Technological advances should make people's lives easier, but are all inventions useful? Some people pretended to be inventors for the sake of fame and fame, and others for money. In this article we will look at both useful inventions and ridiculous deceptions that many have not heard of.
1. Boilerplate
The Boilerplate was considered a Victorian-era robot for a while. In 1893, at an international exhibition in Colombia, a certain Archibald Campion showed his wonderful robot. He himself stated that he had been constructing his creation for about five years. It is known that Archibald worked for the Chicago telephone company, where he made some improvements and received money for them, which was enough to build the "iron man".
The inventor said that the idea of an "iron" soldier came to him for the sake of saving human life in military conflicts. But as it turned out, this whole story was an invention of the American journalist Paul Guinen. In 1999, he himself admitted this.
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2. Ponderolet Ignatiev
The creation of an anti-gravity engine that could travel at the speed of light is considered by many to be fantastic, but not all. In 1996, Gennady Fedorovich Ignatiev presented a report on the development of a completely new engine that works on unusual principles. The engine itself could develop the speed of light thanks to the Umov-Poiting effect. For people far from physics, I explain: as a result of the interaction of magnetic and electric fields, the effect of antigravity occurs.
The size of the installation was 4 meters, while it could lift up to 6 kg of cargo, consuming 10 kW of electricity. Ignatiev argued that with an increase in size, the installation could well fly, but a powerful source of energy was needed. The scientist saw a solution to this problem in placing coils on a setup similar to Tesla coils. However, no one needs such research. The promising scientist was fired, and the death of his children (daughter and son) spoiled his health so badly that he died after a second stroke.
3. Holman steam locomotive
End of 19th century, USA. The country is actively developing firms that are engaged in the construction of railway transport. Of course, a monopoly began to appear and large firms did not give small companies a chance to develop, as a result of which the latter were closed. Well, William Holman found a way out - to improve locomotives.
Holman decided to add a few bogies under the wheels, and the friction system should strengthen the drive wheels. In 1895, he managed to obtain a patent for an invention, and the appearance of the steam locomotive was transformed and it became a real giant, thanks to two floors of wheels in the front and three floors of wheels in the rear. Holman was a promotion genius, he fed the people with promises to increase speed, reduce coal consumption. Advertising did its job, and Holman created a "recycling" program - he pledged to rebuild the old locomotive into a new one absolutely free.
William decided to take advantage of the wave of fame and issued $ 10,000,000 worth of shares and sold everything. However, experts found out that Holman cheated everyone and his improvement does not lead to anything good. William himself disappeared.
4. Rotary steam engine
Few people know that the first rotary steam engine was invented by the Russian scientist Nikolai Nikolaevich Tverskoy. The "Kolovratnaya machine" reported high reliability, durability and was generally quite effective. The machine had a strong torque, and the rotational speed reached 3500 rpm. This installation also impressed the Emperor Alexander III, because the "Kolovratnaya machine" was installed in the emperor's personal boat, and the emperor himself ordered the support of Tverskoy's research.
However, in the 20th century, the invention was quickly forgotten. Steam engines with pistons were easier to use, and turbines developed more power, but for some reason no one remembered the merits of Tverskoy's invention.
5. Hydrointegrator Lukyanov
We are all used to thinking that the first computer appeared in 1946 in the United States, but this is only half true. In the USA, the first programmable computer was created, and in the USSR until the 80s there was an analog computer, which was head and shoulders above the computer of that time.
In 1936, a talented Soviet scientist, Vladimir Sergeevich Lukyanov, presented the IG-1 hydrointegrator to the world. His main task was to solve complex differential equations, the solution of which took a person a lot of time. The scientist noticed a similarity between the equations of heat transfer with the equations for describing the flow of a liquid.
Thus, IG-1 calculated the temperature stresses of concrete. More than a hundred events throughout the country had such machines in their arsenal, and these "computers" were supplied abroad. These machines brought great benefits to the state and took their place in the history of the USSR.