This is a list of inventors.
See also: List of scientists, Timeline of invention, List of inventions named after people, List of inventors killed by their own inventions, and Category:Inventors.
Alphabetical list
Contents: Top - 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
A
- Vitaly Mikhaylovich Abalakov, (1906-1986), Russia — camming devices, Abalakov thread (or V-thread) gearless ice climbing anchor.
- Hovannes Adamian, (1879-1932), Armenia/Russia — tricolor principle of the color television
- Robert Adler, (1913-2007), Austria/United States — wireless remote control
- Turhan Alçelik (c. 2006), Turkey — non-glaring headlamp
- Rostislav Alexeyev, (1916-1980) , Russia – Ekranoplan.
- Mary Anderson, (1866–1953), United States — windshield wiper blade
- Archimedes, (c. 287-212 BC), Greece — Archimedes' screw
- Ami Argand, (1750-1803), France — Argand lamp
- Edwin H. Armstrong,(1890-1954), USA — FM radio
- William George Armstrong, (1810-1900), UK — hydraulic crane
- Neil Arnott, (1788-1874), UK — waterbed
- Lev Artsimovich, (1909-1973), Russia — Tokamak
- Al-Ashraf, (fl. 1282-1296), Yemen — dry compass
- Joseph Aspdin, (1788-1855), England — Portland cement
- John Vincent Atanasoff, (1903-1995), United States — modern programmable computer
B
- Charles Babbage, (1791-1871), UK — analytical engine (semi-automatic computer)
- Roger Bacon, (1214-1292), England — magnifying glass
- Leo Baekeland, (1863-1944), Belgian–American — Velox photographic paper and Bakelite
- Ralph H. Baer, (1922-), German born American — video game console
- Abd al-Latif al-Baghdadi, (1162–1231), Iraq/Egypt — ventilator
- John Logie Baird, (1888-1946), Scotland — an electromechanical television
- Ibn al-Baitar, (d. 1248), Islamic Spain — three hundred drugs and foods, cancer therapy, pharmacotherapy, Hindiba, pharmacopoeia
- Abi Bakr of Isfahan, (c. 1235), Persia — mechanical geared astrolabe with lunisolar calendar analog computer
- Donat Banki, (1859-1922), Hungary — inventor of the carburetor
- John Bardeen, (1908-1991), USA — co-inventor of the transistor
- Anthony R. Barringer Canadian – American — INPUT (Induced Pulse Transient) airborne electromagnetic system
- Earl W. Bascom, (1906-1995), Canada and United States — side-delivery rodeo chute, hornless rodeo saddle, rodeo bareback rigging, rodeo chaps
- Ibn Bassal, (fl. 1038-1075), Islamic Spain — flywheel, flywheel-driven noria, flywheel-driven saqiya chain pump
- Muhammad ibn Jābir al-Harrānī al-Battānī (Albatenius), (853-929), Syria/Turkey — observation tube
- Eugen Baumann, (1846-1896), Germany — PVC
- Trevor Baylis, (1937-), UK — a wind-up radio
- Francis Beaufort, (1774-1857), France — Beaufort scale
- Arnold O. Beckman, (1900-2004), USA — pH meter
- Ulugh Beg, 1394-1449, |Persia — Fakhri sextant, mural sextant
- Alexander Graham Bell, (1847-1922), Canada, Scotland, and USA — telephone
- Karl Benz, (1844-1929), Germany — the petrol-powered automobile
- Emile Berliner, (1851-1929), Germany and USA — the disc record gramophone
- Tim Berners-Lee, (1955-), UK — with Robert Cailliau, the World Wide Web
- Abu Mansoor Nizar al-Aziz Billah, (955–996), Egypt — airmail, homing pigeon
- Bi Sheng (Chinese: 畢昇), (ca. 990-1051), China — clay movable type printing
- Laszlo Biro, (1899-1985), Hungary — modern ballpoint pen
- Clarence Birdseye, (1886-1956), USA — frozen food process
- Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī, (973-1048), Persia — mechanical geared lunisolar calendar analog computer, fixed-wired knowledge processing machine, conical measure, laboratory flask, Orthographical astrolabe, hodometer, pycnometer
- J. Stuart Blackton, (1875-1941), USA — stop-motion film
- Otto Blathy (1860-1939), Hungary — co-inventor of the transformer, wattmeter, alternating current (AC) and turbogenerator
- Katharine B. Blodgett, (1898-1979), UK — nonreflective glass
- Nils Bohlin, (1920-2002), Sweden — the three-point seat belt
- Joseph-Armand Bombardier, (1907-1964), Canada — snowmobile
- Bose, Jagdish Chandra, (1858 –1937), India — Crescograph
- Robert W. Bower, (1936-), USA — self-aligned–gate MOSFET
- Seth Boyden, (1788-1870), USA — nail-making machine
- Walter Houser Brattain, (1902-1987), USA — co-inventor of the transistor
- Louis Braille, (1809-1852), France — the Braille writing system
- Karl Ferdinand Braun, (1850-1918), Germany — cathode-ray tube oscilloscope
- Harry Brearley, (1871-1948), UK — stainless steel
- Sergey Brin, (1973-), Russia/USA — with Larry Page invented Google web search engine
- Rachel Fuller Brown, (1898–1980), USA, Nystatin, the world's first antifungal antibiotic
- John Moses Browning, (1855-1926), USA — automatic handgun
- Edwin Beard Budding, (1795-1846), UK — lawnmower
- Corliss Orville Burandt, USA — Variable valve timing
C
- Robert Cailliau, (1947 –), Belgium — with Tim Berners-Lee, the World Wide Web
- C`ai Lun, 蔡倫 (50 AD - 121), China — paper
- Marvin Camras, (1916 - 1995), USA — magnetic recording
- Chester Carlson, (1906 - 1968), USA — Xerography
- Wallace Carothers, (1896 - 1937), USA — Nylon
- Hezarfen Ahmet Celebi, (fl. 1630-1632), long-distance flight, artificial wings
- Lagari Hasan Çelebi, (fl. 1633-1640), Turkey — manned rocket, artificially-powered aircraft, rocket aircraft
- Joseph Constantine Carpue, (1764 - 1846), France — rhinoplastic surgery
- George Cayley, (1773 - 1857), (UK) — glider, tension-spoke wheels, Caterpillar track
- Roxey Ann Caplin, (1793 - 1888) — Corsets
- Adrian Chernoff, (1971 -), USA — GM Autonomy, GM Hy-wire, Rubber Bandits
- Evgeniy Chertanovskiy, Russia - Skafander
- Niels Christensen (1865 - 1952), USA — O-ring
- Samuel Hunter Christie, (1784 - 1865), UK — Wheatstone bridge
- Juan de la Cierva, (1895 - 1936), Spain — the autogyro
- Alexandru Ciurcu, (1854 - 1922), Romania — Reaction engine
- Georges Claude, (1870 - 1960), France — neon lamp
- Henri Coandă, (1886 - 1972), Romania — Jet engine
- Josephine Cochrane, (1839 - 1913), USA — dishwasher
- Christopher Cockerell, (1910 - 1999), UK — Hovercraft
- Aeneas Coffey, (1780 - 1852), Ireland, heat exchanger, inventor of the Coffey still
- George Constantinescu, (1881 - 1965), Romania — Interrupter gear
- Lloyd Groff Copeman, (1865 - 1956), USA — Electric stove
- Cornelis Corneliszoon, (1550 - 1607), The Netherlands — sawmill
- Jacques Cousteau, (1910 - 1997), France — co-inventor of the aqualung and the Nikonos underwater camera
- Holger Crafoord, (1908 - 1982), Sweden — inventor of the artificial kidney
- Thomas Crapper, (1836 - 1910), England, plumber.
- Bartolomeo Cristofori, (1655 - 1731), Italy — piano
- János Csonka, (1852 - 1939), Hungary — co-inventor of carburetor
- Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot, (1725 - 1804), France — first steam-powered road vehicle
- William Cumberland Cruikshank, (1745 - 1800), UK — chlorinated water
- William Cullen, (1710 - 1790), UK — first artificial refrigerator
- Glenn Curtiss, (1878 - 1930), USA — ailerons
D
- Gustaf Dalén, (1869-1937), Sweden — AGA cooker; Dalén light; Agamassan
- Salvino D'Armate, (?-?), Italy — credited for inventing eyeglasses in 1284
- Jacob Davis, (1868-1908), USA — riveted jeans
- Edmund Davy, (1785-1857), Ireland — acetylene
- Humphry Davy, (1778-1829), UK — Davy miners lamp
- Joseph Day, (1855-1946), UK — the crankcase-compression two-stroke engine
- Lee DeForest, (1873-1961), USA — triode
- Miksa Deri (1854-1938), Hungary — co-inventor of an improved closed-core transformer
- James Dewar, (1842-1923), UK — Thermos flask
- Dham, Vinod, (1950-), India — Pentium chip, AMD k6 chip
- William Kennedy Laurie Dickson, (1860-1935), UK — motion picture camera
- Philip Diehl, (1847-1913), USA — Ceiling fan, electric sewing machine
- Rudolf Diesel, (1858-1913), Germany — Diesel engine
- Taqi al-Din, (1526–1585), Syria/Egypt/Turkey — steam turbine, smoke jack, six-cylinder 'Monobloc' suction pump, mechanical alarm clock, spring-powered pocket watch measured in minutes, spring-powered astronomical clock measured in minutes and seconds, framed sextant
- Al-Dinawari, (828-896), Persia — more than a hundred plant drugs
- William H. Dobelle, (1943-2004), United States — first functioning artificial eye
- Bryan Donkin, (1768-1855), UK — print industry composition roller
- Hub van Doorne, (1900-1979), Netherlands, Variomatic continuously variable transmission
- Anastase Dragomir, (1896-1966), Romania — Ejection seat
- Karl Drais, (1785-1851), Germany — dandy horse (Draisine)
- Cornelius Drebbel, (1572-1633), The Netherlands — first navigable submarine
- Richard Drew, (1899-1980), USA — Masking tape
- John Boyd Dunlop, (1840-1921) UK — first practical pneumatic tyre
- James Dyson, (1947- ) UK — Dual Cyclone bagless vacuum cleaner, incorporating the principles of cyclonic separation.
E
- George Eastman, (1854-1932), USA — roll film
- Thomas Edison, (1847-1931), USA — phonograph, commercially practical light bulb, motion picture projector, stock ticker, etc
- Willem Einthoven, (1860-1927), The Netherlands — the electrocardiogram
- Rune Elmqvist, (1857-1924), Sweden — implantable pacemaker
- Douglas Engelbart, (1925-), USA — the computer mouse [1]
- John Ericsson, (1803-1889), Sweden — the two screw-propeller
- Lars Magnus Ericsson, (1846-1926), Sweden — the handheld micro telephone
- Ole Evinrude, (1877-1934), Norway — outboard motor
F
- Samuel Face, (1923-2001), USA — concrete flatness/levelness technology; Lightning Switch
- Michael Faraday, (1791-1867), England — electric transformer
- Johann Maria Farina, (1685–1766), Germany; Eau de Cologne
- Philo Farnsworth, (1906-1971), USA — electronic television
- Muhammad al-Fazari, (d. 796/806), Iraq or Persia — brass astrolabe
- Svyatoslav Fyodorov, (1927-2000), Russia — radial keratotomy
- James Fergason, (1934-), USA — improved liquid crystal display
- Enrico Fermi, (1901-1954), Italy — nuclear reactor
- Humberto Fernández Morán, (1924-1999), Venezuela — Diamond scalpel, Ultra microtome
- Reginald Fessenden, (1866-1932), Canada — two-way radio
- Adolf Eugen Fick, (1829-1901), Germany — contact lens
- Fatima al-Fihri, (c. 859), Tunisia/Morocco — university
- Abbas Ibn Firnas (Armen Firman), (810-887), Islamic Spain — eye glasses, parachute, hang glider, artificial wings, controlled flight, watch, fused quartz and silica glass, artificial thunder and lightning, metronome
- Artur Fischer, (1919–) Germany — fasteners including fischertechnik.
- Gerhard Fischer, Germany/USA — hand-held metal detector
- Alexander Fleming, (1881-1955), Scotland — penicillin
- John Ambrose Fleming, (1848-1945), England — vacuum diode
- Sandford Fleming, (1827-1915), Canada — Universal Standard Time
- Tommy Flowers, (1905-1998), England — Colossus an early electronic computer.
- Jean Bernard Léon Foucault, (1819-1868), France — Foucault pendulum, gyroscope, eddy current
- Benoît Fourneyron, (1802-1867), France — water turbine
- John Fowler, (1826-1864), England — steam-driven ploughing engine
- Benjamin Franklin, (1706-1790), USA — the pointed lightning rod conductor, bifocal glasses, the Franklin stove, the glass harmonica
- Augustin-Jean Fresnel, (1788-1827), France — Fresnel lens
- William Friese-Greene, (1855-1921), England — cinematography
- Buckminster Fuller, (1895-1983), USA — geodesic dome
G
- Dennis Gabor, (1900-1979), Hungary – holography
- Boris Borisovich Galitzine, (1862-1916), Russia – Electromagnetic seismograph.
- Elmer R. Gates, (1859-1923), USA – foam fire extinguisher, electric loom mechanisms, magnetic & diamagnetic separators, educational toy ("box & blocks")
- Richard J. Gatling, (1818-1903), USA – wheat drill, first successful machine gun
- Hans Wilhelm Geiger, (1882-1945), Germany – Geiger counter
- Henri Giffard, (1825-1882), France – powered airship, injector
- Heinrich Göbel, (1818-1893), Germany – first functional incandescent lamp
- Leonid Gobyato, (1875-1915), Russia - first modern man-portable mortar
- Robert Goddard, (1882-1945), USA – liquid fuel rocket
- Peter Carl Goldmark, (1906-1977), Hungary – vinyl record (LP), CBS color television
- Charles Goodyear, (1800-1860), USA – vulcanization of rubber
- Gordon Gould, (1920-2005), USA – co-inventor of laser
- Richard Hall Gower, (1768-1833), England – ship's hull and rigging
- Bette Nesmith Graham, (1924-1980), USA – Liquid Paper
- James Henry Greathead, (1844-1896), South Africa – tunnel boring machine, tunnelling shield technique
- Chester Greenwood, (1858-1937), USA – thermal earmuffs
- James Gregory, (1638-1675), Scotland – reflecting telescope
- William Robert Grove, (1811-1896), Wales – fuel cell
- Otto von Guericke, (1602-1686), Germany – vacuum pump, manometer, dasymeter
- Hakan Gürsu, (c. 2007), Turkey – Volitan
- Johann Gutenberg, (c. 1390s-1468), Germany – movable type printing press
- Samuel Guthrie, (1782-1848), USA – discovered chloroform
H
- John Hadley, (1682-1744), England — Octant
- Waldemar Haffkine, (1860-1930), Russia/Switzerland - first anti-cholera and anti-plague vaccines
- Tracy Hall, (1919- ), USA — synthetic diamond
- Christopher Hansteen, (1783-1873), Norway — discovery of terrestrial magnetism
- James Hargreaves, (1720-1778), England — spinning jenny
- John Harrison, (1693-1776), England — marine chronometer
- Victor Hasselblad, (1906-1978), Sweden — invented the 6 x 6 cm single-lens reflex camera
- Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen), (965-1039), Iraq — camera obscura, pinhole camera, magnifying glass, concave and convex mirrors, spherical mirror
- Robert A. Heinlein, (1907-1988), USA — waterbed
- Jozef Karol Hell, (1713-1789), Slovakia — the water pillar
- Rudolf Hell, (1901-2002), Germany — the Hellschreiber
- Joseph Henry, (1797-1878), Scotland/USA — electromagnetic relay
- Heron, (c. 10-70), Roman Egypt — aeolipile
- Heinrich Hertz, (1857-1894), Germany — radio telegraphy, electromagnetic radiation
- George de Hevesy, (1885-1966), Hungary — radioactive tracer
- Rowland Hill, (1795-1879), UK — postage stamp
- Felix Hoffmann (Bayer), (1868-1949), Germany — Aspirin
- Herman Hollerith, (1860-1929), USA — mechanical tabulator based on punched cards
- Nick Holonyak, (1928- ), USA — LED (Light Emitting Diode)
- Joseph Hon – book index thumb notch system for dictionaries Patent #561888
- Robert Hooke, (1635-1703), England — balance wheel, iris diaphragm
- Erna Schneider Hoover, (1926-), USA — computerized telephone switching system
- Frank Hornby, (1863-1936), England — invented Meccano
- Coenraad Johannes van Houten, (1801-1887), Netherlands — cocoa powder, cacao butter, chocolate milk
- Elias Howe, (1819-1867), USA — sewing machine
- Muhammad Husayn, (fl. 1600s), Persia — cartographic Qibla indicator with sundial and compass
- Christiaan Huygens, (1629-1695), Netherlands — pendulum clock
- John Wesley Hyatt, (1837-1920), USA — celluloid manufacturing
I
- Ibn Yunus, (950-1009), Egypt — pendulum
- Sumio Iijima, (1939- ), Japan — nanotubes
- Gavriil Ilizarov, (1921-1992), Russia — Ilizarov apparatus and distraction osteogenesis.
- János Irinyi, (1817-1895), Hungary — noiseless match
J
- Jabir ibn Aflah (Geber), (c. 1100-1150), Islamic Spain — portable celestial globe
- Jabir ibn Hayyan (Geber), (c. 721-815), Yemen/Persia — pure distillation, calcination, crystallization, filtration, liquefaction, purification, alembic, still, retort, mineral acids, nitric and sulfuric acids, uric and hydrochloric acids, aqua regia, alum, alkali, borax, pure sal ammoniac, lead carbonatic, arsenic, antimony, bismuth, pure mercury and sulfur, plated mail, artificial pearl and gemstone, lusterware
- Karl Jatho, (1873-1933), Germany — aeroplane
- Al-Jazari, (1136-1206), Iraq — crankshaft, connecting rod, crank-driven and hydropowered saqiya chain pump, crank-driven screw and screwpump, elephant clock, weight-driven clock, weight-driven pump, reciprocating piston suction pump, geared and hydropowered water supply system, programmable humanoid robots, robotics, hand washing automata, flush mechanism, combination lock, lamination, static balancing, paper model, sand casting, molding sand, intermittency, linkage
- Ibn Al-Jazzar (Algizar), (c. 898-980), Tunisia — sexual dysfunction and erectile dysfunction treatment drugs
- György Jendrassik, (1898-1954), Hungary — turboprop
- Carl Edvard Johansson, (1864-1943), Sweden — Gauge blocks
- Johan Petter Johansson, (1853-1943), Sweden — the pipe wrench and the modern adjustable spanner
- Nancy Johnson, USA — American version of the hand cranked ice cream machine in (1843)
- Scott A. Jones, (1960-), USA — created one of the most successful versions of voicemail as well as ChaCha Search, a human-assisted internet search engine.
- Whitcomb Judson, (1836-1909), USA — zipper
K
- Mikhail Kalashnikov, (1919-), Russia — AK-47 and AK-74 assault rifles
- Dean Kamen, (1951-), USA — Invented the Segway HT scooter and the IBOT Mobility Device
- Heike Kamerlingh Onnes, (1853-1926), Netherlands — liquify helium
- Jamshīd al-Kāshī, (c. 1380-1429), Persia — plate of conjunctions, analog planetary computer
- Abu 'Abdullah Muhammad ibn Naser ibn Saghir ibn Khalid al-Kaysarani, (c. 1154), Syria — striking clock, clock tower
- John Harvey Kellogg, (1852-1943), cornflake breakfasts
- John George Kemeny, (1926-1992), Hungary — co-inventor of BASIC
- Alexander Kemurdzhian, (1921-2003), Russia — first space exploration rover (Lunokhod)
- Kerim Kerimov, (1917-2003), Azerbaijan and Russia — human spaceflight, space dock, space station
- Charles F. Kettering, (1876-1958), USA — invented automobile self-starter ignition, Freon ethyl gasoline and more
- Khalid, (fl. 800s), Ethiopia — coffee
- Fazlur Khan, (1929-1982), Bangladesh — structural systems for high-rise skyscrapers
- Al-Khazini, (fl. 1115-1130), Persia — hydrostatic balance
- Abu-Mahmud al-Khujandi, (c. 940-1000), Persia — astronomical sextant
- Muhammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī (Algoritmi), (c. 780-850), Persia — modern algebra, mural instrument, quadrant, horary quadrant, sine quadrant, Quadrans Vetus, shadow square
- Jack Kilby, (1923-2005), USA — patented the first integrated circuit
- Al-Kindi (Alkindus), (801–873), Iraq/Yemen — ethanol, pure distilled alcohol, cryptanalysis, frequency analysis
- Fritz Klatte, (1880-1934), Germany — vinyl chloride, forerunner to polyvinyl chloride
- Margaret E. Knight, (1838-1914), USA — machine that completely constructs box-bottom brown paper bags
- Ivan Knunyants, (1906-1990), Armenia/Russia — invented Nylon-6
- Robert Koch, (1843-1910), Germany---- method for culturing bacteria on solid media
- Willem Johan Kolff, (1911-), Netherlands — artificial kidney hemodialysis machine
- Rudolf Kompfner, (1909–1977), USA — Traveling-wave tube
- Sergey Korolyov, (1907-1966), Ukraine/Russia — invented R-7 rocket family, designed Sputniks (including first Earth-orbiting artificial satellite), supervised Vostok program (including first human spaceflight)
- Gleb Kotelnikov, (1872-1944), Russia — knapsack parachute
- Ivan Kulibin, (1735-1818), Russia - Elevator using screw mechanisms. Also invented an automobile that featured a Flywheel, Brake, Gear Box, and Bearing.[1]
- Igor Kurchatov, (1903-1960), Russia — first nuclear power plant, first nuclear reactors for submarines and surface ships
- Raymond Kurzweil, (1948-), Optical character recognition; flatbed scanner
- Stephanie Kwolek, (1923-), USA — Kevlar
- John Howard Kyan (1774-1850), Ireland — The process of Kyanization used for wood preservation
L
- René Laënnec, (1781-1826), France — stethoscope
- Cecilia LaFrance, (932–975), Egypt — fountain pen
- Lala Balhumal Lahuri, (c. 1842), Mughal India — seamless globe and celestial globe, lost-wax casting
- Georges Lakhovsky, (1869-1942), Russia - Multiple Wave Oscillator.
- Hedy Lamarr, (1913-2000), Austria and USA — Spread spectrum radio
- Edwin H. Land, (1909-1991), USA — Polaroid polarizing filters and the Land Camera
- Samuel P. Langley, (1834-1906), USA — bolometer
- Irving Langmuir, (1851-1957), USA — gas filled incandescent light bulb, hydrogen welding
- Lewis Latimer, (1848-1928), — worked with Thomas Edison and patented an improved lightbulb manufacturing process
- Gustav de Laval, (1845-1913), Sweden — invented the milk separator and the milking machine
- John Bennet Lawes, (1814-1900), England — superphosphate or chemical fertilizer
- Sergei Vasiljevich Lebedev, (1874-1934), Russia — synthetic rubber
- Tim Berners-Lee, (1955- ) England — World Wide Web
- Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, (1632-1723), Netherlands — development of the microscope
- Jean-Joseph Etienne Lenoir, (1822-1900), Belgium — internal combustion engine, motorboat
- R. G. LeTourneau, (1888-1969), USA- electric wheel, motor scraper, mobile oil drilling platform, bulldozer, cable control unit for scrapers
- Willard Frank Libby, (1908-1980), USA — radiocarbon dating
- Justus von Liebig, (1803-1873), Germany — nitrogen-based fertilizer
- Otto Lilienthal, (1848-1896), Germany — hang glider
- Frans Wilhelm Lindqvist, (1862-1931), Sweden — Kerosene stove operated by compressed air
- Hans Lippershey, (1570-1619), Netherlands — telescope
- William Howard Livens, (1889–1964), England — chemical warfare — Livens Projector.
- Alexander Lodygin, (1847-1923), Russia - Electrical filament, incandescent light bulb with tungsten filament.
- Oleg Losev, (1903-1942), Russia — Light-emitting diode.
- Archibald Low, (1882-1956), Britain — Pioneer of radio guidance systems
- Auguste and Louis Lumière, France — Cinématographe
- Ignacy Łukasiewicz, (1822-1882), Poland — modern kerosene lamp
- Giovanni Luppis, (1813-1875), Austrian Empire (ethnical Italian) — self-propelled torpedo
- Ali Kashmiri ibn Luqman, (fl. 1589-1590), Mughal India — seamless globe and celestial globe, lost-wax casting
M
- Ma Jun, (c. 200-265), China — South Pointing Chariot (see differential gear), mechanical puppet theater, chain pumps, improved silk looms
- Charles Macintosh, (1766-1843), Scotland — waterproof raincoat, life vest
- Sake Dean Mahomet, (c. 1759), India — shampoo
- Dmitri Dmitrievich Maksutov, (1896-1964), Russia — Maksutov telescope
- Al-Ma'mun, (786-833), Iraq — singing bird automata, terrestrial globe
- George William Manby, (1765-1854), England — Fire extinguisher
- Guglielmo Marconi, (1874-1937), Italy — radio telegraphy
- John Landis Mason, (1826-1902), USA — Mason jars
- Henry Maudslay, (1771-1831), England — screw-cutting lathe, bench micrometer
- Hiram Maxim, (1840-1916), USA born, England — First self-powered machine gun
- James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879) and Thomas Sutton Scotland — colour photography
- Ammar ibn Ali al-Mawsili, (9th century), Iraq — syringe, hypodermic needle, cataract extraction, injection, suction
- John McAdam, (1756-1836), Scotland — improved "macadam" road surface
- Elijah McCoy, (1843-1929), Canada — Displacement lubricator
- Hippolyte Mège-Mouriés, (1817-1880), France — margarine
- Dmitri Mendeleev, (1834-1907), Russia - Periodic table, pyrocollodion.
- Antonio Meucci, (1808-1889), Italy — telephone (prototype)
- Edouard Michelin, (1859-1940), France — pneumatic tyre
- Pavel Molchanov, (1893-1941), Russia - Radiosonde.
- Jules Montenier, (c. 1910), USA — modern anti-perspirant deodorant
- Montgolfier brothers, (1740-1810) and (1745-1799), France — hot-air balloon
- John J. Montgomery, (1858-1911), USA — heavier-than-air gliders
- Narcis Monturiol i Estarriol, (1819-1885), Spain — steam powered submarine
- Robert Moog, (1934-2005), USA — the Moog synthesizer
- Samuel Morey, (1762-1843), USA — internal combustion engine
- Garrett A. Morgan, (1877-1963), USA — inventor of the gas mask, and traffic signal.
- Samuel Morse, (1791-1872), USA — telegraph
- Ibn Khalaf al-Muradi, (fl. 1000s), Islamic Spain — geared mechanical clock, segmental gear, epicyclic gearing
- William Murdoch, (1754-1839), Scotland — Gas lighting
- Jozef Murgas, (1864-1929), Slovakia — inventor of the wireless telegraph (forerunner of the radio)
- Al-Muqaddasi, (c. 946-1000), Palestine — restaurant
- Banū Mūsā brothers, Muhammad (c. 800-873), Ahmad (803-873), Al-Hasan (810-873), Iraq — valve, float valve, feedback controller, automatic control, float chamber, mechanical trick devices, hurricane lamp, self-trimming and self-feeding lamp, gas mask, grab, clamshell grab, fail-safe system, mechanical musical instrument, automatic flute player, programmable machine
- Pieter van Musschenbroek, (1692-1761), Netherlands — Leyden jar, pyrometer
- A.J. Musselman inventor of the Coaster brake and the pneumatic aircraft tyre.
N
- Ibn al-Nafis, (1213-1288), Syria/Egypt — circulatory physiology, otolaryngology, theological novel, science fiction novel
- John Napier, (1550-1617), Scotland — logarithms
- James Naismith, (1861-1939), Canadian born, USA — invented basketball and American football helmet
- Yoshiro Nakamatsu, (b. 1928), Japan — floppy disk, "PyonPyon" spring shoes, digital watch, CinemaScope, armchair "Cerebrex", sauce pump, taxicab meter
- James Nasmyth, (1808-1890), Scotland — steam hammer
- Nebuchadrezzar II, (c. 630-562 BC), Iraq (Mesopotamia) — screw, screwpump
- John von Neumann, (1903-1957), Hungary — Von Neumann computer architecture
- Isaac Newton,(1642-1727), England — reflecting telescope (which reduces chromatic aberration)
- Joseph Nicephore Niépce, (1765-1833), France — photography
- Jun-Ichi Nishizawa, (1926-), Japan — Optical communication system, SIT/SITh (Static Induction Transistor/Thyristor), Laser diode, PIN diode
- Alfred Nobel, (1833-1896), Sweden — dynamite
- Murat Nural, (c. 2007), Turkey — vertically rising ladder
- Carl Rickard Nyberg, (1858-1939), Sweden — the blowtorch
O
- Theophil Wilgodt Odhner, (1845–1903), Sweden — the Odhner Arithmometer, a mechanical calculator
- J. Robert Oppenheimer, (1904–1967), United States - Atomic bomb
- Dennis O'Rear, (1950-), United States - oil processing techniques
- Hans Christian Ørsted, (1777–1851), Denmark — electromagnetism, aluminium
- Elisha Otis, (1811–1861), USA — passenger elevator with safety device
- William Oughtred, (1575–1660), England — slide rule
P
- Larry Page, (1973-), USA — with Sergey Brin invented Google web search engine
- Helge Palmcrantz, (1842-1880), Sweden — the multi-barrel, lever-actuated, machine gun
- Daniel David Palmer, (1845-1913), Canada — Chiropractic
- Luigi Palmieri, (1807-1896), Italy — seismometer
- Alexander Parkes, (1831-1890), England — celluloid
- Charles Algernon Parsons, (1854-1931), British — steam turbine
- Spede Pasanen, (1930-2001), Finland — The ski jumping sling
- Blaise Pascal, (1623-1662), France — barometer
- Les Paul, (1915-), USA — Multitrack recording
- Nicolae Paulescu, (1869 - 1931), Romania — Insulin
- Gustaf Erik Pasch, (1788-1862), Sweden — the safety match
- Arthur Paul Pedrick, England — chromatically selective cat flap and others
- John Pemberton, (1831-1888), USA — Coca-Cola
- Slavoljub Eduard Penkala, (1871-1922), Croatia — mechanical pencil
- Henry Perky, (1843-1906), USA — Shredded wheat
- Stephen Perry, England — rubber band
- Peter Petroff, (1919-2004), Bulgaria — digital wrist watch, heart monitor, weather instruments
- Fritz Pfleumer, (1881-1945), Germany — Magnetic Tape
- Arthur Pitney, (1871-1933), United States — Postage meter
- Joseph Plateau, (1801-1883), Belgium — phenakistiscope (stroboscope)
- Baltzar von Platen, (1898-1984), Sweden — refrigerator
- James Leonard Plimpton, USA — roller skates
- Petrache Poenaru, (1799 - 1875), Romania — Fountain pen
- Christopher Polhem, (1661-1751), Sweden — the modern padlock
- Ivan Polzunov, (1728-1766), Russia — first two-cylinder motor
- Olivia Poole, (1889-1975), USA, — the Jolly Jumper baby harness
- Alexander Stepanovich Popov, (1859-1906), Russia - Lightning detector.
- George Pullman, (1831-1897), USA — Pullman sleep wagon
- Michael I. Pupin, (1858-1935), Serbia — pupinization (loading coils), tunable oscillator
- Tivadar Puskas, (1844-1893), Hungary — telephone exchange
R
- Hasan al-Rammah, (fl. 1270s), Syria — purified potassium nitrate, explosive gunpowder, torpedo
- Harun al-Rashid, (763-809), Iraq/Persia — public hospital, medical school
- Muhammad ibn Zakarīya Rāzi (Rhazes), (865-965), Persia — distillation and extraction methods, sulfuric acid and hydrochloric acid, soap, kerosene, kerosene lamp, chemotherapy, red lead, copper acetate, lead sulfide, zinc oxide, bismuth oxide, iron acetate, cinnabar, arsenic trioxide, sodium hydroxide, aludel, rose water, heated bath, funnel, sieve
- Karl von Reichenbach, (1788-1869), paraffin, creosote oil, phenol
- Ira Remsen, (1846-1927), USA — saccharin
- Josef Ressel, (1793-1857), Czechoslovakia — ship propeller
- Charles Francis Richter, (1900-1985), USA — Richter magnitude scale
- Hyman George Rickover, (1900–1986), USA - Nuclear Submarine
- John Roebuck, (1718-1794) England — lead chamber process for sulfuric acid synthesis
- Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, (1845-1923), Germany — the X-ray machine
- Ernő Rubik, (1944-), Hungary — Rubik's cube, Rubik's Magic and Rubik's Clock
- Ernst Ruska, (1906-1988), Germany — electron microscope
S
- Alexander Sablukov, (1783-1857), Russia — centrifugal fan
- Şerafeddin Sabuncuoğlu, (1385-1468), Turkey — illustrated surgical atlas
- Ibn Sahl, (c. 940-1000), Iraq — parabolic mirror
- Andrei Sakharov, (1921-1989), Russia — invented explosively pumped flux compression generator, developed tokamaks for controlled nuclear fusion
- Ibn Samh, (c. 1020), Middle East — mechanical geared astrolabe
- Ibn Sina (Avicenna), (973-1037), Persia — thermometer, thermoscope, steam distillation, essential oil, pharmacopoeia, clinical pharmacology, clinical trial, randomized controlled trial, quarantine, cancer surgery, cancer therapy, pharmacotherapy, phytotherapy, Hindiba, Taxus baccata L, calcium channel blocker
- Alberto Santos-Dumont, (1873-1932), Brazil — non-rigid airship and airplane
- Thomas Savery, (1650-1715), England — steam engine
- Adolphe Sax, (1814-1894), Belgium — saxophone
- Bela Schick, (1877-1967), Hungary — diphtheria test
- Christian Schnabel (1878-1936), German — simplistic food cutleries
- Kees A. Schouhamer Immink (1946- ), Netherlands — Major contributor to development of Compact Disc
- August Schrader, USA — Schrader valve for Pneumatic tire
- David Schwarz, (1852-1897), Croatia, — rigid ship, later called Zeppelin
- Marc Seguin, (1786-1875), France — wire-cable suspension bridge
- Sennacherib, (705–681 BC), Iraq (Mesopotamia) — screw pump
- Iwan Serrurier, (active 1920s), Netherlands/USA — inventor of the Moviola for film editing.
- Mark Serrurier, (190?-1988), USA — Serrurier truss for Optical telescopes
- Gerhard Sessler, (1931-), Germany — foil electret microphone, silicon microphone
- Alexander Procofieff de Seversky, 1894-1974, Russia/United States of America — Air-to-air refueling
- Ibn al-Shatir, (1304-1375), Syria — astrolabic clock, compendium instrument, polar-axis sundial, compass dial
- Shen Kuo, (1031-1095), China — improved gnomon, armillary sphere, clepsydra, and sighting tube
- Pavel Schilling, (1780-1836), Estonia/Russia — first electromagnetic telegraph
- Murasaki Shikibu, (c. 973-1025), — novel, psychological novel
- Fathullah Shirazi, (c. 1582), Mughal India — autocannon, multi-barrel gun
- Al-Sijzi, (c. 945-1020), Persia — heliocentric astrolabe
- William Bradford Shockley, (1910-1989), USA — co-inventor of transistor
- Henry Shrapnel, (1761-1842), England — Shrapnel shell ammunition
- Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, (b. 1972), Malaysia — cell growth in outer space, crystallization of proteins and microbes in space
- Vladimir Shukhov, (1853-1939), Russia - Shukhov cracking process, thin-shell structure, tensile structure, built on of the first pipelines
- Augustus Siebe, (1788-1872), Germany/England — Inventor of the standard diving dress
- Werner von Siemens, (1816-1892), Germany — an electromechanical "dynamic"
- Sir William Siemens, (1823-1883), Germany — regenerative furnace
- Igor Sikorsky, (1889-1972), Russia/USA — helicopter
- Juanito Simon, (1948-), Philippines — metal treatment lubricants
- Charles Simonyi, (1948-), Hungary — Hungarian notation
- Isaac Singer, (1811-1875), USA — sewing machine
- Elmer Ambrose Sperry, (1860-1930), USA — gyroscope-guided automatic pilot
- George Stephenson, (1781-1848), England — steam locomotive
- Simon Stevin, (1548-1620), Netherlands — land yacht
- Aurel Stodola, (1859-1942), Slovakia — gas turbines
- Reverend Dr Robert Stirling (1790-1878), Scotland — Stirling engine
- Levi Strauss, (1829-1902), USA — blue jeans
- John Stringfellow, (1799-1883), England — airplane
- Almon Strowger, (1839-1902), USA — automatic telephone exchange
- Su Song, (1020-1101), China — first chain drive
- Simon Sunatori, (1959-), Canada — inventor of MagneScribe and Magic Spicer
- Sushruta, (600 BC),