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  • Discoveries and inventions of a new time. Brilliant inventions made by chance (16 photos)

Discoveries and inventions of a new time. Brilliant inventions made by chance (16 photos)

The discovery recognizes the establishment of previously unknown objectively existing laws, properties and phenomena of the material world, which introduce fundamental changes in the level of knowledge on a global scale.

Many discoveries contain a theoretical justification for patterns, properties, or phenomena, but this feature is not required. It is enough if the discovered pattern, phenomenon or property is experimentally confirmed. In this case, the subject of discovery can be not only phenomena that exist in nature and have not been previously established, but also artificially created, for example, the production of certain elements in the Mendeleev system that have not yet been discovered in nature.

The creation of such elements is not an invention, since in this case the problem was solved purely in the scientific plan and the goal of the research was exclusively informative. But then the instruments and methods that were used in this research can be recognized as an invention. Or, if an open element discovers properties that are useful in the art, the proposed method for using this element in production can be recognized by the invention.

Objects of the invention

As an invention, a technical solution is protected in any field relating to a product or method. An object of the invention is a product. The product as an object of the invention is, in particular, a device, substance, strain of a microorganism, culture (line) of plant or animal cells, genetic construction.

Devices include designs and products. Substances include, in particular: chemical compounds, including nucleic acids and proteins; compositions (compositions, mixtures); nuclear conversion products. Microorganism strains include, in particular, strains of bacteria, viruses, bacteriophages, microalgae, microscopic fungi, consortia of microorganisms. The cell lines of plants or animals include cell lines of tissues, organs of plants or animals, consortia of the corresponding cells. Genetic constructs include, in particular, plasmids, vectors, stably transformed cells of microorganisms, plants and animals, transgenic plants and animals.

The object of the invention is a method

The method as an object of the invention is the process of performing actions on a material object using material means.

Not considered inventions, in particular:

  • discoveries, as well as scientific theories and mathematical methods;
  • decisions concerning only the appearance of products and aimed at satisfying aesthetic needs;
  • rules and methods of games, intellectual or economic activity;
  • programs for electronic computers;
  • decisions consisting only in the presentation of information.

Not recognized patentable:

  • plant varieties or animal breeds;
  • topologies of integrated circuits;
  • decisions contrary to the public interest, principles of humanity and morality.

The invention is considered a technical solution and should contain an indication of the technical means (methods) of its solution and be workable, i.e. have the quality of multiple reproduction of the achieved result.

A technical solution is often embodied as a result of its implementation in a particular machine, alloy, medical preparation, however, not the material object itself is protected, but the technical idea expressed in it. A technical solution can be recognized as an invention if it has novelty, significant differences and gives a stable positive result. Moreover, the technical solution is considered new provided that, prior to the priority date of the application, the essence of this or an identical solution has not been disclosed in the Russian Federation or abroad. If a technical solution has become known only to a certain, narrow circle of people, for example, a technical commission, the author’s staff, the head of a higher authority, then the novelty of the solution is protected. Thus, the discovery is a solution to a scientific problem, and the invention provides a practical means for directly satisfying any social need. The novelty of the invention relates to the field of technology, and the novelty of the discovery to the field of scientific knowledge.

Regulations on scientific discoveries

General Provisions

  • A discovery is the establishment and proof of previously unknown objectively existing laws (laws), properties or phenomena of the material world that are not derived as a result of existing knowledge and make fundamental changes to the level of knowledge. For geographical, archaeological, paleontological discoveries and for discoveries in the field of social sciences, this Regulation does not apply.
  • A declared discovery is recognized as previously unknown if it was not published in the Russian Federation or abroad or brought to other parties by official means within five years prior to the filing date of the application for issuing an opening diploma (hereinafter referred to as the opening application).
  • A claimed discovery is not inferred as a consequence of existing knowledge, unless it is based on well-known scientific and practical knowledge of the laws, properties or phenomena of the material world.
  • The claimed discovery is recognized as introducing fundamental changes in the level of knowledge if, on its basis, new directions in the development of science and technology are opened, well-known theoretical concepts are fundamentally changed, scientific facts and experimental data that have not been found before their scientific explanation are explained.
  • The claimed discovery must be proved, i.e. theoretically substantiated or confirmed experimentally.
  • The phenomenon of the material world, as the subject of discovery, for which a diploma is issued, is an previously unknown objectively existing qualitative characteristic of the object of the material world, the establishment of which brings fundamental changes to the level of knowledge.
  • The property of the material world, as the subject of discovery, for which a diploma is issued, is an previously unknown objectively existing form of manifestation of the essence of the object of the material world (nature), the establishment of which introduces fundamental changes in the level of knowledge.
  • The regularity (law) of the material world, as the subject of discovery, for which a diploma is issued, is an objectively existing, stable relationship between the phenomena or properties of the material world, the establishment of which makes fundamental changes in the level of knowledge.
  • Not recognized as discoveries:
    • scientific theories and hypotheses;
    • results clarifying known scientific positions;
    • detection of morphological structures, comets, planets and other spatial formations;
    • breeding and detection of new species of plants, animals and microorganisms;
    • other research results that do not meet the requirements provided for in paragraph 1 of these Regulations.
  • The author of the discovery is an individual whose creative work has revealed the claimed discovery. If several persons participated in the discovery of this discovery, all of them are considered its authors. Copyright is an inalienable personal right and is protected indefinitely. Foreign citizens may be recognized as the authors of discoveries and enjoy the rights provided for by these Regulations and other legislative acts of the Russian Federation, along with its citizens in cases where the discovery was made jointly with citizens of the Russian Federation or when performing work at enterprises, institutions, organizations located at the territory of the Russian Federation or in joint use, unless otherwise provided by international treaties.
  • The opening diploma is issued in the name of the author by the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Russian Federation (hereinafter referred to as the Ministry of Science). In the case of co-authorship, an opening diploma is issued to each of the co-authors, indicating other co-authors in it.
  • The priority of the discovery is established by the date when the discovery was first formulated and proved, either by the date of its publication in print, or by the date of bringing it to other parties by other official means. If it is not possible to confirm the specified date, the opening priority is established by the date of receipt of the correctly executed application for opening. If the date when the discovery was first formulated and the date when the evidence of its reliability was given, supplementing and substantiating the essence of the discovery, do not coincide, the priority dates are the date when the discovery was first formulated and the date of presentation of evidence of reliability results contained in the discovery formula.

Registration and examination of the application for opening

  • An application for opening, drawn up in accordance with this Regulation, is submitted to Rospatent by the author of the opening. An application at the request of the author may be filed by a legal or natural person on the basis of a power of attorney issued to him by the author.
  • An application for opening should relate to only one opening and include the following documents:
    • an application for a diploma for opening, and in the case of an application from the organization - and a certificate of opening;
    • description of the opening with the opening formula;
    • documents confirming the priority of the discovery, if the nature and evidence of its authenticity were known before filing the application for opening;
    • an abstract containing a summary of what is disclosed in the description of the discovery, indicating the scientific or practical significance of the discovery;
    • a document confirming the payment of a fee for filing an application for opening.
  • The application for the issuance of a diploma for opening must indicate the surname, name, patronymic of the author (co-authors), information about his (their) education, academic degree, place of residence (work), citizenship (for foreigners), name of the opening, as well as a description of the creative the contribution of each of the co-authors in establishing the discovery. In the description of the discovery, evidence must be given of the reliability of the establishment of a law (law), property or phenomenon of the material world, as well as a discovery formula that concisely, clearly and comprehensively expresses its essence. Application documents are submitted in Russian in printed form.
  • Examination of the application for opening includes preliminary consideration by Rospatent and scientific expertise at the Academies of Sciences of the Russian Federation, the State Committee of the Russian Federation for Higher Education (Goskomvuz), the Higher Attestation Committee of the Russian Federation (HAC), and the Ministry of Science.
  • Preliminary consideration of the application for opening is carried out within a month from the date of its receipt. During the preliminary review, the compliance of the application materials with the requirements presented to them by this Regulation is checked.
  • Based on the results of the preliminary consideration, the application for opening is sent to the corresponding Academy of Sciences or the State Committee for Scientific Research for scientific examination, or is rejected if it does not meet the requirements of Article 9 of this provision with the author returning the application materials. Rospatent publishes in the official bulletin information on applications for discoveries aimed at scientific examination.
  • Rospatent may invite the author to supplement or clarify the application materials. To clarify the application or supplement it with missing materials, the author is given a 2-month period from the day he receives this proposal. If the author has not made corrections to the application within the indicated time period or has not submitted additional materials, the application is deemed not to be submitted and its materials are returned to the author.
  • The Academies of Sciences of the Russian Federation and Goskomvuz within 6 months from the date of receipt of the application for opening check the compliance of the claimed discovery with the requirements set forth in Article 9 of these Regulations, establish its priority, specify the opening formula, coordinate it with the author, send its opinion on the discovery to Rospatent with the recommended discovery formula and assessment of its scientific and practical significance, or the lack of discovery, indicating motives confirming this conclusion.
  • If within 6 months from the date of publication of information on the application for opening in the official bulletin, it will not be appealed, Rospatent, on the basis of positive conclusions from the Academies of Sciences of the Russian Federation or the State Committee for Higher Education, takes a month to decide on the issuance of a diploma for opening, approves it with the RAS, registers the opening and sends the decision to the Ministry of Science of Russia. The Ministry of Science of Russia, within one month from the date of receipt of the decision from Rospatent, presents diplomas and the badge "Opening Author" to the opening author, and also makes a payment of remuneration.
  • If a decision is made to refuse recognition of the declared provision as a discovery, Rospatent sends a copy of the decision to the author within one month.
  • The author has the right to file a motivated objection to Rospatent in a 2-month period against a decision to refuse to recognize the declared provision as discovery if there are conflicting opinions on it.
  • If the author fails to reach agreement on the decision made on the application, Rospatent sends the materials on the declared discovery to the Higher Attestation Commission.
  • VAK, within a 2-month period, considers the submitted materials and sends its opinion to Rospatent, which notifies the author about it. In case of disagreement of the author or Rospatent with the conclusion of the Higher Attestation Commission, materials on the declared discovery are sent to the Ministry of Science for a final decision.
  • The decision made by the Ministry of Science on the application for opening is final and is not subject to appeal.
  • The author of the claimed discovery and the applicant have the right to participate in the consideration of the application for opening at all stages of the preliminary review and scientific examination.

Discovery Funding

  • Financing of works related to the protection and use of discoveries is carried out at the expense of budgetary funds allocated by the Ministry of Science and related fees.
  • The determination of the amount and payment of royalties, payment of the costs of preparing opinions on applications for opening, payment of fees for their submission and conducting scientific examination on them are carried out according to the procedure, at the rates and prices established by the Ministry of Science.

The history of mankind is closely connected with constant progress, technological development, new discoveries and inventions. Some technologies are obsolete and have become history, others, such as a wheel or sail, are still in use. Countless discoveries have been lost in the maelstrom of time, others not appreciated by contemporaries have been waiting for recognition and implementation for tens and hundreds of years.

Editors Samogo.Net   conducted its own research, designed to answer the question of what kind of inventions are considered by our contemporaries the most significant.

Processing and analysis of the results of online surveys showed that there is simply no consensus on this issue. Nevertheless, we managed to formulate a general unique rating of the greatest inventions and discoveries in the history of mankind. As it turned out, despite the fact that science has long gone ahead, the basic discoveries in the minds of our contemporaries remain the most significant.

The first place undoubtedly took Fire

People discovered early the beneficial properties of fire - its ability to light and warm, to improve plant and animal food.

The "wild fire" that flared up during forest fires or volcanic eruptions was terrible for a man, but, having brought fire to his cave, the man "tamed" him and "placed" himself at his service. Since that time, fire has become a constant companion of man and the basis of his economy. In ancient times, it was an indispensable source of heat, light, a means for cooking, a hunting tool.
However, further cultural achievements (ceramics, metallurgy, steelmaking, steam engines, etc.) are obliged to the integrated use of fire.

For many millennia, people used the "home fire", supported it from year to year in their caves, before learning how to extract it themselves using friction. This discovery probably happened by chance after our ancestors learned to drill a tree. During this operation, the wood was heated and, under favorable conditions, ignition could occur. Having paid attention to this, people began to widely use friction for making fire.

The simplest method was to take two sticks of dry wood, one of which made a hole. The first wand was laid on the ground and pressed against the knee. The second was inserted into the hole, and then began to quickly and quickly rotate between the palms. At the same time, it was necessary to press hard on the stick. The disadvantage of this method was that the palms gradually slipped down. We had to constantly raise them up and continue to rotate again. Although, with the well-known dexterity, this can be done quickly, nevertheless, due to constant stops, the process was greatly delayed. It is much easier to get fire by friction, working together. At the same time, one person held a horizontal stick and pressed on top of a vertical one, and the second quickly and quickly rotated it between his palms. Later they began to wrap a vertical stick around the strap, moving it to the right and left, you can speed up the movement, and a bone cap was put on the upper end for convenience. Thus, the entire device for making fire began to consist of four parts: two sticks (fixed and rotating), a strap and an upper cap. In this way, it was possible to make fire alone if you pressed the lower stick with your knee to the ground, and the cap with your teeth.

And only then, with the development of mankind, other methods of obtaining open fire became available.

Second placein the answers the online communities took Wheel and Wagon



It is believed that its prototype may have been skating rinks that were placed under heavy tree trunks, boats and stones when dragging them from place to place. Perhaps at that time the first observations were made on the properties of rotating bodies. For example, if for some reason the log-skating rink in the center was thinner than on the edges, it moved under the load more evenly and did not push it to the side. Noticing this, people began to deliberately burn the rollers in such a way that the middle part became thinner, and the side remained unchanged. In this way, a fixture was created, which is now called a “ramp.” In the course of further improvements in this direction, only two rollers remained at the ends of the whole log, and an axis appeared between them. Later they began to be manufactured separately, and then rigidly fastened together. So the wheel was opened in the proper sense of the word and the first wagon appeared.

In subsequent centuries, many generations of craftsmen worked on improving this invention. Initially, solid wheels rigidly fastened to the axle and rotated with it. When traveling on a flat road, such carts were quite suitable for use. At a bend, when the wheels must rotate at different speeds, this connection creates great inconvenience, as a heavily loaded wagon can easily break or roll over. The wheels themselves were still very imperfect. They were made from a single piece of wood. Therefore, the wagons were heavy and slow. They moved slowly, and usually they were harnessed to leisurely but powerful oxen.

One of the oldest wagons of this design was found during excavations in Mohenjo-Daro. A major step forward in the development of mobility technology was the invention of a wheel with a hub mounted on a fixed axis. In this case, the wheels rotated independently of each other. And so that the wheel rubbed less on the axle, they began to lubricate it with grease or tar.

For the sake of reducing the weight of the wheel, cuts were cut out in it, and for stiffness it was strengthened with transverse clips. Nothing better could have been invented during the Stone Age. But after the discovery of metals, they began to manufacture wheels with a metal rim and spokes. Such a wheel could spin ten times faster and was not afraid of blows to stones. By harnessing a cart of swift horses, a man significantly increased his speed of movement. Perhaps it is difficult to find another discovery that would give such a powerful impetus to the development of technology.

Third place   rightfully occupied Writing



There is no need to talk about the great importance in the history of mankind of the invention of writing. It is impossible to even imagine how the development of civilization could go if, at a certain stage of their development, people had not learned how to fix the information they need with the help of certain symbols and thus transmit and store it. Obviously, human society in the form in which it exists today simply could not have appeared.

The first forms of writing in the form of specially inscribed characters appeared about 4 thousand years BC. But long before that, there were various ways of transmitting and storing information: using a certain way folded branches, arrows, smoke of fires and the like signals. From these primitive warning systems, more sophisticated methods of recording information later emerged. For example, the ancient Incas invented the original "recording" system using knots. For this, laces of wool of different colors were used. They were tied with various knots and mounted on a stick. In this form, a "letter" was sent to the addressee. It is believed that the Incas with the help of such a "nodal writing" recorded their laws, wrote chronicles and poems. "Nodal letter" was noted among other nations - it was used in ancient China and Mongolia.

However, writing in the proper sense of the word appeared only after people invented special graphic signs for fixing and transmitting information. The most ancient type of writing is considered pictographic. The pictogram is a schematic drawing that directly depicts the things, events, and phenomena in question. It is believed that pictography was widespread among various peoples at the last stage of the Stone Age. This letter is very clear, and therefore he does not need to study specifically. It is quite suitable for transmitting small messages and for recording simple stories. But when there was a need to convey some kind of complex abstract thought or concept, the limited possibilities of the pictogram were immediately felt, which is completely incapable of recording what does not lend itself to a pictorial image (for example, concepts such as cheerfulness, courage, vigilance, good sleep, heavenly azure, etc.). Therefore, already at an early stage in the history of writing, the number of pictograms began to include special conditional icons denoting certain concepts (for example, the sign of crossed hands symbolized exchange). Such icons are called ideograms. Ideographic writing arose also in pictographic writing, and one can quite clearly imagine how this happened: each pictorial sign of the pictogram became more and more isolated from others and associated with a specific word or concept, denoting it. Gradually, this process has developed so much that primitive pictograms have lost their former visibility, but they have gained clarity and certainty. This process took a long time, maybe several millennia.

The hieroglyphic writing became the highest form of the ideogram. It first appeared in ancient Egypt. Later, hieroglyphic writing became widespread in the Far East - in China, Japan and Korea. With the help of ideograms, it was possible to reflect any, even the most complex and abstract thought. However, for the non-secret hieroglyphs, the meaning of what was written was completely incomprehensible. Everyone who wanted to learn how to write had to remember several thousand icons. In reality, it took several years of constant exercise. Therefore, few knew how to write and read in antiquity.

Only at the end of 2 thousand BC the ancient Phoenicians invented the alphanumeric alphabet, which served as a model for the alphabets of many other peoples. The Phoenician alphabet consisted of 22 consonants, each of which denoted a separate sound. The invention of this alphabet was a great step forward for humanity. With the help of a new letter it was easy to convey graphically any word without resorting to ideograms. He was very easy to learn. The art of writing is no longer the privilege of the enlightened. It has become the property of all society, or at least most of it. This was one of the reasons for the rapid spread of the Phoenician alphabet throughout the world. It is believed that four fifths of all the alphabets known today arose from the Phoenician.

So, from a variety of Phoenician (Punic) writing, Libyan evolved. Directly from the Phoenician came Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek writing. In turn, on the basis of Aramaic writing, Arabic, Nabatean, Syriac, Persian and other scripts were formed. The Greeks introduced the last important improvement in the Phoenician alphabet - they began to denote not only consonants, but also vowels. The Greek alphabet formed the basis of most European alphabets: Latin (from which French, German, English, Italian, Spanish, and other alphabets are derived), Coptic, Armenian, Georgian, and Slavic (Serbian, Russian, Bulgarian, etc.).

Fourth place,   after writing takes Paper


Its creators were Chinese. And this is no coincidence. First, China in ancient times was famous for book wisdom and a complex system of bureaucratic management, which required constant reporting from officials. Therefore, there has always been a need for inexpensive and compact writing material. Before the invention of paper, China was written either on bamboo tablets or on silk.

But silk was always very expensive, and bamboo was very bulky and heavy. (On average, 30 hieroglyphs were placed on one plate. It is easy to imagine how much space such a bamboo “book” should have occupied. It is not by accident that they write that it took a whole cart to transport some works.) Secondly, the Chinese alone knew the secret of production for a long time silk, and paper business just developed from one technical operation of processing silk cocoons. This operation was as follows. Women engaged in silkworm brewing silkworm cocoons, then, spreading them on a mat, lowered them into water and rubbed until a homogeneous mass was formed. When the mass was removed and filtered out, silk wool was obtained. However, after such mechanical and heat treatment, the mats did not have a thin fibrous layer, which after drying turned into a sheet of very thin paper suitable for writing. Later, workers began to use defective silkworm cocoons for targeted paper making. At the same time, they repeated the process already familiar to them: they cooked cocoons, washed and ground them to obtain paper pulp, and finally, dried the resulting sheets. Such paper was called "cotton" and was quite expensive, since the raw materials themselves were expensive.

Naturally, in the end the question arose: can paper be made only from silk, or can any fibrous raw material, including plant material, be suitable for preparing paper pulp? In 105, a certain Tsai Lun, an important official at the court of the Han emperor, prepared a new grade of paper from old fishing nets. In terms of quality, it did not go silk, but was much cheaper. This important discovery had enormous consequences not only for China, but for the whole world - for the first time in history, people received first-class and affordable writing material, an equivalent of which has not been replaced to this day. The name Tsai Lun is therefore rightfully among the names of the greatest inventors in the history of mankind. In the following centuries, several important improvements were made to the papermaking process, which made it rapidly develop.

In the 4th century, paper completely displaced bamboo boards from use. New experiments have shown that paper can be made from cheap plant materials: wood bark, cane and bamboo. The latter was especially important, since bamboo grows in China in huge quantities. Bamboo was split into thin specks, soaked with lime, and the resulting mass was then digested for several days. The filtered thick was kept in special pits, thoroughly grinded with special beats and diluted with water until a sticky, gruel-like mass was formed. This mass was scooped up using a special form - a bamboo sieve mounted on a stretcher. A thin layer of mass along with the form was placed under the press. Then the form was pulled out and only a sheet of paper remained under the press. The pressed sheets were removed from the sieve, stacked, dried, smoothed and cut to size.

Over time, the Chinese have achieved the highest art in the manufacture of paper. For several centuries, they, as usual, carefully kept the secrets of paper production. But in 751, during a clash with Arabs in the foothills of the Tien Shan, several Chinese masters were captured. From them, the Arabs learned how to make paper themselves and for five centuries very profitably sold it to Europe. Europeans were the last of the civilized nations to learn how to make paper themselves. The Spaniards were the first to adopt this art from Arabs. In 1154, paper production was also established in Italy, in 1228 in Germany, in 1309 in England. In the following centuries, paper was widely used all over the world, gradually conquering more and more new areas of application. Its significance in our life is so great that, in the opinion of the famous French bibliographer A. Sim, our era can rightfully be called the "paper era."

Fifth placeoccupied   Gunpowder and Firearms



The invention of gunpowder and its distribution in Europe had enormous consequences for the future history of mankind. Although Europeans were the last of the civilized nations to learn how to make this explosive mixture, it was they who were able to extract the greatest practical benefit from its discovery. The rapid development of firearms and the revolution in military affairs were the first consequences of the spread of gunpowder. This, in turn, entailed profound social shifts: knights in their armor and their impregnable castles were powerless before the fire of guns and arquebuses. The feudal society was dealt a blow from which it could no longer recover. In a short time, many European powers overcame feudal fragmentation and turned into powerful centralized states.

There are few inventions in the history of technology that would lead to such grandiose and far-reaching changes. Before gunpowder became known in the west, it already had a long history in the east, and the Chinese invented it. The most important component of gunpowder is nitrate. In some areas of China, it was found in a native form and looked like flakes of snow that sprinkled the ground. It was later discovered that nitrate is formed in areas rich in alkalis and rotting (nitrogen-delivering) substances. By lighting a fire, the Chinese could observe flashes that occurred during the burning of saltpeter with coal.

For the first time, the properties of saltpeter were described by the Chinese physician Tao Hong-ching, who lived at the turn of the 5th and 6th centuries. Since that time, it has been used as an integral part of some drugs. Alchemists often used it, conducting experiments. In the 7th century, one of them, Sun Sy-miao, prepared a mixture of sulfur and nitrate, adding a few shares of the locust tree to them. While heating this mixture in a crucible, he suddenly received a powerful flash of flame. He described this experience in his treatise Tribute to Ching. It is believed that Sun Si-miao prepared one of the first samples of gunpowder, which, however, did not yet have a strong explosive effect.

Subsequently, the composition of gunpowder was improved by other alchemists who experimentally established its three main components: coal, sulfur, and potassium nitrate. Medieval Chinese could not scientifically explain what kind of explosive reaction occurs when gunpowder is ignited, but they very soon learned to use it for military purposes. True, in their life gunpowder did not at all have the revolutionary influence that it later had on European society. This is explained by the fact that the masters for a long time prepared a powder mixture from crude components. Meanwhile, crude saltpeter and sulfur containing impurities did not produce a strong explosive effect. For several centuries, gunpowder was used exclusively as an incendiary. Later, when its quality improved, they began to use gunpowder as an explosive in the manufacture of HE mines, hand grenades and explosive packets.

But even after that, for a long time, they were not aware of using the power of gases arising from the burning of gunpowder to throw bullets and nuclei. Only in the XII-XIII centuries, the Chinese began to use weapons, very vaguely reminiscent of a firearm, but they invented firecrackers and rockets. Arabs and Mongols learned the secret of gunpowder from the Chinese. In the first third of the 13th century, Arabs achieved great skill in pyrotechnics. They used saltpeter in many compounds, interfering with sulfur and coal, added other components to them and arranged fireworks of amazing beauty. From Arabs, the composition of the powder mixture became known to European alchemists. One of them, Mark Grek, already in 1220 wrote down a recipe for gunpowder in his treatise: 6 parts of saltpeter per 1 part of sulfur and 1 part of coal. Later, Roger Bacon wrote quite accurately about the composition of gunpowder.

However, another hundred years passed before this recipe ceased to be a secret. This second discovery of gunpowder is associated with the name of another alchemist, Feiburg monk Bertold Schwartz. Once he began to crush a grinded mixture of saltpeter, sulfur and coal in a mortar, as a result of which there was an explosion, singing Berthold’s beard. This or another experience gave Bertold the idea of \u200b\u200busing the power of powder gases to throw stones. It is believed that he made one of the first artillery pieces in Europe.

Initially, the powder was a fine flour-like powder. It was not convenient to use it, since when loading guns and arquebuses the powder pulp was sticky to the walls of the barrel. Finally they noticed that the powder in the form of lumps is much more convenient - it was easily charged and when ignited it gave more gases (2 pounds of powder in the lumps gave a greater effect than 3 pounds in the pulp).

In the first quarter of the XV century, for convenience, they began to use grain powder, obtained by rolling powder pulp (with alcohol and other impurities) into the dough, which was then passed through a sieve. So that the grains do not fray during transportation, they learned to polish them. To do this, they were placed in a special drum, during the unwinding of which the grains hit and rubbed against each other and compacted. After processing, their surface became smooth and shiny.

Sixth placein the polls took : telegraph, telephone, Internet, radio and other types of modern communication



Until the middle of the 19th century, the only means of communication between the European continent and England, between America and Europe, between Europe and the colonies was the shipping post. We learned about incidents and events in other countries late for whole weeks, and sometimes months. For example, news from Europe to America was delivered in two weeks, and this was not the longest time. Therefore, the creation of a telegraph responded to the most urgent needs of mankind.

After this technical novelty appeared in all parts of the world and telegraph lines encircled the globe, it took only hours, and sometimes minutes, for news on electric wires from one hemisphere to rush to another. Political and exchange reports, personal and business messages on the same day could be delivered to interested parties. Thus, the telegraph should be attributed to one of the most important inventions in the history of civilization, because with it the human mind won the greatest victories over distance.

With the invention of the telegraph, the task of transmitting messages over long distances was solved. However, the telegraph could only forward written dispatches. Meanwhile, many inventors dreamed of a more advanced and communicative way of communication, with the help of which it would be possible to transmit live sound of human speech or music at any distance. The first experiments in this direction were undertaken in 1837 by the American physicist Page. The essence of Page's experiments was very simple. He assembled an electric circuit, which included a tuning fork, an electromagnet, and galvanic cells. During its oscillations, the tuning fork quickly opened and closed the circuit. This intermittent current was transmitted to an electromagnet, which just as quickly attracted and released a thin steel rod. As a result of these vibrations, the rod made a singing sound similar to that produced by the tuning fork. Thus, Page showed that it is possible, in principle, to transmit sound using electric current, you just need to create more advanced transmitting and receiving devices.

And already later, as a result of long searches, discoveries and inventions, a mobile phone, television, the Internet and other means of communication of mankind appeared, without which it is impossible to imagine our modern life.

Seventh placein the top 10 according to the results of polls took Car



The car is one of those great inventions that, like a wheel, gunpowder or electric current, had a tremendous impact not only on the era that gave rise to them, but on all subsequent times. Its multifaceted impact is far from limited to the field of transport. The car formed a modern industry, spawned new industries, despotically rebuilt the production itself, for the first time giving it a mass, serial and continuous character. He transformed the appearance of the planet, which was surrounded by millions of kilometers of highways, put pressure on the environment and even changed the psychology of man. The influence of the car is now so multifaceted that it is felt in all areas of human life. It has become, as it were, a visible and visual embodiment of technological progress in general, with all its advantages and disadvantages.

In the history of the car there were many amazing pages, but perhaps the most striking of them refers to the first years of its existence. It cannot but amaze the swiftness with which this invention has gone from appearance to maturity. It took only a quarter of a century for a car to turn from a capricious and still unreliable toy into the most popular and widespread vehicle. Already at the beginning of the 20th century, it was basically identical to a modern car.

The immediate predecessor of a gasoline car was a steam car. The first practically operational steam engine is considered to be a steam cart built by the French Kunho in 1769. Transporting up to 3 tons of cargo, it moved at a speed of only 2-4 km / h. She also had other shortcomings. The heavy car obeyed the steering very poorly, constantly ran into the walls of houses and fences, causing destruction and suffering considerable damage. The two horsepower that her engine developed was difficult. Despite the large volume of the boiler, the pressure quickly dropped. Every quarter hour, to maintain pressure, I had to stop and light the firebox. One of the trips ended in a boiler explosion. Fortunately, Kunho himself survived.

The followers of Kunho were more fortunate. In 1803, the well-known Trivaitik built the first steam engine in the UK. The car had huge rear wheels about 2.5 m in diameter. A boiler was attached between the wheels and the rear of the frame, which was serviced by a fireman standing on the heels. The steam car was equipped with a single horizontal cylinder. From the piston rod through the connecting rod and crank mechanism, the driving gear rotated, which was meshed with another gear mounted on the axis of the rear wheels. The axis of these wheels pivotally connected to the frame and rotated with the help of a long lever driver sitting on a high exposure. The body was suspended on high C-shaped springs. With 8-10 passengers, the car reached speeds of up to 15 km / h, which, undoubtedly, was a very good achievement for that time. The appearance of this amazing car on the streets of London attracted a lot of onlookers who did not hide their enthusiasm.

A car in the modern sense of the word appeared only after the creation of a compact and economical internal combustion engine, which produced a genuine revolution in transport technology.
The first car with a gasoline engine was built in 1864 by the Austrian inventor Siegfried Markus. Carried away by pyrotechnics, Marcus once set fire to a mixture of gasoline and air vapors with an electric spark. Struck by the force of the ensuing explosion, he decided to create an engine in which this effect would find application. In the end, he managed to build a two-stroke gasoline engine with electric ignition, which he installed on an ordinary wagon. In 1875, Marcus created a more advanced car.

The official glory of the inventors of the car belongs to two German engineers - Benz and Daimler. Benz designed two-stroke gas engines and was the owner of a small factory for their production. Engines were in good demand, and Benz's business flourished. He had enough facilities and leisure for other developments. Benz's dream was to create a self-propelled crew with an internal combustion engine. Benz’s own engine, like the four-stroke Otto engine, was not suitable for this, since they had a low speed (about 120 revolutions per minute). With a slight decrease in the speed, they stalled. Benz understood that a machine equipped with such a motor would stop in front of each tubercle. What was needed was a high-speed engine with a good ignition system and apparatus for the formation of a combustible mixture.

Automobiles improved rapidly As early as 1891, Eduard Michelin, the owner of the rubber goods factory in Clermont-Ferrand, invented a removable pneumatic tire for a bicycle (Dunlop's camera was poured into the tire and glued to the rim). In 1895, the production of removable pneumatic tires for motor vehicles began. For the first time, these tires were tested in the same year at the Paris - Bordeaux - Paris race. The Peugeot equipped with them drove to Rouen with difficulty, and then was forced to retire, as the tires were continuously pierced. Nevertheless, experts and motorists were amazed at the smoothness of the car and the comfort of riding on it. Since that time, pneumatic tires gradually came into life, and all cars began to be equipped with them. The winner in these races was again Levassor. When he stopped the car at the finish line and stepped to the ground, he said: “It was crazy. I was doing 30 kilometers per hour! ”Now at the finish line there is a monument in honor of this significant victory.

Eighth place - Light bulb


In the last decades of the 19th century, electric lighting came into the life of many European cities. Appearing first in the streets and squares, it very soon penetrated into every house, into every apartment and became an integral part of the life of every civilized person. This was one of the most important events in the history of technology, which had enormous and diverse consequences. The rapid development of electric lighting has led to massive electrification, a revolution in the energy sector and major shifts in industry. However, all this could not have happened if the efforts of many inventors had not created such an ordinary and familiar device for us as a light bulb. Among the greatest discoveries of human history, she undoubtedly belongs to one of the most honorable places.

In the 19th century, two types of electric lamps became widespread: incandescent and arc lamps. Arc bulbs appeared a little earlier. Their glow is based on such an interesting phenomenon as a voltaic arc. If you take two wires, connect them to a sufficiently strong current source, connect them, and then push them a few millimeters apart, then something like a flame with bright light forms between the ends of the conductors. The phenomenon will be more beautiful and brighter if, instead of metal wires, you take two pointed coal rods. With a sufficiently high voltage between them, light of blinding force is formed.

The phenomenon of a voltaic arc was first observed in 1803 by the Russian scientist Vasily Petrov. In 1810, the same discovery was made by the English physicist Devi. Both of them received a voltaic arc, using a large battery of elements between the ends of the charcoal rods. Both the one and the other wrote that the voltaic arc can be used for lighting purposes. But first, it was necessary to find a more suitable material for the electrodes, since the charcoal rods burned out in a few minutes and were of little use for practical use. Arc lamps also had another inconvenience - as the electrodes burned out, it was necessary to constantly move them towards each other. As soon as the distance between them exceeded a certain acceptable minimum, the light of the lamp became uneven, it began to flicker and went out.

The first arc lamp with manual arc length control was designed in 1844 by the French physicist Foucault. He replaced charcoal with sticks of hard coke. In 1848, he first used an arc lamp to illuminate one of the Parisian squares. It was a short and very expensive experience, as a powerful battery served as a source of electricity. Then, various devices controlled by a clockwork were invented, which automatically shifted the electrodes as they burned.
It is clear that from the point of view of practical use, it was desirable to have a lamp that was not complicated by additional mechanisms. But could you do without them? It turned out that yes. If you put two coals not against each other, but in parallel, moreover, so that an arc can be formed only between their two ends, then with this device the distance between the ends of the coals always remains unchanged. The design of such a lamp seems very simple, but its creation required great ingenuity. It was invented in 1876 by the Russian electrical engineer Yablochkov, who worked in Paris in the workshop of Academician Breguet.

In 1879, the famous American inventor Edison took up the improvement of a light bulb. He understood: in order for the bulb to shine brightly and for a long time and have a steady, unblinking light, it is necessary, firstly, to find suitable material for the thread, and, secondly, to learn how to create a very rarefied space in the balloon. Many experiments were carried out with various materials, which were set with the typical scope for Edison. It is estimated that his assistants tested at least 6,000 different substances and compounds, while over 100 thousand dollars were spent on experiments. First, Edison replaced the fragile paper coal with a stronger one made from coal, then he began to experiment with various metals and finally settled on a thread of charred bamboo fibers. In the same year, in the presence of three thousand people, Edison publicly demonstrated his light bulbs by illuminating his house, laboratory, and several adjoining streets. It was the first bulb with a long life, suitable for mass production.

Penultimate   ninth placein our top 10 occupy   Antibioticsand in particular   - penicillin



Antibiotics are one of the most remarkable inventions of the 20th century in the field of medicine. Modern people are far from always aware of how much they owe to these medicinal products. Humanity generally very quickly gets used to the amazing achievements of its science, and sometimes it takes some effort to imagine life as it was, for example, before the invention of the television, radio or steam locomotive. A huge family of diverse antibiotics quickly entered our lives, the first of which was penicillin.

Today, it seems surprising to us that as far back as the 30s of the 20th century, tens of thousands of people died every year from dysentery, that pneumonia in many cases was fatal, that sepsis was a real scourge of all surgical patients who died in many from blood poisoning, which typhoid was considered a dangerous and intractable disease, and pulmonary plague inevitably led the patient to death. All these terrible diseases (and many others, previously incurable, such as tuberculosis) were defeated by antibiotics.

Even more striking is the effect of these drugs on military medicine. It is hard to believe, but in previous wars most of the soldiers did not die from bullets and splinters, but from purulent infections caused by wounds. It is known that in the space around us there are myriads of microscopic organisms of microbes, among which there are many dangerous pathogens.

Under normal conditions, our skin prevents their penetration into the body. But during the wound, the mud got into open wounds along with millions of putrefactive bacteria (cocci). They began to multiply with tremendous speed, penetrated deep into the tissues, and after a few hours no surgeon could save a person: the wound festered, the temperature rose, sepsis or gangrene began. A person died not so much from the wound itself as from wound complications. Medicine was powerless in front of them. In the best case, the doctor managed to amputate the affected organ and thereby stop the spread of the disease.

To deal with wound complications, it was necessary to learn to paralyze the microbes that cause these complications, to learn how to neutralize cocci that got into the wound. But how to achieve this? It turned out that you can fight with microorganisms directly with their help, since some microorganisms in the process of their life release substances that can destroy other microorganisms. The idea to use microbes in the fight against microbes appeared in the XIX century. So, Louis Pasteur discovered that anthrax bacilli die under the influence of some other microbes. But it is clear that solving this problem required a lot of work.

Over time, after a series of experiments and discoveries, penicillin was created. Penicillin seemed to the field surgeons to be a real miracle. He cured even the most severe patients who already had blood poisoning or pneumonia. The creation of penicillin was one of the most important discoveries in the history of medicine and gave a huge impetus to its further development.

Well, the last tenth placein the polls took   Sail and ship



It is believed that the prototype of the sail appeared in ancient times, when a person just started building boats and dared to go to sea. In the beginning, just a stretched animal skin served as a sail. The man standing in the boat had to hold and orient it with both hands in relation to the wind. When people came up with the idea of \u200b\u200breinforcing the sail with the mast and rails, it is not known, but already on the oldest surviving images of the ships of the Egyptian Queen Hatshepsut you can see wooden masts and yards, as well as headquarters (cables that keep the mast from falling backwards), halyards (tackle for lifting and descent) and other rigging.

Consequently, the appearance of a sailing ship must be attributed to prehistoric times.

Much testifies to the fact that the first large sailing ships appeared in Egypt, and the Nile was the first high-water river on which river shipping began to develop. Every year from July to November, a mighty river overflowed the banks, flooding the whole country with its waters. Villages and cities were cut off from each other like islands. Therefore, ships were a vital necessity for the Egyptians. In the economic life of the country and in communication between people, they played a much larger role than wheeled carts.

One of the earliest varieties of Egyptian ships that appeared about 5 thousand years BC, was a barge. It is known to modern scholars for several models installed in ancient temples. Since Egypt is very poor in forests, papyrus was widely used for the construction of the first ships. Features of this material determined the design and shape of ancient Egyptian ships. It was a crescent-shaped boat connected from bunches of papyrus with a bow and stern bent upwards. To give the ship strength, the hull was pulled together by ropes. Later, when regular trade with the Phoenicians was established and Lebanese cedar began to flow in Egypt in large quantities, the tree began to be widely used in shipbuilding.

The idea of \u200b\u200bwhat types of ships were being built then is given by the wall reliefs of the necropolis near Saqqara, dating to the middle of the 3rd millennium BC. In these compositions, the individual stages of the construction of the boardwalk are realistically displayed. The hulls of the ships, which did not have a keel (in ancient times it was a beam lying at the base of the bottom of the ship), or frames (transverse curved bars, ensuring the strength of the sides and bottom), were recruited from simple dies and struck by papyrus. The hull was strengthened by means of ropes that tightened the vessel around the perimeter of the upper sheathing belt. Such ships hardly possessed good seaworthiness. However, they were quite suitable for swimming on the river. The direct sail used by the Egyptians allowed them to sail only in the wind. The rigging was mounted on a biped mast, both legs of which were mounted perpendicular to the center line of the vessel. In the upper part they tightly connected. A step device (nest) for the mast was a beam device in the ship's hull. In the working position, this mast was held by the headquarters - thick cables coming from the stern and bow, and legs supported it towards the sides. The rectangular sail was mounted on two shafts. In a crosswind, the mast was hastily removed.

Later, by about 2600 BC, the two-legged mast was replaced by the one-legged mast used today. The one-legged mast facilitated sailing and for the first time gave the ship the opportunity to maneuver. However, a rectangular sail was an unreliable tool that could only be used in fair winds.

The main engine of the ship was the muscular power of the rowers. Apparently, the Egyptians own an important improvement in the oar - the invention of oarlocks. They were not yet in the Old Kingdom, but then the oar was fastened with rope loops. This immediately allowed to increase the stroke power and speed of the vessel. It is known that selected rowers on the ships of the pharaohs made 26 strokes per minute, which allowed them to reach a speed of 12 km / h. Managed such ships with the help of two steering oars located at the stern. Later they began to be attached to the beam on the deck, rotating which it was possible to choose the desired direction (this principle of controlling the vessel by turning the rudder feather remains unchanged to this day). The ancient Egyptians were not good sailors. On their ships, they did not dare to go into the open sea. However, along the coast, their merchant ships traveled far. So, in the temple of Queen Hatshepsut there is an inscription informing of a sea voyage made by the Egyptians around 1490 BC. to the mysterious incense country of Punt, located in the area of \u200b\u200bmodern Somalia.

The next step in the development of shipbuilding was made by the Phoenicians. Unlike the Egyptians, the Phoenicians in abundance had excellent building material for their ships. Their country stretched a narrow strip along the eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. Vast cedar forests grew here almost off the coast. Already in ancient times, the Phoenicians learned to make high-quality hollowed boat-boats from their trunks and boldly went out to sea.

At the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC, when sea trade began to develop, the Phoenicians began to build ships. A marine vessel is significantly different from a boat; its construction requires its own structural solutions. The most important discoveries along this path, which determined the entire subsequent history of shipbuilding, belong to the Phoenicians. Perhaps the skeletons of the animals led them to the idea of \u200b\u200binstalling stiffeners on the odnodrevki, which were covered on top with boards. So for the first time in the history of shipbuilding, frames were used, which are still widely used.

In the same way, the Phoenicians first built a keel ship (originally two keel barrels connected at an angle served as a keel). Keel immediately gave the body stability and allowed to establish longitudinal and transverse connections. Cladding boards were attached to them. All these innovations were the decisive basis for the rapid development of shipbuilding and determined the appearance of all subsequent ships.

Other inventions in various fields of science, such as chemistry, physics, medicine, education and others, were also recalled.
After all, as we said earlier, this is not surprising. After all, any discovery or invention is the next step into the future, which improves our life, and often prolongs it. And if not everyone, then very, very many discoveries are worthy of being called great and extremely necessary in our life.

Alexander Ozerov, based on the book by K. Ryzhkov "One Hundred Great Inventions"
The greatest discoveries and inventions of mankind © 2010

Some of the most significant discoveries took place during the periods that referred to as New and Modern. When does the countdown of these periods begin? What discoveries were made during this time?

The beginning of a new time

New time is called the period when mankind has stepped to a new stage in the development of its potential. But when exactly did this happen?

Usually a new time is called the period between the Middle Ages and Modern History. Some propose a countdown from the 17th century, when the English Revolution began in 1640. But a breakthrough in achievements and changes in society begin as early as the 15th century, which is why many researchers consider this the beginning of a new era or early New Time.

At the end of the Middle Ages, important discoveries and inventions were made. In 1440, Johannes Guttenberg invented the printing press, and books not only religious, but also scientific and entertaining, gradually developed. In 1492, Christopher Columbus discovered America, European colonization began.

Society changes attitudes and addresses the essence of the human person. In England, departing from the primacy of the Catholic Church, the Reformation movement and Protestantism are emerging. Science begins to develop, the first scientific communities are created: the Royal Society, the French Royal Army of Sciences. Inventions of the new time from the XVI: mechanical calculator, vacuum pump, barometer, pendulum clock. Galileo Galilei invents the telescope, Descartes creates a coordinate system. A microscope, a spyglass, and glass glasses appeared.

  time since the 18th century

From the end of the 17th century, the bourgeoisie was born. gives an impetus to the development of capitalism and industrial society.

Technical discoveries and inventions of the new time are sometimes made quite by accident. So, John Watt was visited by the thought of a steam engine when he looked at the jumping lid of a boiling kettle. Thomas Newkman built the first reciprocating steam engine in 1712.

Other inventions of the New Age: parachute, steamboat, piano, tuning fork, balloon. In the 18th-19th centuries, a kaleidoscope, a stereoscope, arc welding, a steam locomotive, a lighter and matches were also invented (moreover, a lighter much earlier).

Modern Inventions

The newest time begins its countdown from the XX century, namely from 1918. At that time, technological progress took a significant step forward. The first means of transportation with engines were invented, making it easy to overcome significant distances. Many mechanisms were improved, and mankind was burning electricity with might and main.

The time has come for the development of the natural sciences. Of particular importance are chemistry and physics. In the 20th century, K. Lanshteiner first discovered a blood group, Freud worked on the theory of psychoanalysis, and P. Erlich opened up the possibilities of chemotherapy. A. Fleming discovered in 1929 penicillin - the first antibiotic in the world.

Wars and conflicts between states contribute to the active study of physics and nuclear energy. In 1905, A. Einstein discovered the theory of relativity; N. Bohr worked on the quantum theory of atoms. Discover the atomic nucleus of 1911), Artificial radioactivity (F. and I. Joliot-Curie, 1934), for the first time they split the nuclear nucleus of uranium (O. Gan, F. Stassman, 1938).

Outer space is being studied and new discoveries are being made in astronomy. Discover cosmic rays (W. Hess, 1911-1913), the Hubble law on the expansion of the Universe (E. Hubble, 1929). It becomes known about space radio emission (K. Jansky, 1931).

Bright inventions and discoveries of the XX century

Discoveries and inventions of modern times significantly surpass previous eras. During the Cold War, America and the USSR compete both in creating nuclear weapons and in space exploration. The first rocket designs, space stations, and spacecraft appear. The Soviet Union is releasing the first artificial Earth satellite, taking the first steps to travel to the moon - space stations, moon rovers are launched onto the surface of the satellite.

In 1961, Yuri Gagarin became the first person to be in space. In 1969, American Neil Armstrong landed on the moon.

It would not have been possible to see Armstrong walking on the moon if television had not been invented in the same century. A contribution to the development of this miracle of technology was made by Vladimir Zvorykin, Filo Farnsworth, and others.

In 1946, the first ENIAC computer was created in the USA, the predecessor inventions looked more like a calculator. The inventor of the first prototype of the computer is considered Charles Babbage.

Important inventions of modern times are also the scuba gear of J. I. Cousteau (1943), the helicopter of A.M. Cheremukhin (1930), the jet engine of V.P. Glushko (1930), the laser of Theodor Meiman (1960) and the atomic bomb (1945) whose name is kept in the strictest confidence.

Conclusion

In the period of the New and Modern times in history, many great and necessary discoveries and inventions were made to humanity. We use many of them now.

Inventions and discoveries contribute to the development of progress, simplify our life and improve its quality. But these achievements should be distinguished from each other.

Definition

The invention   most often they call something new, created by man to solve problems that arise in different fields of activity, in the most convenient, previously unknown way. A material object (a washing machine) or something not related to material (a new method in production) can be invented. I must say that in addition to useful, there are useless inventions (chewing gum), and even harmful ones (cigarettes).

Opening   - primary detection of objectively existing phenomena in the universe, properties of objects, patterns. Discoveries significantly increase the level of human knowledge of the surrounding reality.

Comparison

One of the essential points that distinguish an invention from a discovery is that an invented thing or mode of action has never existed before. The discovery is the revelation of what has always been present in the world, but previously was outside of human knowledge.

For example, once an hourglass was invented, which became a very popular thing that helps to take time into account. Until the invention of such watches in the world did not exist, therefore, it cannot be said that they were open. However, no one will call the law of gravity an invention. This is precisely a discovery, since such a law existed and acted before it was formulated by Newton.

Let us analyze now how inventions appear. First of all, such a process involves the use of certain knowledge and experience, appeal to intuition, creative work, construction. Often an invention is the result of the strenuous efforts of many people.

At the same time, some discoveries can be called an accidental find, when something unplanned is discovered that something important helps to explain the phenomena of reality or is of practical use. The source of other discoveries is a hypothesis, which subsequently finds its confirmation through experience.

To know how the invention differs from the discovery is especially important when questions of patenting achievements arise. Regarding the invention, such a procedure is recognized to be lawful, because in this case, thanks to a specific person or group of people, something valuable and unique appears in the world. Discoveries cannot be patented (for example, patenting the laws of thermodynamics would be absurd).

In conclusion, it should be noted that between the two types of achievements there is a close relationship. The invention involves the use of once open patterns to obtain a specific product. And making discoveries is often not without the use of previously created inventions.

If an invention or discovery is of great economic importance, then their authors have the right to present, in the established manner, these discoveries and inventions on a par


   What is the legal protection of discoveries and inventions?

The large-scale and rapid implementation of large inventions in order to obtain a significant economic effect. The result of scientific research is discoveries and inventions revealing new patterns and phenomena and methods for their practical use.

The most important element of the research - production cycle is the introduction of new technology. The most critical area today is the introduction of scientific discoveries and inventions.

Discoveries and inventions must be progressive and ensure patentability and patent cleanliness. Patentability is a set of features that characterize a discovery or invention with the goal of recognition and reliability, confirming novelty and usefulness. Patent purity is ensured by a thorough check of its novelty and timeliness of registration in comparison with patents already granted.

A fundamentally new achieved level of research and development is determined by the concepts of discovery and invention, and a new level of technical implementation - by the concepts of industrial design and rationalization.

If an invention or discovery is of great national economic importance, then their authors have the right to present in the established manner these discoveries and inventions along with dissertations for defense for the degree of candidate or doctor of science.

In the first case, the results of scientific and technological progress are scientific achievements - new knowledge, new scientific and technical ideas, discoveries and inventions, new technologies based on fundamentally new physical, chemical and biological principles. In the second case, the results of scientific and technological progress are technological achievements - innovations, the creation of which involves

The past XX century has brought the world many new discoveries and inventions and has been deservedly called the century of technical growth, the rise of mankind. New ideas, the results of human intellectual labor, embodied in the economic activities of various enterprises, brought them advantages over competitors, profits and superprofits, a stable market position.

Sometimes other variants of materialized progress are used, in which technical progress is introduced into the economic system not only with new fixed assets, but also with the growth of labor force qualification, there are other options. And although all options for materialized progress have a significant advantage, namely that they do not appear on their own, but are associated with investment, nevertheless its origin remains unclear. To explain the causes of technological progress, models are used that are based on the idea of \u200b\u200binduced progress. One of the simplest models of this type assumes that technological progress depends on how much investment has already been made in a given country in its entire history. The authors of the models explain this effect as follows: the more investments are made, the more discoveries and inventions are made that contribute to technological progress. If we denote by G (v) the total-number of investments made in the country by the year

At the same time, it should be emphasized that the influence of the achievements of science is very vast, their results have a beneficial effect on all spheres of social activity. It manifests itself not only through the development and improvement of technology, but also in the nature of labor, in the main directions of development of material production and in the service sector. The decisive effect on this process is made by new scientific discoveries and inventions that have passed experimental testing and have found wide application in production.

No less important in determining the main directions of increasing the efficiency of social production is the time factor. The development of scientific research, the ever-increasing number of new discoveries and inventions on this basis, makes qualitatively new demands on all phases of the social process of reproduction. In this regard, issues of the fastest implementation of research results in production, updating the range of products, shortening the production cycle, problems of the technical level and quality of manufactured products should be considered. The time factor is also closely related to the industrial structure of production, the duration of the turnover of production assets, etc.

By the 80s of our century, five such fluctuations were recorded. The last three arose respectively in 1900, 1950, 1980. The impulses to nucleation were technologically interconnected innovations in the four sectors of the economy, energy, the production of tools, in the transport system and communications, as well as in the methods of processing materials. Using outstanding scientific discoveries and inventions, they developed ahead of the curve.

In technology, as in science, of course, it is impossible to predict and plan exact dates for the discovery of new phenomena and laws or the invention of new materials, mechanisms and machines, but it is possible, and in our conditions it is necessary, to plan growth, development, and thereby movement and probability of discoveries and inventions. In addition, in science and technology there are always already ripe problems or even specific solutions, tested in one area and only awaiting their implementation in others. This process can be accelerated and here planning is possible in the exact sense of the word.

For modern science and technology, a complex combination of their revolutionary and evolutionary changes is typical. Over the course of two or three decades, many of the initial directions of scientific and technological progress gradually turned from radical into ordinary evolutionary forms of improving factors of production and manufactured products. New major scientific discoveries and inventions of the 70-80s gave rise to the second stage of scientific and technological research.

Major discoveries and inventions of the 70-80s gave rise to the second stage of scientific and technological research. Several leading directions are characteristic of it (Fig. 9.4). Their development, apparently, largely predetermines the whole appearance of production in countries with a post-industrial economy at the beginning of the 21st century.

The main stream of innovation transfer in a non-commercial form is accounted for by information on fundamental scientific research, scientific discoveries and inventions.

The leadership of the technical creativity of the working people in our country is entrusted to the USSR State Committee for Inventions. The Goskomizobregeny protects the state interests of the USSR in the field of invention in the country and abroad, registers discoveries and inventions and issues law enforcement documents to them, makes decisions on patenting Soviet inventions abroad, issues orders, instructions, directions, explanations related to development mass invention and rationalization.

Legal protection of discoveries and inventions is achieved by state registration, and rationalization proposals by registration at enterprises and the issuance of law enforcement documents. Authorship of the opening is certified by a special diploma. A patent is issued for an invention. The author of the rationalization proposal will be issued a certificate for the rationalization proposal.

Important discoveries and inventions made by our scientists and manufacturers in mechanical engineering, radio electronics, nuclear energy and other fields of industry allow the Soviet Union to strengthen its position as a leading industrial power and gain new positions in world, in particular licensed, trade. The decisions of the 27th Party Congress indicated the need for

The protection of state interests and copyrights, patenting of discoveries and inventions, the issuance of copyright certificates and diplomas, the acquisition and sale of licenses is carried out in our country by the USSR State Committee for Inventions and Discoveries (hereinafter Goskomizobreteniy), which has an Expert Council, All-Union Scientific Research Patent Examination (VNIIGPE), NGO Search with the All-Union Institute of Patent Information and Technical and Economic Research (VNIIPI) and production and printing enterprises it patent, as well as the All-Union Patent and Technical Library (Patent Library). At enterprises, in research, design and other organizations, there are departments (OIZiR) or bureaus (BRIZ) for invention and rationalization, which work in close contact with patent departments (bureaus) and departments (bureaus) of scientific and technical information, as well as public organizations - scientific and technical societies (NTOs) and branches of the All-Union Society of Inventors and Rationalizers (VOIR).