
• Scavenger's daughter – Leonard Skeffington (or Skevington)
• Scheele's Green – Carl Wilhelm Scheele
• Shrapnel shell – Henry Shrapnel
• Schick test – Béla Schick
• Sousaphone – John Philip Sousa
• Soyer stove – Alexis Soyer
• Spragg Bag – Terry Spragg
• Sprengel explosives, Sprengel Pump – Hermann Sprengel
• Stabinger viscometer – Hans Stabinger
• Stanhope – Henry FitzRoy Stanhope
• Stark spectroscopy – Johannes Stark
• Stelzer engine – Frank Stelzer
• Sten – Reginald V. Shepherd, Harold Turpin, Enfield
• Stetson – John Batterson Stetson
• Stiefografie – Helmut Stief
• Stillson wrench – Daniel Chapman Stillson
• Stirling engine – Rev. Robert Stirling
• Stockbridge damper – George H. Stockbridge
• Stokes mortar – Wilfred Stokes
• Strowger switch – Almon Brown Strowger
• Swallow float – John C. Swallow

T to Z

Thompson submachine gun

Etherwave Theremin by Robert Moog

Wedgwood blue plate

US Zeppelin

• Tesla coil, Tesla turbine – Nikola Tesla
• Theremin – Léon Theremin^[26]
• Thompson submachine gun – John T. Thompson
• Tupperware – Earl Silas Tupper
• Ubbelohde viscometer – Leo Ubbelohde
• Uzi – Uziel Gal
• Venn diagram – John Venn
• Vernier scale – Pierre Vernier
• Very pistol, Very flare – Edward Wilson Very
• Vigreux column – Henri Vigreux
• Voltaic pile – Alessandro Volta
• Wagner tuba – Richard Wagner
• Wankel engine – Felix Wankel
• Wardian case – Nathaniel Bagshaw Ward
• Waterhouse stop – John Waterhouse
• Watt's linkage – James Watt
• Wedgwood porcelain – Wedgwood family
• Welin breech block – Axel Welin
• Wellington boot – Duke of Wellington
• Wells turbine – Alan Arthur Wells
• Westinghouse air brake – George Westinghouse
• Weston cell – Edward Weston
• Wheatstone bridge – Charles Wheatstone
• Whitehead Torpedo – Robert Whitehead^[27]
• Winchester rifle – Oliver Winchester
• Whitworth thread – Joseph Whitworth
• Wiegand wire – John R. Wiegand
• Wilhelmy plate – Ludwig Wilhelmy
• Wilson chamber – Charles Thomson Rees Wilson
• Windsor knot – Edward VII of the United Kingdom
• Winogradsky column – Sergei Winogradsky^[28]
• Wollaston landscape lens – William Hyde Wollaston
• Wollaston wire – William Hyde Wollaston
• Woodruff key – W. N. Woodruff
• Wood's glass – Robert W. Wood
• Yablochkov candle – Pavel Yablochkov
• Yale lock – Linus Yale, Jr.
• Zamboni – Frank Zamboni
• Zamboni pile – Giuseppe Zamboni
• Zeppelin – Ferdinand von Zeppelin

See also

• Timeline of historic inventions
• List of inventions named after places
• List of inventors
• List of scientists
• Lists of etymologies
• Scientific phenomena named after people
• List of named inorganic compounds

References

1. "Aldis lamp". Oxford Dictionaries. Retrieved 2 April 2013.
2. "aldrin". Meriam-Webster dictionary. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
3. "What was an Anderson Shelter". Retrieved 13 April 2013.
4. Coyle, Geoff. The Riches Beneath our Feet:How Mining Shaped Britain.
5. Old-House Journal. 1976. p. 7.
6. Senning, Alexander. Elsevier's Dictionary of Chemoetymology. p. 30.
7. "The Free Dictionary". Retrieved 21 April 2013.
8. "Barlow's Wheel". Retrieved 21 April 2013.
9. Senning, Alexander. Elsevier's Dictionary of Chemoetymology. p. 43.
10. "First seaworthy log raft helped Oregon build city of San Diego". Retrieved 21 April 2013.
11. Kinard, Jeff. Artillery: An Illustrated History Of Its Impact. p. 291.
12. "The Brennan Torpedo and Melbourne". Retrieved 4 August 2013.
13. "Truss types". Ohio DOT. Archived from the original on 4 September 2006. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
14. Crookes, William (December 1878). "On the illumination of lines of molecular pressure, and the trajectory of molecules". Phil. Trans. 170: 135–164. doi:10.1098/rstl.1879.0065.
15. "Sir Goldsworthy Gurney 1793 – 1875". The Magic of Cornwall. Retrieved 23 July 2014.
16. "Time is money – The Hobbs meter is the instrument pilots love to hate". Flight Training. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
17. "[Telemetry in the clinical setting]". Retrieved 21 April 2013.
18. "History of the Howell Torpedo". Naval Undersea Museum. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
19. "Citroën-Kegresse-Hinstin Autochenille". Retrieved 21 April 2013.
20. "George Manby 1765–1854 – ‘Norfolk's Eccentric Genius’". Maritime Heritage. Retrieved 22 December 2013.
21. "CivilWar @Smithsonian". Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 12 July 2014.,"Historical Firearms". Retrieved 12 July 2014.
22. "Vice Admiral Charles B. Momsen". Fleet Submarine. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
23. "The life and works of W. T. Odhner, part I" (PDF). Retrieved 21 April 2013.
24. "Odon childbirth device: Car mechanic uncorks a revolution". BBC News. 3 December 2013.
25. Oxford English Dictionary Third edition, (2008) online version September 2011, accessed 7 November 2011. An entry for this word was first included in New English Dictionary, 1903.
26. "Leon Theremin: The man and the music machine". BBC News. 13 March 2012. Retrieved 2 April 2013.
27. "Curator's Choice -Whitehead torpedo". RN Submarine Museum. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
28. "The Microbial World: Winogradsky column: perpetual life in a tube". Retrieved 21 April 2013.