List of inventors

This is a list of inventors.

Alphabetical list

A

• Vitaly Abalakov (1906–1986), Russia – camming devices, Abalakov thread (or V-thread) gearless ice climbing anchor
• Ernst Karl Abbe (1840–1905), Germany – Condenser (microscope), apochromatic lens, refractometer
• Carl Roman Abt (1850–1933), Switzerland – Abt rack railway system
• Hovannes Adamian (1879–1932), Armenia/Russia – tricolor principle of the color television
• William Addis (1734–1808), England – Toothbrush
• Robert Adler (1913–2007), Austria/United States – wireless remote control (with Eugene Polley)
• Jabir ibn Aflah (Geber) (c. 1100–1150), Islamic Spain – portable celestial globe
• Samuel W. Alderson (1914–2005), USA – Crash test dummy
• Anatoly Alexandrov (1903–1994), Russia – anti-mine demagnetising of ships, naval nuclear reactors (including one for the first nuclear icebreaker)
• Alexandre Alexeieff (1901–1982) Russia/France – pinscreen animation (with his wife Claire Parker)
• Rostislav Alexeyev (1916–1980), Russia – ekranoplan
• Genrich Altshuller (1926–1998), Russia – TRIZ ("The Theory of Solving Inventor's Problems")
• Bruce Ames (born 1928), USA – Ames test (cell biology)
• Giovanni Battista Amici (1786–1863), Italy – Dipleidoscope, Amici prism
• Mary Anderson (1866–1953), United States – windshield wiper blade
• Momofuku Ando (1910–2007), Japan – Instant noodles
• Vasily Andreyev (1861–1918), Russia – standard balalaika
• Hal Anger (1920–2005), USA – a.o. Well counter (radioactivity measurements), gamma camera
• Anders Knutsson Ångström (1888–1981), Sweden – Pyranometer
• Ottomar Anschütz (1846–1907), Germany – single-curtain focal-plane shutter, electrotachyscope
• Hermann Anschütz-Kaempfe (1872–1931), Germany – Gyrocompass
• George Antheil (1900–1959), together with Hedy Lamarr (1914–2000), USA, Frequency-hopping spread spectrum
• Oleg Antonov (1906–1984), Russia – An-series aircraft, including A-40 winged tank and An-124 (the largest serial cargo, later modified to world's largest fixed-wing aircraft An-225)
• Virginia Apgar (1909–1974), USA – Apgar score (for newborn babies)
• Nicolas Appert (1749–1841), France – canning (food preservation) using glass bottles, see also Peter Durand
• Archimedes (c. 287–212 BC), Greece – Archimedes' screw
• Guido of Arezzo (c. 991 – c. 1033), Italy – Guidonian hand, musical notation, see also staff (music)
• Ami Argand (1750–1803), France – Argand lamp
• Edwin Howard Armstrong (1890–1954), USA – FM radio
• William George Armstrong (1810–1900), UK – hydraulic accumulator
• Neil Arnott (1788–1874), UK – waterbed
• Lev Artsimovich (1909–1973), Russia – tokamak
• Joseph Aspdin (1788–1855), UK – Portland cement
• John Vincent Atanasoff (1903–1995), Bulgaria/USA – modern digital computer
• Frank Eugene Austin (1873–1964), USA – first patented ant farm
• Daniel Axelrod (inv. 1980), USA – Total internal reflection fluorescence microscope

B

• Charles Babbage (1791–1871), UK – analytical engine (semi-automatic)
• Victor Babeș (1854–1926) Romania – Babesia, the founder of serum therapy
• Roger Bacon (1214–1292), UK – magnifying glass
• Leo Baekeland (1863–1944), Belgian–American – Velox photographic paper and Bakelite
• Ralph H. Baer (1922-December 6, 2014), German born American – video game console
• Adolf von Baeyer (1835–1917), Germany – a.o. Fluorescein, synthetic Indigo dye, Phenolphthalein
• John Logie Baird (1888–1946), Scotland – an electromechanical television, electronic color television
• Abi Bakr of Isfahan (c. 1235), Persia/Iran – mechanical geared astrolabe with lunisolar calendar
• George Ballas (1925–2011), USA – String trimmer
• Donát Bánki (1859–1922), Hungary – inventor of the carburetor for the stationary engine
• Ridgway Banks, inventor of the Banks Engine, a Nitinol based solid state heat engine
• Vladimir Baranov-Rossine (1888–1944), Ukraine/Russia/France – Optophonic Piano, pointillist or dynamic military camouflage
• John Barber (1734–1801), UK – gas turbine
• John Bardeen (1908–1991), USA – co-inventor of the transistor
• Vladimir Barmin (1909–1993), Russia – first rocket launch complex (spaceport)
• Anthony R. Barringer (1925–2009), Canada/USA – INPUT (Induced Pulse Transient) airborne electromagnetic system
• Earl W. Bascom (1906–1995), Canada/USA – side-delivery rodeo chute, hornless rodeo saddle, rodeo bareback rigging, rodeo chaps
• Nikolay Basov (1922–2001), Russia – co-inventor of laser and maser
• Muhammad ibn Jābir al-Harrānī al-Battānī (Albatenius) (853-929), Syria/Turkey – observation tube
• Émile Baudot (1845-1903), France - Baudot code
• Eugen Baumann (1846–1896), Germany – PVC
• Trevor Baylis (born 1937), UK – a wind-up radio
• Francis Beaufort (1774–1857), Ireland/UK – Beaufort scale, Beaufort cipher
• Ernest Beaux (1881–1961), Russia/France – Chanel No. 5
• Claude Beck (1894–1971), USA – Defibrillator
• Arnold O. Beckman (1900–2004), USA – electric pH meter
• Ulugh Beg (1394–1449), Persia/Iran – Fakhri sextant, mural sextant
• Vladimir Bekhterev (1857–1927), Russia – Bekhterev's Mixture
• Josip Belušić (1847–?), Croatia – electric speedometer
• Alexander Graham Bell (1847–1922), UK, Canada, and USA – telephone
• Nikolay Benardos (1842–1905), Russia – arc welding (specifically carbon arc welding, the first arc welding method)
• Ruth R. Benerito (1916–2013), USA – a.o. Permanent press (no-iron clothing)
• Miriam Benjamin (1861–1947), Washington, D.C. – Gong and signal chair (adopted by House of Representatives and precursor to flight attendant signal system)
• William R. Bennett, Jr. (1930–2008), together with Ali Javan (1926–), USA/Iran – Gas laser (Helium-Neon)
• Melitta Bentz (1873–1950), Germany – paper Coffee filter
• Karl Benz (1844–1929), Germany – the petrol-powered automobile, the carburetor
• Alexander Bereznyak (1912–1974), Russia – first rocket-powered fighter aircraft, BI-1 (together with Isaev)
• Paul Berg (born 1926), USA – created the first Recombinant DNA molecules
• Hans Berger (1873–1941), Germany – first human EEG and its development
• Friedrich Bergius (1884–1949), Germany – Bergius process (synthetic fuel from coal)
• Georgy Beriev (1903–1979), Georgia/Russia – Be-series amphibious aircraft
• Emile Berliner (1851–1929), Germany and USA – the disc record gramophone
• Tim Berners-Lee (born 1955), UK – with Robert Cailliau, the World Wide Web
• Marcellin Berthelot (1827–1907), France – Berthelot's reagent (chemistry)
• Max Bielschowsky (1869–1940), Germany – Bielschowsky stain (histology)
• Alfred Binet (1857–1911), France – with his student Théodore Simon (1872–1961), first practical Intelligence test
• Lucio Bini (1908–1964), together with Ugo Cerletti (1877–1963), Italy – Electroconvulsive therapy
• Gerd Binnig (born 1947), with Christoph Gerber (?–), and with Calvin Quate (born 1923), Germany/Switzerland/USA – Atomic force microscope
• Gerd Binnig (born 1947), together with Heinrich Rohrer (1933–2013), Germany/Switzerland – Scanning tunneling microscope
• Clarence Birdseye (1886–1956), USA – frozen food process
• Laszlo Biro (1899–1985), Hungary – modern ballpoint pen
• Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī (973–1048), Persia/Iran – mechanical geared lunisolar calendar, laboratory and surveying equipment.
• Thor Bjørklund (1889–1975), Norway – Cheese slicer
• 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
• John Blenkinsop (1783–1831), UK – Blenkinsop rack railway system
• Fyodor Blinov (1827–1902), Russia – first tracked vehicle, steam-powered continuous track tractor
• Charles K. Bliss (1897–1985), Austro-Hungary/Australia – Blissymbols
• Katharine B. Blodgett (1898–1979), UK – nonreflective glass
• Jacob Christoph Le Blon (1667–1741), Germany/UK – three and four color Color printing
• Alan Blumlein (1903–1942), UK – stereo
• Leonard Bocour (1910–1993), together with Sam Golden (1915–1997), USA – Acrylic paint
• David Boggs (born 1950), USA – Ethernet
• Nils Bohlin (1920–2002), Sweden – the three-point seat belt
• Joseph-Armand Bombardier (1907–1964), Canada – snowmobile
• Charlie Booth (1903–2008), Australia – Starting blocks
• Gail Borden (1801–1874), USA – a.o. Condensed milk produced by vacuum
• Sam Born, Russia/USA – lollipop-making machine
• Satyendra Nath Bose (1894–1974), India – work on gas-like properties of electromagnetic radiation, Boson and providing foundation for Bose–Einstein statistics and Bose–Einstein condensate
• Jagdish Chandra Bose (1858–1937), India – Crescograph
• George de Bothezat (1882–1940), Russia/USA – quadrotor helicopter, (The Flying Octopus)
• Matthew Piers Watt Boulton (1820–1894), UK – aileron
• Robert W. Bower (born 1936), USA – self-aligned–gate MOSFET
• Seth Boyden (1788–1870), USA – nail-making machine
• Herbert Boyer (born 1936), together with Paul Berg (1926–), and Stanley Norman Cohen (1935–), USA – created first Genetically modified organism
• Willard Boyle (1924–2011), together with George E. Smith (1930–), USA – Charge-coupled device (CCD)
• Hugh Bradner (1915–2008), USA – Wetsuit
• Louis Braille (1809–1852), France – Braille writing system, Braille musical notation
• Jacques E. Brandenberger (1872–1954), Switzerland – Cellophane
• Édouard Branly (1844–1940), France – the coherer, the first widely used detector for radio communication.
• Charles F. Brannock (1903–1992), USA – Brannock Device (shoe size)
• Walter Houser Brattain (1902–1987), USA – co-inventor of the transistor
• Karl Ferdinand Braun (1850–1918), Germany – cathode-ray tube oscilloscope
• Harry Brearley (1871–1948), UK – stainless steel
• Stanislav Brebera (1925–2012), Czech Republic – Semtex explosive
• David Brewster (1781–1868), United Kingdom – Kaleidoscope
• Sergey Brin (born 1973), Russia/USA – with Larry Page invented Google web search engine
• Mikhail Britnev (1822–1889), Russia – first metal-hull icebreaker (Pilot)
• Harold P. Brown (1857–1944), USA – electrical safety equipment, plastic rail bond electric contact alloy, application of concrete with compressed air or steam
• Rachel Fuller Brown (1898–1980), USA – Nystatin, the world's first antifungal antibiotic
• Wendell Brown (born 1961), USA – ADAP sound editor, eVoice voicemail, Teleo VoIP, virtual workforce and energy efficiency technologies
• William C. Brown (1916–1999), USA – Crossed-field amplifier
• John Moses Browning (1855–1926), USA – Semi-automatic pistol
• Maria Christina Bruhn (1732–1802), Sweden – Gunpowder
• Friedrich Wilhelm Gustav Bruhn (1853–1927), Germany – Taximeter
• Nikolay Brusentsov (born 1925), Russia – ternary computer (Setun)
• Charles F. Brush (1849–1929), USA – a.o. Brush dynamo
• Dudley Allen Buck (1927–1959), USA – a.o. Cryotron, content-addressable memory
• Edwin Beard Budding (1795–1846), UK – lawnmower
• Gersh Budker (1918–1977), Russia – electron cooling, co-inventor of collider
• Robert Bunsen (1811–1899), Germany – Bunsen burner
• Corliss Orville Burandt, USA – Variable valve timing
• Henry Burden (1791–1871) Scotland and USA – Horseshoe machine, first usable iron railed road spike
• Richard James Burgess (born 1949), UK – Simmons (electronic drum company), co-inventor of SDS5 drum synthesizer

C

• Robert Cailliau (born 1947), Belgium – with Tim Berners-Lee, the World Wide Web
• Nicholas Callan (1799–1864), Ireland – a.o. Induction coil
• Tullio Campagnolo (1901–1983), Italy – Quick release skewer
• Marvin Camras (1916–1995), USA – magnetic recording
• Charles Cantor (born 1942), USA – Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (molecular biology)
• Mario Ramberg Capecchi (born 1937), together with Sir Martin John Evans (born 1941), and Oliver Smithies (born 1925), USA – Knockout mouse, Gene targeting
• Roxey Ann Caplin (1793–1888), UK – Corset
• Arturo Caprotti (1881–1938), Italy – Caprotti valve gear
• Richard Cannon (born 1954), USA – Electrical panel lockout
• Gerolamo Cardano (1501–1576), Italy – a.o. Cardan grille (cryptography)
• Chester Carlson (1906–1968), USA – Xerography
• Wallace Carothers (1896–1937), USA – Nylon and Neoprene (together with Arnold Collins)
• Antonio Benedetto Carpano (1764–1815), Italy – modern vermouth
• Joseph Constantine Carpue (1764–1846), France – rhinoplastic surgery
• George Washington Carver (c. 1864 – 1943), USA – agriculture
• Giovanni Caselli (1815–1891), Italy/France – Pantelegraph
• George Cayley (1773–1857), UK – glider, tension-spoke wheels, Caterpillar track
• Anders Celsius (1701–1744), Sweden – Celsius temperature scale
• Vint Cerf (born 1943), together with Bob Kahn (1938–), USA – Internet Protocol (IP)
• Ugo Cerletti (1877–1963), together with Lucio Bini (1908–1964), Italy – Electroconvulsive therapy
• Charles Chamberland (1851–1908), France – Chamberland filter
• Min Chueh Chang (1908–1991), together with Gregory Goodwin Pincus (1903–1967), USA/China – Combined oral contraceptive pill
• Thomas Chang (born 1933), Canada/China – Artificial cell
• Octave Chanute (1832–1910), US – Civil Engineer
• Emmett Chapman (1936–), US – Chapman Stick
• Claude Chappe (1763–1805), France – Semaphore line
• David Chaum (born 1955), USA – a.o. Digital signatures, ecash
• Vladimir Chelomey (1914–1984), Russia – first space station (Salyut), Proton rocket (the most used heavy lift launch system)
• Pavel Cherenkov (1904–1990), Russia – Cherenkov detector
• Evgeniy Chertovsky (born 1902), Russia – pressure suit
• Alexander Chizhevsky (1897–1964), Russia – air ionizer
• Zang-Hee Cho (born 1936), South Korea – co-inventor of Positron emission tomography and PET-MRI
• Andrey Chokhov (c. 1545–1629), Russia – Tsar Cannon
• Niels Christensen (1865–1952), USA – O-ring
• Ward Christensen (inv. 1978–), USA – Bulletin board system
• Ole Kirk Christiansen (1891–1958), Denmark – creator of LEGO
• Samuel Hunter Christie (1784–1865), UK – Wheatstone bridge
• Juan de la Cierva (1895–1936), Spain – the autogyro
• Alexandru Ciurcu (1854–1922), Romania – Reaction engine
• Leland Clark (1918–2005), USA – Clark electrode (medicine)
• Georges Claude (1870–1960), France – neon lamp
• Carl Friedrich Claus (c. 1883), Germany – Claus process (petrochemistry)
• Henri Marie Coandă (1886–1972), Romania – Coandă effect of fluid dynamics, Coandă-1910 world's first jet
• Josephine Cochrane (1839–1913), USA – dishwasher
• Christopher Cockerell (1910–1999), UK – Hovercraft
• Aeneas Coffey (1780–1852), Ireland – heat exchanger, Coffey still
• Sir Henry Cole (1808–1882), UK – Christmas card
• Samuel Colt (1814–1862), USA – Revolver
• George Constantinescu (1881–1965), Romania – creator of the theory of sonics, a new branch of continuum mechanics
• Albert Coons (1912–1978), USA – Immunofluorescence (microscopy)
• Harry Coover (1917–2011), USA – Super Glue
• Lloyd Groff Copeman (1865–1956), USA – Electric stove
• Cornelis Corneliszoon (1550–1607), The Netherlands – sawmill
• Alexander Coucoulas (1933-), USA - Thermosonic Bonding
• Wallace H. Coulter (1913–1998), USA – Coulter counter (cell biology)
• Jacques Cousteau (1910–1997), France – co-inventor of the aqualung and the Nikonos underwater camera
• John "Jack" Higson Cover, Jr. (1920–2009), USA – Taser
• Thomas Crapper (1836–1910), UK – ballcock (toilet valve)
• William Crookes (1832–1919), UK – Crookes radiometer, Crookes tube
• Bartolomeo Cristofori (1655–1731), Italy – piano
• George Crum (1822–1914), USA – potato chips
• S. Scott Crump (inv. c. 1989), USA – a.o. Fused deposition modeling
• János Csonka (1852–1939), Hungary – co-inventor of carburetor
• Raul Cuero (born 1948), Buenaventura, Colombia, see Inventions and patents list
• Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot (1725–1804), France – first steam-powered road vehicle
• William Cullen (1710–1790), UK – first artificial refrigerator
• William Cumberland Cruikshank (1745–1800), UK – chlorinated water
• Glenn Curtiss (1878–1930), USA – aeronautical and aeroengine improvements
• Jan Czochralski (1885–1953), Poland / Germany – Czochralski process (crystal growth)

D

• Nils Gustaf Dalén (1869–1937), Sweden – AGA cooker, Dalén light, Agamassan, Sun valve for lighthouses and buoys
• John Frederic Daniell (1790–1845), United Kingdom – Daniel cell
• Salvino D'Armate (1258–1312), Italy – credited for inventing eyeglasses in 1284
• Corradino D'Ascanio (1891–1981), Italy – D'AT3 helicopter; Vespa scooter
• Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519), Italy – conceptualized a helicopter, a tank, concentrated solar power, the double hull. Relatively few of his designs were constructed during his lifetime. Some that were used are an automated bobbin winder and a machine for testing the tensile strength of wire
• 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 – a.o. Phonofilm, triode, directional antenna, wireless telegraphy
• Vasily Degtyaryov (1880–1949), Russia – first self-loading carbine, Degtyaryov-series firearms, co-developer of Fedorov Avtomat
• Akinfiy Demidov (1678–1745), Russia – co-developer of rebar, cast iron dome, lightning rod (all found in the Leaning Tower of Nevyansk)
• Yuri Nikolaevich Denisyuk (1927–2006), Russia – 3D holography
• Robert H. Dennard (born 1932), USA– Dynamic random-access memory (DRAM)
• Miksa Deri (1854–1938), Hungary – co-inventor of an improved closed-core transformer
• James Dewar (1842–1923), UK – Thermos flask
• Aleksandr Dianin (1851–1918), Russia – Bisphenol A, Dianin's compound
• 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
• Al-Dinawari (828–896), Persia/Iran – more than a hundred plant drugs
• William H. Dobelle (1943–2004), United States – first functioning artificial eye
• Johann Wolfgang Döbereiner (1780–1849), Germany – Döbereiner's lamp (chemistry)
• Toshitada Doi (born 1943), Japan, together with Joop Sinjou, Netherlands – Compact disc
• Ray Dolby (1933–2013), USA – Dolby noise-reduction system
• Gene Dolgoff (inv. c. 1985), USA – LCD projector
• Mikhail Dolivo-Dobrovolsky (1862–1919), Poland/Russia – three-phase electric power (first 3-phase hydroelectric power plant, 3-phase electrical generator, 3-phase motor and 3-phase transformer)
• Nikolay Dollezhal (1899–2000), Russia – AM-1 reactor for the 1st nuclear power plant, other RBMK reactors, VVER pressurized water reactors
• Bryan Donkin (1768–1855), UK – print industry composition roller
• Marion O'Brien Donovan (1917–1998), USA – Waterproof diaper
• Hub van Doorne (1900–1979), Netherlands, Variomatic continuously variable transmission
• John Thompson Dorrance (1873–1930), USA – Condensed soup
• Amanda Minnie Douglas (1831–1916), writer and inventor (portable folding mosquito net frame)
• Charles Dow (1851–1902), USA – Dow Jones Industrial Average
• Mulalo Doyoyo (born 1970), South Africa/USA - engineer and inventor, (Cenocell - cementless concrete)
• 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
• Cyril Duquet (1841–1922), Canada – Telephone handset
• Peter Durand (inv. 1810), UK – canning using tin cans, see also Nicolas Appert
• Alexey Dushkin (1904–1977), Russia – deep column station
• James Dyson (born 1947), UK – Dual Cyclone bagless vacuum cleaner, incorporating the principles of cyclonic separation.

E

• George Eastman (1854–1932), USA – roll film
• J. Presper Eckert (1919–1995), USA – ENIAC – the first general purpose programmable digital computer
• Thomas Alva Edison (1847–1931), USA – phonograph, commercially practical light bulb, stock ticker, ticker-tape machine etc.
• Pehr Victor Edman (1916–1977), Sweden – Edman degradation for Protein sequencing
• Sir Robert Geoffrey Edwards (1925–2013), United Kingdom – In vitro fertilisation
• Ellen Eglin (born 1849), USA – Clothes wringer
• Brendan Eich (born 1961), USA – JavaScript (programming language)
• Willem Einthoven (1860–1927), The Netherlands – the electrocardiogram
• Benjamin Eisenstadt (1906–1996), USA – a.o. Sugar packet
• Paul Eisler (1907–1992), Austria/USA – Printed circuit board (electronics)
• Giorgi Eliava (1892–1937), together with Félix d'Herelle (1873–1949), France / Georgia – Phage therapy
• Ivan Elmanov, Russia – first monorail (horse-drawn)
• Rune Elmqvist (1906–1996), Sweden – implantable pacemaker
• John Haven Emerson (1906–1997), USA – iron lung
• Douglas Engelbart (1925–2013), USA – the computer mouse
• John Ericsson (1803–1889), Sweden – the two screw-propeller
• Lars Magnus Ericsson (1846–1926), Sweden – the handheld micro telephone
• Emil Erlenmeyer (1825–1909), Germany – Erlenmeyer flask
• Sir Martin John Evans (1941–), together with Mario Ramberg Capecchi (born 1937), and Oliver Smithies (1925–), USA – Knockout mouse, Gene targeting
• Ole Evinrude (1877–1934), Norway – outboard motor

F

• Charles Fabry (1867–1945), together with Alfred Perot (1863–1925), France – Fabry–Pérot interferometer (physics)
• Samuel Face (1923–2001), USA – concrete flatness/levelness technology; Lightning Switch
• Federico Faggin (born 1941), Italy – microprocessor
• Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686–1736), The Netherlands – Fahrenheit temperature scale, Mercury-in-glass thermometer
• Michael Faraday (1791–1867), UK – electric transformer, electric motor
• Johann Maria Farina (1685–1766), Germany; Eau de Cologne
• Myra Juliet Farrell (1878–1957), Australia – stitchless button, Press stud
• Philo Farnsworth (1906–1971), USA – a.o. electronic television
• Muhammad al-Fazari (d. 796/806), Persia – astrolabe
• John Bennett Fenn (1917–2010), USA – Electrospray ionization
• Henry John Horstman Fenton (1854–1929), UK – Fenton's reagent (chemistry)
• James Fergason (born 1934), USA – improved liquid crystal display
• Enrico Fermi (1901–1954), Italy – nuclear reactor
• Humberto Fernández Morán (1924–1999), Venezuela – Diamond scalpel, Ultra microtome
• Michele Ferrero (1925–2015), Italy – Kinder Surprise = Kinder Eggs, Nutella
• Reginald Fessenden (1866–1932), Canada – two-way radio
• Robert Feulgen (1884–1955), Germany – Feulgen stain (histology)
• Adolf Gaston Eugen Fick (1829–1901), Germany – contact lens
• Abbas Ibn Firnas (Armen Firman) (810–887), Al-Andalus – artificial wings, fused quartz and silica glass, metronome
• Artur Fischer (born 1919) Germany – fasteners including fischertechnik.
• Franz Joseph Emil Fischer (1877–1947), together with Hans Schrader (1921–2012), Germany – Fischer assay (oil yield test)
• Franz Joseph Emil Fischer (1877–1947), together with Hans Tropsch (1889–1935), Germany – Fischer–Tropsch process (refinery process)
• Gerhard Fischer (1899–1988), Germany/USA – hand-held metal detector
• Paul C. Fisher (1913–2006), USA – Space Pen
• Alexander Fleming (1881–1955), Scotland – penicillin
• John Ambrose Fleming (1848–1945), UK – vacuum diode
• Sandford Fleming (1827–1915), Canada – Universal Standard Time
• Nicolas Florine (1891–1972), Georgia/Russia/Belgium – first tandem rotor helicopter to fly freely
• Tommy Flowers (1905–1998), UK – Colossus an early electronic computer.
• Thomas J. Fogarty (born 1934), USA – Embolectomy catheter (medicine)
• Enrico Forlanini (1848–1930), Italy – Steam helicopter, hydrofoil, Forlanini airships
• Eric Fossum (born 1957), USA – intra-pixel charge transfer in CMOS image sensors
• Jean Bernard Léon Foucault (1819–1868), France – Foucault pendulum, gyroscope, eddy current
• Benoît Fourneyron (1802–1867), France – water turbine
• John Fowler (1826–1864), UK – steam-driven ploughing engine
• Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790), USA – the pointed lightning rod conductor, bifocal glasses, the Franklin stove, the glass harmonica
• Herman Frasch (1851–1914), Germany / USA – Frasch process (petrochemistry), Paraffin wax purification
• Ian Hector Frazer (born 1953), together with Jian Zhou (1957–1999), USA/China – HPV vaccine against cervical cancer
• Augustin-Jean Fresnel (1788–1827), France – Fresnel lens
• William Friese-Greene (1855–1921), UK – cinematography
• Julius Fromm (1883–1945), Germany – first seamless Condom
• Arthur Fry (born 1931), USA – Post-it note
• Buckminster Fuller (1895–1983), USA – geodesic dome
• Robert Fulton (1765–1815), United States – first commercially successful steamboat, first practical submarine
• Ivan Fyodorov (c. 1510–1583), Russia/Poland–Lithuania – invented multibarreled mortar, introduced printing in Russia
• Svyatoslav Fyodorov (1927–2000), Russia – radial keratotomy
• Vladimir Fyodorov (1874–1966), Russia – Fedorov Avtomat (first self-loading battle rifle, arguably the first assault rifle)

G

• Dennis Gabor (1900–1979), Hungarian-British – holography
• Boris Borisovich Galitzine (1862–1916), Russia – electromagnetic seismograph
• Joseph G. Gall (born 1928), USA – In situ hybridization (cell biology)
• Alfred William Gallagher (1911–1990), New Zealand – Electric fence for farmers
• Dmitri Garbuzov (1940–2006), Russia/USA – continuous-wave-operating diode lasers (together with Zhores Alferov), high-power diode lasers
• 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
• Georgy Gause (1910–1986), Russia – gramicidin S, neomycin, lincomycin and other antibiotics
• E. K. Gauzen, Russia – three bolt equipment (early diving costume)
• Norman Gaylord (1923–2007), USA – rigid gas-permeable contact lens
• Karl-Hermann Geib (1908–1949), Germany / USSR – Girdler sulfide process
• Hans Wilhelm Geiger (1882–1945), Germany – Geiger counter
• Andrey Geim (born 1958), Russia/United Kingdom – graphene
• Nestor Genko (1839–1904), Russia – Genko's Forest Belt (the first large-scale windbreak system)
• Christoph Gerber (?–), with Calvin Quate (1923–), and with Gerd Binnig (1947–), Germany/USA/Switzerland – Atomic force microscope
• Friedrich Clemens Gerke (1801–1888), Germany – current international Morse code
• David Gestetner (1854–1939), Austria-Hungary / UK – a.o. Gestetner copier
• Alberto Gianni (1891–1930), Italy – Torretta butoscopica
• John Heysham Gibbon (1903–1973), USA – Heart-lung machine
• Gustav Giemsa (1867–1948), Germany – Giemsa stain (histology)
• Adolph Giesl-Gieslingen (1903–1992), Austria – Giesl ejector
• Henri Giffard (1825–1882), France – powered airship, injector
• Donald A. Glaser (1926–2013), USA – Bubble chamber
• C. W. Fuller (inv. 1953), USA – Gilhoolie
• Valentyn Glushko (1908–1989), Russia – hypergolic propellant, electric propulsion, Soviet rocket engines (including world's most powerful liquid-fuel rocket engine RD-170)
• Heinrich Göbel (1818–1893), Germany – incandescent lamp
• Leonid Gobyato (1875–1915), Russia – first modern man-portable mortar
• Robert Goddard (1882–1945), USA – liquid fuel rocket
• Sam Golden (1915–1997), together with Leonard Bocour (1910–1993), USA – Acrylic paint
• Peter Carl Goldmark (1906–1977), Hungary – vinyl record (LP), CBS color television
• Camillo Golgi (1843–1926), Italy – Golgi's method (histology)
• György Gömöri (1904–1957), Hungary / USA– Gömöri trichrome stain, Gömöri methenamine silver stain (histology)
• Charles Goodyear (1800–1860), USA – vulcanization of rubber
• Robert W. Gore (born 1937), United States – Gore-Tex
• Igor Gorynin (born 1926), Russia – weldable titanium alloys, high strength aluminium alloys, radiation-hardened steels
• James Gosling (born 1955), USA – Java (programming language)
• Gordon Gould (1920–2005), USA – Laser, see also Theodore Maiman
• Richard Hall Gower (1768–1833), UK – ship's hull and rigging
• Boris Grabovsky (1901–1966), Russia – cathode commutator, an early electronic TV pickup tube
• Bette Nesmith Graham (1924–1980), USA – Correction fluid, Liquid Paper
• Hans Christian Gram (1853–1938), Denmark / Germany – Gram staining (histology)
• Zénobe Gramme (1826–1901), Belgium/France – Gramme dynamo
• Temple Grandin (born 1945), Inventor of the squeeze machine and humane abattoirs.
• Michael Grätzel (born 1944), Germany/Switzerland– a.o. Dye-sensitized solar cell
• 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 – Gregorian telescope
• Charles Leiper Grigg (1868–1940), USA – 7 Up
• William Robert Grove (1811–1896), Wales – fuel cell
• Gustav Guanella (1909–1982), Switzerland – DSSS, Guanella-Balun
• Otto von Guericke (1602–1686), Germany – vacuum pump, manometer, dasymeter
• Mikhail Gurevich (1893–1976), Russia – MiG-series fighter aircraft, including world's most produced jet aircraft MiG-15 and most produced supersonic aircraft MiG-21 (together with Artem Mikoyan)
• Goldsworthy Gurney (1793–1875), England - Gurney Stove
• Johann Gutenberg (c. 1390s–1468), Germany – movable type printing press
• Samuel Guthrie (physician) (1782–1848), USA – discovered chloroform

H

• Fritz Haber (1868–1934), Germany – Haber process (ammonia synthesis)
• John Hadley (1682–1744), UK – Octant
• Waldemar Haffkine (1860–1930), Russia/Switzerland – first anti-cholera and anti-plague vaccines
• Gunther von Hagens (born 1945), Germany – whole body Plastination
• Charles Hall (1863–1914), USA – aluminum production
• Robert N. Hall (born 1919), USA – a.o. Semiconductor laser
• Tracy Hall (1919–2008), USA – synthetic diamond
• Richard Hamming (1915–1998), USA – Hamming code
• John Hays Hammond, Jr. (1888–1965), USA – radio control
• Ruth Handler (1916–2002), USA – Barbie doll
• James Hargreaves (1720–1778), UK – spinning jenny
• John Harington (1561–1612), UK – the flush toilet
• William Snow Harris (1791–1867), United Kingdom – much improved naval Lightning rods
• John Harrison (1693–1776), UK – marine chronometer
• Ross Granville Harrison (1870–1959), USA – first successful animal Tissue culture, Cell culture
• Kazuo Hashimoto (died 1995), Japan – a.o. Caller-ID, answering machine
• Victor Hasselblad (1906–1978), Sweden – invented the 6 x 6 cm single-lens reflex camera
• Ludwig Hatschek (1856–1914), Austria – Fibre cement
• Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen) (965–1039), Iraq – camera obscura, pinhole camera, magnifying glass
• Zheng He (1371–1433), China – Chinese treasure ship
• George H. Heilmeier (born 1936), USA – liquid crystal display (LCD)
• Henry Heimlich (born 1920), USA – Heimlich maneuver
• Robert A. Heinlein (1907–1988), USA – waterbed
• Jozef Karol Hell (1713–1789), Slovakia – the water pillar
• Rudolf Hell (1901–2002), Germany – the Hellschreiber
• Hermann von Helmholtz (1821–1894), Germany – Helmholtz pitch notation, Helmholtz resonator, ophthalmoscope
• Zhang Heng (78–139), China – Seismometer, first hydraulic-powered armillary sphere
• Charles H. Henry (born 1937), USA – Quantum well laser
• Joseph Henry (1797–1878), Scotland/USA – electromagnetic relay
• Félix d'Herelle (1873–1949), together with Giorgi Eliava (1892–1937), France / Georgia – Phage therapy
• Heron (c. 10–70), Roman Egypt – usually credited with invention of the aeolipile, although it may have been described a century earlier
• John Herschel (1792–1871), UK – photographic fixer (hypo), actinometer
• Harry Houdini (1874-1926) USA Flight Time Illusion
• Heinrich Hertz (1857–1894), Germany – radio telegraphy, electromagnetic radiation
• Ephraim Hertzano (around 1950), Roumania / Israel – Rummikub
• Lasse Hessel (born 1940), Denmark – Female condom
• George de Hevesy (1885–1966), Hungary – radioactive tracer
• Rowland Hill (1795–1879), UK – postage stamp
• Maurice Hilleman (1919–2005) – vaccines against childhood diseases
• Tanaka Hisashige (1799–1881), Japan – Myriad year clock
• Ted Hoff (born 1937), USA – microprocessor
• Felix Hoffmann (Bayer) (1868–1949), Germany – Aspirin
• Albert Hofmann (1906–2008), Switzerland – LSD
• Kotaro Honda (1870–1954), Japan – KS steel
• Huang Hongjia (born 1924), China – Single-mode optical fiber.
• Herman Hollerith (1860–1929), USA – recording data on a machine readable medium, tabulator, punched cards
• Nick Holonyak (born 1928), USA – LED (Light Emitting Diode)
• Norman Holter (1914–1983), USA – Holter monitor
• Robert Hooke (1635–1703), UK – balance wheel, iris diaphragm, acoustic telephone
• Erna Schneider Hoover (born 1926), USA – computerized telephone switching system
• Grace Murray Hopper (1906–1992), USA – Compiler
• Frank Hornby (1863–1936), UK – invented Meccano
• Jimmy Hotz (born 1953), USA – Hotz MIDI Translator, Atari Hotz Box
• Royal Earl House (1814–1895), USA – first Printing telegraph
• Coenraad Johannes van Houten (1801–1887), Netherlands – cocoa powder, cacao butter, chocolate milk
• Elias Howe (1819–1867), USA – sewing machine
• Chuck Hull (born 1939), USA – 3D printer
• Miller Reese Hutchison (1876–1944), USA – a.o. Klaxon, electric hearing aid
• Christiaan Huygens (1629–1695), Netherlands – pendulum clock
• John Wesley Hyatt (1837–1920), USA – celluloid manufacturing.

I

• Gavriil Ilizarov (1921–1992), Russia – Ilizarov apparatus, external fixation, distraction osteogenesis
• Sergey Ilyushin (1894–1977), Russia – Il-series aircraft, including Ilyushin Il-2 bomber (the most produced military aircraft in history)
• Mamoru Imura (born 1948), Japan – RFIQin (automatic cooking device)
• Daisuke Inoue (born 1940), Japan – Karaoke machine
• János Irinyi (1817–1895), Hungary – noiseless match
• Aleksei Isaev (1908–1971), Russia – first rocket-powered fighter aircraft, BI-1 (together with Isaev)
• Isidore (inventor) (15th Century), Russia – supposedly first Russian vodka
• Ub Iwerks (1901–1971), U. S. – Multiplane camera for animation

J

• Moritz von Jacobi (1801–1874), Germany/Russia – electrotyping, electric boat
• Rudolf Jaenisch (born 1942), Germany/USA – first Genetically modified mouse
• Karl Guthe Jansky (1905–1950), USA – radio telescope
• Karl Jatho (1873–1933), Germany – aeroplane
• Ali Javan (born 1926), together with William R. Bennett, Jr. (1930–2008), Iran/USA – Gas laser (Helium-Neon)
• Al-Jazari (1136–1206), Iraq – 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, 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
• Ányos Jedlik (1800–1898), Hungary – Jedlik dynamo
• Alec John Jeffreys (1950–), United Kingdom – DNA profiling (forensics)
• Charles Francis Jenkins (1867–1934) – television and movie projector (Phantoscope)
• Steve Jobs (1955–2011), USA – Apple Macintosh computer, iPod, iPhone, iPad and other devices and software operating systems and applications.
• Carl Edvard Johansson (1864–1943), Sweden – Gauge blocks
• Johan Petter Johansson (1853–1943), Sweden – the pipe wrench and the modern adjustable spanner
• Reynold B. Johnson (1906–1998), USA – Hard disk drive
• Philipp von Jolly (1809–1884), Germany – Jolly balance
• Scott A. Jones (born 1960), USA – created one of the most successful versions of voicemail as well as ChaCha Search, a human-assisted internet search engine

• Tom Parry Jones (1935–2013), United Kingdom – first electronic Breathalyzer
• Assen Jordanoff (1896–1967), Bulgaria – airbag
• Anatol Josepho (1894–1980), patented the first coin-operated photo booth called the "Photomaton" in 1925.
• Marjorie Joyner (1896–1994), USA – Permanent wave machine
• Whitcomb Judson (1836–1909), USA – zipper
• Percy Lavon Julian (1899–1975), USA – chemical synthesis of medicinal drugs from plants
• Ma Jun (c. 200–265), China – south-pointing chariot (see differential gear), mechanical puppet theater, chain pumps, improved silk looms

K

• Mikhail Kalashnikov (1919–2013), Russia – AK-47 and AK-74 assault rifles (the most produced ever)
• Bob Kahn (born 1938), together with Vint Cerf (1943–), USA – Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)
• Dawon Kahng (1931–1992), South Korea, together with Simon Sze (1936–), Taiwan/USA – Floating-gate MOSFET
• Dean Kamen (born 1951), USA – Invented the Segway HT scooter and the IBOT Mobility Device
• Heike Kamerlingh Onnes (1853–1926), Netherlands – liquid helium
• Nikolay Kamov (1902–1973), Russia – armored battle autogyro, Ka-series coaxial rotor helicopters
• Pyotr Kapitsa (1894–1984), Russia – first ultrastrong magnetic field creating techniques, basic low-temperature physics inventions
• Georgii Karpechenko (1899–1941), Russia – rabbage (the first ever non-sterile hybrid obtained through the crossbreeding)
• Jamshīd al-Kāshī (c. 1380–1429), Persia/Iran – plate of conjunctions, analog planetary computer
• Yevgeny Kaspersky (born 1965), Russia – Kaspersky Anti-Virus, Kaspersky Internet Security, Kaspersky Mobile Security anti-virus products
• Andrew Kay (born 1919), USA – Digital voltmeter
• Nicholas McKay, Sr. (1920–2014), USA – Lint roller
• Adolphe Kégresse (1879–1943), France/Russia – Kégresse track (first half-track and first off-road vehicle with continuous track), dual clutch transmission
• Carl D. Keith (1920–2008), together with John J. Mooney (c. 1928–), USA – three way catalytic converter
• Mstislav Keldysh (1911–1978), Latvia/Russia – co-developer of Sputnik 1 (the first artificial satellite) together with Korolyov and Tikhonravov
• John Harvey Kellogg (1852–1943), cornflake breakfasts
• John G. Kemeny (1926–1992), together with Thomas E. Kurtz (1928–), Hungary/USA – BASIC (programming language)
• Alexander Kemurdzhian (1921–2003), Russia – first space exploration rover (Lunokhod)
• William Saville-Kent (1845–1908), UK/Australia – Pearl culture, see also Mikimoto Kōkichi
• Kerim Kerimov (1917–2003), Azerbaijan and Russia – co-developer of human spaceflight, space dock, space station
• Charles F. Kettering (1876–1958), USA – invented automobile self-starter ignition, Freon ethyl gasoline and more
• Fazlur Khan (1929–1982), Bangladesh – structural systems for high-rise skyscrapers
• Yulii Khariton (1904–1996), Russia – chief designer of the Soviet atomic bomb, co-developer of the Tsar Bomb
• Anatoly Kharlampiev (1906–1979), Russia – Sambo (martial art)
• Al-Khazini (fl.1115–1130), Persia/Iran – hydrostatic balance
• Konstantin Khrenov (1894–1984), Russia – underwater welding
• Abu-Mahmud al-Khujandi (c. 940–1000), Persia/Iran – astronomical sextant
• Muhammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī (Algoritmi) (c. 780-850), Persia/Iran – modern algebra, mural instrument, horary quadrant, Sine quadrant, shadow square
• Marcel Kiepach (1894-1915), Croatia - dynamo, maritime compass that indicates north regardless of the presence of iron or magnetic forces
• Erhard Kietz (1909–1982), Germany & USA. – signal improvements for video transmissions
• Jack Kilby (1923–2005), USA – patented the first integrated circuit
• Al-Kindi (Alkindus) (801–873), Iraq/Yemen – ethanol, pure distilled alcohol, cryptanalysis, frequency analysis
• Petrus Jacobus Kipp (1808–1864), The Netherlands – Kipp's apparatus (chemistry)
• Steve Kirsch (born 1956), USA – Optical mouse
• Fritz Klatte (1880–1934), Germany – vinyl chloride, forerunner to polyvinyl chloride
• Yves Klein (1928–1962), France – International Klein Blue
• Margaret E. Knight (1838–1914), USA – machine that completely constructs box-bottom brown paper bags
• Tom Knight (? - ), USA - BioBricks (synthetic biology)
• Ivan Knunyants (1906–1990), Armenia/Russia – capron, Nylon 6, polyamide-6
• Robert Koch (1843–1910), Germany – method for culturing bacteria on solid media
• Willem Johan Kolff (1911–2009), Netherlands – artificial kidney hemodialysis machine
• Rudolf Kompfner (1909–1977), USA – Traveling-wave tube
• Konstantin Konstantinov (1817 or 1819–1871), Russia – device for measuring flight speed of projectiles, ballistic rocket pendulum, launch pad, rocket-making machine
• Sergey Korolyov (1907–1966), Ukraine/Russia – first successful intercontinental ballistic missile (R-7 Semyorka), R-7 rocket family, Sputniks (including the first Earth-orbiting artificial satellite), Vostok program (including the first human spaceflight)
• Nikolai Korotkov (1874–1920), Russia – auscultatory technique for blood pressure measurement
• Semen Korsakov (1787–1853), Russia – punched card for information storage
• Mikhail Koshkin (1898–1940), Russia – T-34 medium tank, the best and most produced tank of World War II
• Ognjeslav Kostović (1851–1916), Serbia/Russia – arborite (high-strength plywood, an early plastic)
• Gleb Kotelnikov (1872–1944), Russia – knapsack parachute, drogue parachute
• Harold D. Kraft (c. 1960) together with Jack A. Kraft (c. 1960), USA – Vortex mixer
• William Justin Kroll (1889–1973), Luxemburg/USA – Kroll process
• Alexei Krylov (1863–1945), Russia – gyroscopic damping of ships
• Ivan Kulibin (1735–1818), Russia – egg-shaped clock, candle searchlight, elevator using screw mechanisms, a self-rolling carriage featuring a flywheel, brake, gear box, and bearing, an early optical telegraph
• Shen Kuo (1031–1095), China – improved gnomon, armillary sphere, clepsydra, and sighting tube
• Igor Kurchatov (1903–1960), Russia – first nuclear power plant, first nuclear reactors for submarines and surface ships
• Thomas E. Kurtz (born 1928), together with John G. Kemeny (1926–1992), USA/Hungary – BASIC (programming language)
• Raymond Kurzweil (born 1948), Optical character recognition; flatbed scanner
• Ken Kutaragi (born 1950), Japan – PlayStation
• Stephanie Kwolek (1923-2014), USA – Kevlar
• John Howard Kyan (1774–1850), Ireland – The process of Kyanization used for wood preservation

L

• Dmitry Lachinov (1842–1902), Russia – mercury pump, economizer for electricity consumption, electrical insulation tester, optical dynamometer, photometer, elecrolyser
• René Laennec (1781–1826), France – stethoscope
• Lala Balhumal Lahuri (c. 1842), Mughal India – seamless globe and celestial globe
• Georges Lakhovsky (1869–1942), Russia/USA – 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
• Norm Larsen (1923–1970), USA – a.o. WD-40
• Lewis Latimer (1848–1928), USA – Invented the modern day light bulb
• Gustav de Laval (1845–1913), Sweden – invented the milk separator and the milking machine
• Semyon Lavochkin (1900–1960), Russia – La-series aircraft, first operational surface-to-air missile S-25 Berkut
• John Bennet Lawes (1814–1900), UK – superphosphate or chemical fertilizer
• Ernest Orlando Lawrence (1901–1958), USA – Cyclotron
• Nikolai Lebedenko, Russia – Tsar Tank, the largest armored vehicle in history
• Sergei Lebedev (1874–1934), Russia – commercially viable synthetic rubber
• William Lee (1563–1614), UK – Stocking frame knitting machine
• Antoni van Leeuwenhoek (1632–1723), The Netherlands – development of the microscope
• Jerome H. Lemelson (1923–1997), USA – Inventions in the fields in which he patented make possible, wholly or in part, innovations like automated warehouses, industrial robots, cordless telephones, fax machines, videocassette recorders, camcorders, and the magnetic tape drive used in Sony's Walkman tape players.
• Jean-Joseph Etienne Lenoir (1822–1900), Belgium – internal combustion engine, motorboat
• Giacomo da Lentini (13th Century), Italy – Sonnet
• R. G. LeTourneau (1888–1969), USA – electric wheel, motor scraper, mobile oil drilling platform, bulldozer, cable control unit for scrapers
• Rasmus Lerdorf (born 1968), Greenland/Canada – PHP (programming language)
• Willard Frank Libby (1908–1980), USA – radiocarbon dating
• Justus von Liebig (1803–1873), Germany – nitrogen-based fertilizer
• Hon Lik (1951 - ), Chinese. electronic cigarette
• Otto Lilienthal (1848–1896), Germany – hang glider
• Lin Yutang (1895–1976), China/USA – Chinese language typewriter
• Charles Lindbergh (1902–1974), USA – organ perfusion pump
• Frans Wilhelm Lindqvist (1862–1931), Sweden – Kerosene stove operated by compressed air
• Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778), Sweden – formal Binomial nomenclature for living organisms, Horologium Florae
• Hans Lippershey (1570–1619), The Netherlands – telescope
• Jonas Ferdinand Gabriel Lippmann (1845–1921), France – Lippmann plate, Integral imaging, Lippmann electrometer
• Lisitsyn brothers, Ivan Fyodorovich and Nazar Fyodorovich, Russia – samovar (the first documented makers)
• William Howard Livens (1889–1964), UK – chemical warfare – Livens Projector
• Eduard Locher (1840–1910), Switzerland – Locher rack railway system
• Alexander Lodygin (1847–1923), Russia – electrical filament, incandescent light bulb with tungsten filament
• Mikhail Lomonosov (1711–1765), Russia – night vision telescope, off-axis reflecting telescope, coaxial rotor, re-invented smalt
• Yury Lomonosov (1876–1952), Russia/United Kingdom – first successful mainline diesel locomotive
• Aleksandr Loran (1849 – after 1911), Russia – fire fighting foam, foam extinguisher
• Oleg Losev (1903–1942), Russia – light-emitting diode, crystadine
• Antoine Louis (1723–1792), France – Guillotine
• Archibald Low (1882–1956), Britain – Pioneer of radio guidance systems
• Ed Lowe (1920–1995), USA – Cat litter
• Gleb Lozino-Lozinskiy (1909–2001), Russia – Buran (spacecraft), Spiral project
• Ignacy Łukasiewicz (1822–1882), Poland – modern kerosene lamp
• Auguste and Louis Lumière (1862–1954 and 1864–1948, resp.), France – Cinématographe
• Cai Lun, 蔡倫 (50–121 AD), China – paper
• Giovanni Luppis or Ivan Vukić (1813–1875), Austrian Empire (ethnical Croatian, from Rijeka) – self-propelled torpedo
• Ali Kashmiri ibn Luqman (fl.1589–1590), Mughal India – seamless globe and celestial globe
• Richard F. Lyon (1952–), USA – Optical mouse
• Arkhip Lyulka (1908–1984), Russia – first double jet turbofan engine, other Soviet aircraft engines

M

• Charles Macintosh (1766–1843), Scotland – waterproof raincoat, life vest
• Theodore Maiman (1927–2007), USA – Laser, see also Gordon Gould
• Ahmed Majan (1963–), UAE – instrumented racehorse saddle and others
• Aleksandr Makarov, Russia/Germany – Orbitrap mass spectrometer
• Stepan Makarov (1849–1904), Russia – Icebreaker Yermak, the first true icebreaker able to ride over and crush pack ice
• Victor Makeev (1924–1985), Russia – first submarine-launched ballistic missile
• Nestor Makhno (1888–1934), Ukraine/Russia – tachanka
• Dmitri Dmitrievich Maksutov (1896–1964), Russia – Maksutov telescope
• Annie Malone (1869–1957), USA – Cosmetics for African American women
• Sergey Malyutin (1859–1937), Russia – designed the first matryoshka doll (together with Vasily Zvyozdochkin)
• Al-Ma'mun (786–833), Iraq – singing bird automata, terrestrial globe
• Boris Mamyrin (1919–2007), Russia – reflectron (ion mirror)
• George William Manby (1765–1854), UK – Fire extinguisher
• Joy Mangano, USA – household appliances
• Charles Mantoux (1877–1947), France – Mantoux test (tuberculosis)
• Guglielmo Marconi (1874–1937), Italy – radio telegraphy
• Gheorghe Marinescu (1863–1938), Romania – the first science films in the world in the neurology clinic in Bucharest (1898–1901)
• Sylvester Marsh (1803–1884), USA – Marsh rack railway system
• Konosuke Matsushita (1894–1989), Japan – a.o. battery-powered Bicycle lighting
• Taqi al-Din Muhammad ibn Ma'ruf (1526–1585), Syria/Egypt/Turkey – steam turbine, six-cylinder 'Monobloc' suction pump, framed sextant
• Frank Marugg (inv. 1944), USA – Wheel clamp
• John Landis Mason (1826–1902), USA – Mason jars
• Fujio Masuoka (1943–), Japan – Flash memory
• John W. Mauchly (1907–1980), USA – ENIAC – the first general purpose programmable digital computer
• Henry Maudslay (1771–1831), UK – screw-cutting lathe, bench micrometer
• Hiram Maxim (1840–1916), USA born, UK – First self-powered machine gun
• James Clerk Maxwell (1831–1879) and Thomas Sutton, Scotland – color photography
• Stanley Mazor (1941–), USA – microprocessor
• John McAdam (1756–1836), Scotland – improved "macadam" road surface
• Elijah McCoy (1843–1929), Canada – Displacement lubricator
• James McLurkin (born 1972), USA – Ant robotics (robotics)
• Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov (1845–1916), Russia – probiotics
• Hippolyte Mège-Mouriès (1817–1880), France – margarine
• Mordecai Meirowitz (born c. 1925), Roumania / Israel – Mastermind (board game)
• Dmitri Mendeleev (1834–1907), Russia – Periodic table, pycnometer, pyrocollodion
• George de Mestral (1907–1990), Switzerland – Velcro
• Robert Metcalfe (born 1946), USA – Ethernet
• Antonio Meucci (1808–1889), Italy/USA– a.o. various early telephones, a hygrometer, a milk test
• Édouard Michelin (1859–1940), France – pneumatic tire
• Anthony Michell (1870–1959), Australia – tilting pad thrust bearing, crankless engine
• Artem Mikoyan (1905–1970), Armenia/Russia – MiG-series fighter aircraft, including world's most produced jet aircraft MiG-15 and most produced supersonic aircraft MiG-21 (together with Mikhail Gurevich)
• Alexander Mikulin (1895–1985), Russia – Mikulin AM-34 and other Soviet aircraft engines, co-developer of the Tsar Tank
• Mikhail Mil (1909–1970), Russia – Mi-series helicopter aircraft, including Mil Mi-8 (the world's most-produced helicopter) and Mil Mi-12 (the world's largest helicopter)
• David L. Mills (born 1938), USA – a.o. Fuzzball router, Network Time Protocol
• Marvin Minsky (born 1927), USA – a.o. Confocal microscopy
• Tokushichi Mishima (1893–1975), Japan – MKM magnetic steel
• Seiichi Miyake (inv. 1965), Japan – Tactile paving
• Pavel Molchanov (1893–1941), Russia – radiosonde
• Jules Montenier (1895–1962), 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
• John J. Mooney (born c. 1928), together with Carl D. Keith (1920–2008), USA – three way catalytic converter
• Roland Moreno (1945–2012), France – inventor of the smart card
• Samuel Morey (1762–1843), USA – internal combustion engine
• Garrett A. Morgan (1877–1963), USA – inventor of the smoke hood
• Alexander Morozov (1904–1979), Russia – T-54/55 (the most produced tank in history), co-developer of T-34
• Walter Frederick Morrison (1920–2010), USA – Flying disc
• William Morrison (dentist) (1860–1926), USA – a.o. Cotton candy machine
• Samuel Morse (1791–1872), USA – telegraph, early Morse code, see also Morse Code controversy
• Sergei Ivanovich Mosin (1849–1902), Russia – Mosin–Nagant rifle
• Motorins, Ivan Feodorovich (1660s–1735) and his son Mikhail Ivanovich (?–1750), Russia – Tsar Bell
• Vera Mukhina (1889–1953), Russia – welded sculpture
• Kary Mullis (born 1944), USA – PCR
• Fe del Mundo (1911–2011), The Philippines – medical incubator made out of bamboo for use in rural communities without electrical power
• Colin Murdoch (1929–2008), New Zealand – a.o. Tranquillizer gun, disposable hypodermic syringe
• William Murdoch (1754–1839), Scotland – Gas lighting
• Jozef Murgas (1864–1929), Slovakia – inventor of the wireless telegraph (forerunner of the radio)
• Evgeny Murzin (1914–1970), Russia – ANS synthesizer
• Banū Mūsā brothers, Muhammad (c. 800–873), Ahmad (803–873), Al-Hasan (810–873), Iraq – mechanical trick devices, hurricane lamp, self-trimming and self-feeding lamp, gas mask, clamshell grab, fail-safe system, mechanical musical instrument, automatic flute player, programmable machine
• Pieter van Musschenbroek (1692–1761), Netherlands – Leyden jar, pyrometer
• Walton Musser (1909–1998), USA – Harmonic drive gear
• Eadweard Muybridge (1830–1904), UK – motion picture

N

• Georgi Nadjakov (1896–1981), Bulgaria – wikt:photoelectret
• Alexander Nadiradze (1914–1987), Georgia/Russia – first mobile ICBM (RT-21 Temp 2S), first reliable mobile ICBM (RT-2PM Topol)
• Nagai Nagayoshi (1844–1929), Japan – Methamphetamine
• James Naismith (1861–1939), Canadian born, USA – invented basketball and American football helmet
• Yoshiro Nakamatsu (born 1928), Japan – "PyonPyon" spring shoes, digital watch, CinemaScope, armchair "Cerebrex", sauce pump, taxicab meter
• Shuji Nakamura (born 1954), Japan – Blue laser
• John Napier (1550–1617), Scotland – logarithms
• Andrey Nartov (1683–1756), Russia – first lathe with a mechanic cutting tool-supporting carriage and a set of gears, fast-fire battery on a rotating disc, screw mechanism for changing the artillery fire angle, gauge–boring lathe for cannon-making, early telescopic sight
• James Nasmyth (1808–1890), Scotland – steam hammer
• Giulio Natta (1903–1979), together with Karl Ziegler (1898–1973), Italy/Germany – Ziegler–Natta catalyst
• Nebuchadrezzar II (c. 630–562 BC), Iraq (Mesopotamia) – screw, screwpump
• Erwin Neher (born 1944), together with Bert Sakmann (1942–), Germany – Patch clamp technique
• Ted Nelson (born 1937), USA – Hypertext, Hypermedia
• Sergey Nepobedimiy (born 1921), Russia – first supersonic anti-tank guided missile Sturm, other Soviet rocket weaponry
• Karl Nessler (1872–1951), Germany/USA – a.o. Permanent wave machine, artificial eyebrows
• John von Neumann (1903–1957), Hungary – Von Neumann computer architecture
• Isaac Newton (1642–1727), UK – reflecting telescope (which reduces chromatic aberration)
• Joseph Nicephore Niépce (1765–1833), France – photography
• Nikolai Nikitin (1907–1973), Russia – prestressed concrete with wire ropes structure (Ostankino Tower), Nikitin-Travush 4000 project (precursor to X-Seed 4000)
• Paul Gottlieb Nipkow (1860–1940), Germany – Nipkow disk
• Jun-Ichi Nishizawa (born 1926), Japan – Optical communication system, SIT/SITh (Static Induction Transistor/Thyristor), Laser diode, PIN diode
• Alfred Nobel (1833–1896), Sweden – dynamite
• Ludvig Nobel (1831–1888), Sweden/Russia – first successful oil tanker
• Emmy Noether (1882–1935), Germany, groundbreaking contributions to abstract algebra and theoretical physics; Noether's Theorem
• Jean-Antoine Nollet (1700–1770), France – Electroscope
• Wilhelm Normann (1870–1939), Germany – Hydrogenation of fats
• Carl Rickard Nyberg (1858–1939), Sweden – the blowtorch

O

• Aaron D. O'Connell (born 1981), USA – first Quantum machine
• Theophil Wilgodt Odhner (1845–1903), Sweden/Russia – the Odhner Arithmometer, a mechanical calculator
• Paul Offit, United States, along with Fred Clark and Stanley Plotkin, invented a pentavalent Rotavirus vaccine
• Jarkko Oikarinen (1967–), Finland – Internet Relay Chat (IRC)
• Katsuhiko Okamoto (?–), Japan – Okamoto Cubes = modifications of Rubik's Cube
• Ransom Eli Olds (1864–1950), United States – Assembly line
• Lucien Olivier (1838–1883), Belgium or France / Russia – Russian salad (Olivier salad)
• Gerard K. O'Neill (1927–1992), USA – Storage ring (physics)
• J. Robert Oppenheimer (1904–1967), United States – Atomic bomb
• Edward Otho Cresap Ord, II (1858–1923) American – weapon sights & mining
• Hans Christian Ørsted (1777–1851), Denmark – electromagnetism, aluminium
• Elisha Otis (1811–1861), USA – safety system for Elevators
• William Oughtred (1575–1660), UK – slide rule

P

• Arogyaswami Paulraj (born 1944), India/USA – MIMO
• Antonio Pacinotti (1841–1912), Italy – Pacinotti dynamo
• Larry Page (born 1973), USA – with Sergey Brin invented Google web search engine
• William Painter (1838–1906), UK/USA – a.o. Crown cork, Bottle opener
• Alexey Pajitnov (born 1956), Russia/USA – Tetris
• Julio Palmaz (born 1945), Argentina – balloon-expandable, stent
• 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
• Frank Pantridge (1916–2004), Ireland – Portable defibrillator
• Georgios Papanikolaou (1883–1962), Greece / USA – Papanicolaou stain, Pap test = Pap smear
• Philip M. Parker (born 1960), USA – computer automated book authoring
• Alexander Parkes (1831–1890), UK – celluloid
• Forrest Parry (1921–2005), USA – Magnetic stripe card
• Charles Algernon Parsons (1854–1931), British – steam turbine
• Spede Pasanen (1930–2001), Finland – a.o. ski jumping sling, boat ski
• Blaise Pascal (1623–1662), France – Pascal's calculator
• Gustaf Erik Pasch (1788–1862), Sweden – safety match
• Dimitar Paskov (1914–1986), Bulgaria – Galantamine
• C. Kumar N. Patel (1938–), India/USA – Carbon dioxide laser
• Les Paul (1915–2009), USA – multitrack recording
• Ivan Pavlov (1849–1936), Russia, – classical conditioning
• Floyd Paxton (1918–1975), USA – a.o. Bread clip
• John Pemberton (1831–1888), USA – Coca-Cola
• Slavoljub Eduard Penkala (1871–1922), Croatia – mechanical pencil
• William Henry Perkin (1838–1907), United Kingdom – first synthetic organic chemical dye Mauveine
• Henry Perky (1843–1906), USA – shredded wheat
• Alfred Perot (1863–1925), together with Charles Fabry (1867–1945), France – Fabry–Pérot interferometer (physics)
• Stephen Perry, UK (fl. 19th century) – rubber band
• Aurel Persu (1890–1977), Romania – first aerodynamic car, aluminum body with wheels included under the body, 1922
• Vladimir Petlyakov (1891–1942), Russia – heavy bomber
• Julius Richard Petri (1852–1921), Germany – Petri dish
• Peter Petroff (1919–2004), Bulgaria – digital wrist watch, heart monitor, weather instruments
• Fritz Pfleumer (1881–1945), Germany – magnetic tape
• Auguste Piccard (1884–1962), Switzerland – Bathyscaphe
• Wayne Pierce (inv. 1950), USA – Snow canon
• Gregory Goodwin Pincus (1903–1967), together with Min Chueh Chang (1908–1991), USA/China – Combined oral contraceptive pill
• Nikolay Ivanovich Pirogov (1810–1881), Russia – early use of ether as anaesthetic, first anaesthesia in a field operation, various kinds of surgical operations
• Fyodor Pirotsky (1845–1898), Russia – electric tram
• Arthur Pitney (1871–1933), United States – postage meter
• Hippolyte Pixii (1808–1835), France – Pixii dynamo
• Joseph Plateau (1801–1883), Belgium – phenakistiscope (stroboscope)
• Baltzar von Platen (1898–1984), Sweden – gas absorption refrigerator
• James Leonard Plimpton (1828–1911), USA – roller skates
• Ivan Plotnikov (1902–1995), Russia – kirza leather
• Roy Plunkett (1910–1994), United States – Teflon
• Petrache Poenaru (1799–1875), Romania – fountain pen
• Christopher Polhem (1661–1751), Sweden – the modern padlock
• Nikolai Polikarpov (1892–1944), Russia – Po-series aircraft, including Polikarpov Po-2 Kukuruznik (world's most produced biplane)
• Eugene Polley (1915–2012), United States – wireless remote control (with Robert Adler)
• Ivan Polzunov (1728–1766), Russia – first two-cylinder steam engine
• Mikhail Pomortsev (1851–1916), Russia – nephoscope
• Olivia Poole (1889–1975), USA, – the Jolly Jumper baby harness
• Alexander Popov (1859–1906), Russia – lightning detector (the first lightning prediction system and radio receiver), co-inventor of radio
• Nikolay Popov (1931–2008), Russia – first fully gas turbine main battle tank (T-80)
• Josef Popper (1838-1921), Austria- discovered the transmission of power by electricity.
• Aleksandr Porokhovschikov (1892–1941), Russia – Vezdekhod (the first prototype tank, or tankette, and the first caterpillar amphibious ATV)
• Ignazio Porro (1801–1875), Italy – Porro prism, Strip camera
• Valdemar Poulsen (1869–1942), Denmark – magnetic wire recorder, arc converter
• Joseph Priestley (1733–1804), UK – soda water
• Alexander Procofieff de Seversky (1894–1974), Russia/United States of America – first gyroscopically stabilized bombsight, ionocraft, also developed air-to-air refueling
• Alexander Prokhorov (1916–2002), Russia – co-inventor of laser and maser
• Petro Prokopovych (1775–1850), Ukraine/Russia – early beehive frame, queen excluder and other beekeeping novelties
• Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky (1863–1944), Russia/France – early colour photography method based on three colour channels, also colour film slides and colour motion pictures
• Mark Publicover (born 1958), USA – First affordable trampoline safety net enclosure
• 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

Q

• Calvin Quate (1923–), with Gerd Binnig (1947–), and with Christoph Gerber (?–), USA/Germany/Switzerland – Atomic force microscope
• Adolphe Quetelet (1796–1874), France/Belgium – Body mass index (BMI)

R

• Jacob Rabinow (1910–1999), USA – a.o. Magnetic particle clutch, various Phonograph-related patents
• Hasan al-Rammah (fl.1270s), Syria – rocket-propelled torpedo
• John Goffe Rand (1801–1873), USA – Tube (container)
• Muhammad ibn Zakarīya Rāzi (Rhazes) (865–965), Persia/Iran – distillation and extraction methods, sulfuric acid and hydrochloric acid, soap kerosene, kerosene lamp, chemotherapy, sodium hydroxide
• Alec Reeves (1902–1971), UK – Pulse-code modulation
• Karl von Reichenbach (1788–1869), Germany – paraffin, creosote oil, phenol
• Tadeus Reichstein (1897–1996), Poland/Switzerland – Reichstein process (industrial vitamin C synthesis)
• Ira Remsen (1846–1927), USA – saccharin
• Ralf Reski (born 1958), Germany – Moss bioreactor 1998
• Josef Ressel (1793–1857), Czechoslovakia – ship propeller
• Ri Sung-gi (1905–1996), North Korea – Vinylon
• Charles Francis Richter (1900–1985), USA – Richter magnitude scale
• Adolph Rickenbacker (1886–1976), Switzerland – Electric guitar
• Hyman George Rickover (1900–1986), USA – Nuclear submarine
• Niklaus Riggenbach (1817–1899), Switzerland – Riggenbach rack railway system, Counter-pressure brake
• Dennis Ritchie (1941–2011), USA – C (programming language)
• Leonard Rivkin (inv. 1962), USA – Child safety seat
• Gilles de Roberval (1602–1675), France – Roberval balance
• John Roebuck (1718–1794) UK – lead chamber process for sulfuric acid synthesis
• Francis Rogallo (1912–2009), USA – Rogallo wing
• Heinrich Rohrer (1933–2013), together with Gerd Binnig (1947–), Switzerland/Germany – Scanning tunneling microscope
• Peter I the Great (Pyotr Alexeyevich Romanov), Tsar and Emperor of Russia (1672–1725), Russia – decimal currency, yacht club, sounding line with separating plummet (sounding weight probe)
• Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen (1845–1923), Germany – the X-ray machine
• Ida Rosenthal (1886–1973), Belarus/Russia/United States – modern bra (Maidenform), the standard of cup sizes, nursing bra, full-figured bra, the first seamed uplift bra (all with her husband William)
• Sidney Rosenthal (1907–1979), USA – Magic Marker
• Eugene Roshal (born 1972), Russia – FAR file manager, RAR file format, WinRAR file archiver
• Boris Rosing (1869–1933), Russia – CRT television (first television system using CRT on the receiving side)
• Guido van Rossum (born 1956), The Netherlands – Python (programming language)
• Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier (1754–1785), France – Rozière balloon
• Ernő Rubik (born 1944), Hungary – Rubik's Cube, Rubik's Magic and Rubik's Clock
• Ernst Ruska (1906–1988), Germany – electron microscope

S

• Albert Bruce Sabin (1906–1993), USA – oral Polio vaccine
• Alexander Sablukov (1783–1857), Russia – centrifugal fan
• Şerafeddin Sabuncuoğlu (1385–1468), Turkey – illustrated surgical atlas
• Gilles Saint-Hilaire (born 1948), Canada – Quasiturbine, Qurbine
• Andrei Sakharov (1921–1989), Russia – invented explosively pumped flux compression generator, co-developed the Tsar Bomb and tokamak
• Jonas Edward Salk (1914–1995), USA – injection Polio vaccine
• Ibn Samh (c. 1020), Middle East – mechanical geared astrolabe
• Franz San Galli (1824–1908), Poland/Russia (Italian and German descent) – radiator, modern central heating
• Frederick Sanger (1918–2013), USA – Sanger sequencing (= DNA sequencing)
• Larry Sanger (born 1968), together with Jimmy Wales (1966–), USA – Wikipedia
• Yoshiyuki Sankai (c. 1957–), Japan – Robotic exoskeleton for motion support (medicine)
• Alberto Santos-Dumont (1873–1932), Brazil – non-rigid airship and airplane
• Arthur William Savage (1857–1938) – radial tires, gun magazines, Savage Model 99 lever action rifle
• Thomas Savery (1650–1715), UK – steam engine
• Adolphe Sax (1814–1894), Belgium – saxophone
• Vincent Joseph Schaefer (1906–1993), USA – a.o. Cloud seeding by dry ice
• Bela Schick (1877–1967), Hungary – diphtheria test
• Hugo Schiff (1834–1915), Germany – Schiff test (histology)
• Pavel Schilling (1786–1837), Estonia/Russia – first electromagnetic telegraph, mine with an electric fuse
• Gilmore Schjeldahl (1912–2002), USA – Airsickness bag
• Hubert Schlafly (1919–2011), USA – Teleprompter = Autocue
• Wilhelm Schlenk (1879–1943), Germany – Schlenk flask (chemistry)
• Bernhard Schmidt (1879–1935), Estonia/Germany – Schmidt camera
• Otto Schmitt (1913–1998), USA – Schmitt trigger (electronics)
• Christian Schnabel (1878–1936), German – simplistic food cutleries
• Kees A. Schouhamer Immink (1946–), Netherlands – Major contributor to development of Compact Disc
• August Schrader (1820–?), USA – Schrader valve for Pneumatic tire
• Hans Schrader (1924–1963), together with Franz Joseph Emil Fischer (1877–1947), Germany – Fischer assay (oil yield test)
• David Schwarz (1852–1897), Croatia, – rigid ship, later called Zeppelin
• Marc Seguin (1786–1875), France – wire-cable suspension bridge
• Hanaoka Seishū (1760–1835), Japan – General anaesthetic
• Ted Selker (inv. 1987), USA – Pointing stick
• Sennacherib (705–681 BC), Iraq (Mesopotamia) – screw pump
• Léon Serpollet (1858–1907), France – Flash boiler, Gardner-Serpollet steam car
• Iwan Serrurier (1878–1953), Netherlands/USA – inventor of the Moviola for film editing
• Mark Serrurier (1904–1988), USA – Serrurier truss for Optical telescopes
• Gerhard Sessler (born 1931), Germany – foil electret microphone, silicon microphone
• Guy Severin (1926–2008), Russia – extra-vehicular activity supporting system
• Ed Seymour (inv. c. 1949), USA – Aerosol paint
• Leonty Shamshurenkov (1687–1758), Russia – first self-propelling carriage (a precursor to both bicycle and automobile), projects of an original odometer and self-propelling sledge
• Ibn al-Shatir (1304–1375), Syria – "jewel box" device which combined a compass with a universal sundial
• Bi Sheng (Chinese: 畢昇) (c. 990–1051), China – clay movable type printing
• Nick Sheridon (1928–1962), USA – Electronic paper
• Murasaki Shikibu (c. 973–1025), Japan – psychological novel
• Pyotr Shilovsky (1871 – after 1924), Russia/United Kingdom – gyrocar
• Masatoshi Shima (born 1943), Japan – microprocessor
• Fathullah Shirazi (c. 1582), Mughal India – early volley gun
• Joseph Shivers (1920-2014), USA – Spandex
• William Bradford Shockley (1910–1989), USA – co-inventor of transistor
• Henry Shrapnel (1761–1842), UK – Shrapnel shell ammunition
• Vladimir Shukhov (1853–1939), Russia – thermal cracking (Shukhov cracking process), thin-shell structure, tensile structure, hyperboloid structure, gridshell, modern oil pipeline, cylindric oil depot
• Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor (born 1972), Malaysia – cell growth in outer space, crystallization of proteins and microbes in space
• Augustus Siebe (1788–1872), Germany/UK – Inventor of the standard diving dress
• Sir William Siemens (1823–1883), Germany – regenerative furnace
• Werner von Siemens (1816–1892), Germany – a.o. electric elevator, Electromote (= first trolleybus), an early Dynamo
• Al-Sijzi (c. 945–1020), Persia/Iran – heliocentric astrolabe
• Igor Sikorsky (1889–1972), Russia/USA – first four-engine fixed-wing aircraft (Russky Vityaz), first airliner and purpose-designed bomber (Ilya Muromets), modern helicopter, Sikorsky-series helicopters
• Bernard Silver (1924–1963), together with Norman Joseph Woodland (1921–2012), USA – Barcode
• Kia Silverbrook (born 1958), Australia – Memjet printer, world's most prolific inventor
• Vladimir Simonov (born 1935), Russia – APS Underwater Assault Rifle, SPP-1 underwater pistol
• Charles Simonyi (born 1948), Hungary – Hungarian notation
• Ibn Sina (Avicenna) (973–1037), Persia/Iran – 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
• Isaac Singer (1811–1875), USA – sewing machine
• B. F. Skinner (1904–1990), USA – Operant conditioning chamber
• Nikolay Slavyanov (1854–1897), Russia – shielded metal arc welding
• Alexander Smakula (1900–1983), Ukraine/Russia/USA – anti-reflective coating
• Michael Smith (1932–2000), USA – Site-directed mutagenesis (molecular biology)
• Oliver Smithies (born 1925), together with Sir Martin John Evans (1941–), and Mario Ramberg Capecchi (1937–), USA – Knockout mouse, Gene targeting
• Yefim Smolin, Russia – table-glass (stakan granyonyi)
• Friedrich Soennecken (1848–1919), Germany – Ring binder, Hole punch
• Su Song (1020–1101), China – first chain drive
• Marin Soljačić (1974), Croatia - Resonant inductive coupling
• Edwin Southern (born 1938), USA – Southern blot (molecular biology)
• Alfred P. Southwick (1826 – 1898), USA - Electric chair
• Igor Spassky (born 1926), Russia – Sea Launch platform
• Percy Spencer (1894–1970), USA – microwave oven
• Elmer Ambrose Sperry (1860–1930), USA – gyroscope-guided automatic pilot
• Lyman Spitzer (1914–1997), USA – Stellarator (physics)
• Bhargav Sri Prakash (born 1977), India/USA - Learnification platform at FriendsLearn, Virtual Reality System, electromagnetic collision avoidance system, OBD based in-vehicle powertrain performance measurement, rate based driver controls for drive by wire systems
• Ladislas Starevich (1882–1965), Russia/France – puppet animation, live-action/animated film
• Gary Starkweather (born 1938), USA – laser printer, color management
• Boris Stechkin (1891–1969), Russia – co-developer of Sikorsky Ilya Muromets and Tsar Tank, developer of Soviet heat and aircraft engines
• George Stephenson (1781–1848), UK – steam railway
• Simon Stevin (1548–1620), Netherlands – land yacht
• Andreas Stihl (1896–1973), Switzerland/Germany – Electric chain saw
• Reverend Dr Robert Stirling (1790–1878), Scotland – Stirling engine
• Aurel Stodola (1859–1942), Slovakia – gas turbines
• Aleksandr Stoletov (1839–1896), Russia – first solar cell based on the outer photoelectric effect
• David Strang (inv. 1890), New Zealand – first Instant coffee
• Levi Strauss (1829–1902), USA – blue jeans
• John Stringfellow (1799–1883), UK – aerial steam carriage
• Bjarne Stroustrup (born 1950), Denmark – C++ (programming language)
• Almon Strowger (1839–1902), USA – automatic telephone exchange
• Emil Strub (1858–1909), Switzerland – Strub rack railway system
• Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi (Azophi) (903–986), Persia/Iran – timekeeping astrolabe, navigational astrolabe, surveying astrolabe
• Kyota Sugimoto (1882–1972), Japan – Japanese language typewriter
• Mutsuo Sugiura (1918–1986), China – Esophagogastroduodenoscope
• Pavel Sukhoi (1895–1975), Russia – Su-series fighter aircraft
• Simon Sunatori (born 1959), Canada – inventor of MagneScribe and Magic Spicer
• Sushruta (600 BC), Vedic India – inventor of Plastic Surgery, Cataract Surgery, Rhinoplasty
• Theodor Svedberg (1884–1971), Sweden – Analytical ultracentrifuge
• Joseph Swan (1828–1914), UK – Incandescent light bulb
• Robert Swanson (1905–1994), Canada – Invented and developed the first multi-chime air horn for use with diesel locomotives
• Remi Swierczek (born 1958), Poland – Inventor of Music Identification System and the Mico Changer (coin hopper and dispenser used in casinos)
• Andrei Sychra (c.1773/76–1850), Lithuania/Russia, Czech descent – Russian seven-string guitar
• Vladimir Syromyatnikov (1933–2006), Russia – Androgynous Peripheral Attach System and other spacecraft docking mechanisms
• Simon Sze (born 1936), Taiwan/USA, together with Dawon Kahng (1931–1992), South Korea – Floating-gate MOSFET
• Leó Szilárd (1898–1964), Hungary/USA – Co-developed the atomic bomb, patented the nuclear reactor, catalyst of the Manhattan Project

T

• Salih Tahtawi (fl.1659–1660), Mughal India – seamless globe and celestial globe
• Teiji Takada, Japan – Fire balloon
• Gyula Takátsy (1914–1980), Hungary – first Microtiter plate
• Esther Takeuchi (born 1953) - holds more than 150 US-patents, the largest number for any woman in the United States
• Igor Tamm (1895–1971), Russia – co-developer of tokamak
• Ching W. Tang (born 1947), Hong Kong/USA, together with Steven Van Slyke, USA – OLED
• Mardi bin Ali al-Tarsusi (c. 1187), Middle East – counterweight trebuchet, mangonel
• Gustav Tauschek (1899–1945), Austria – Drum memory
• Kenyon Taylor (inv. 1961), USA – Flip-disc display
• Bernard Tellegen (1900–1990), Netherlands – pentode
• Edward Teller (1908–2003), Hungary – hydrogen bomb
• Nikola Tesla (1856–1943), Croatia/Serbia – induction motor, high-voltage / high-frequency power experiments, the transmission of electrical power
• Léon Theremin (1896–1993), Russia – theremin, interlace, burglar alarm, terpsitone, Rhythmicon (first drum machine), The Thing (listening device)
• Charles Xavier Thomas de Colmar (1785–1870), France – Arithmometer
• Elihu Thomson (1853–1937), UK, USA – Prolific inventor, Arc lamp and many others
• William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin (1824–1907), United Kingdom – Kelvin absolute temperature scale
• Sten Gustaf Thulin (around the 1960s), Sweden– disposable Plastic shopping bag
• Eric Tigerstedt (1887–1925), Finland – Sound-on-film, triode vacuum tube
• Kalman Tihanyi (1897–1947), Hungary – co-inventor of cathode ray tube and iconoscope
• Mikhail Tikhonravov (1900–1974), Russia – co-developer of Sputnik 1 (the first artificial satellite) together with Korolyov and Keldysh, designer of further Sputniks
• Gavriil Adrianovich Tikhov (1875–1960), Russia – feathering spectrograph
• Benjamin Chew Tilghman (1821–1897), USA – sandblasting
• Fedor Tokarev (1871–1968), Russia – TT-33 semiautomatic handgun and SVT-40 self-loading rifle
• Ray Tomlinson (inv. 1971), USA – First inter-computer email
• Evangelista Torricelli (1608–1647), Italy – barometer
• Alfred Traeger (1895–1980), Australia – Pedal radio
• Richard Trevithick (1771–1833), UK – high-pressure steam engine, first full-scale steam locomotive
• Franc Trkman (1903–1978), Slovenia – electrical switches, accessories for opening windows
• Hans Tropsch (1889–1935), together with Franz Joseph Emil Fischer (1877–1947), Germany – Fischer–Tropsch process (refinery process)
• Yuri Trutnev (1927–), Russia – co-developer of the Tsar Bomb
• Roger Y. Tsien (born 1952), together with Osamu Shimomura (1928–) and Martin Chalfie (born 1947), USA – Discovery and development of Green fluorescent protein
• Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (1857–1935), Russia – spaceflight
• Mikhail Tsvet (1872–1919), Russia – chromatography (specifically adsorption chromatography, the first chromatography method)
• Alexei Tupolev (1925–2001), Russia – the Tupolev Tu-144 (first supersonic passenger jet)
• Andrei Tupolev (1888–1972), Russia – turboprop powered long-range airliner (Tupolev Tu-114), turboprop strategic bomber (Tupolev Tu-95)
• Nasīr al-Dīn al-Tūsī (1201–1274), Persia/Iran – observatory, Tusi-couple
• Sharaf al-Dīn al-Tūsī (1135–1213), Persia/Iran – linear astrolabe

U

• Shintaro Uda (1869–1976), together with Hidetsugu Yagi (1886–1976), Japan – Yagi-Uda antenna
• Lewis Urry (1927–2004), Canada – long-lasting alkaline battery
• Vladimir Utkin (1923–2000), Russia – railcar–launched ICBM (RT-23 Molodets)
• Tomislav Uzelac, Croatia - first successful MP3 player, AMP

V

• Vladimir Sergeyevich Vakhmistrov (1897–1972), Russia – first bomber with a parasite aircraft (Zveno project)
• Ira Van Gieson (1866–1913), USA – Van Gieson's stain (histology)
• Theophilus Van Kannel (1841–1919), United States – revolving door (1888)
• Viktor Vasnetsov (1848–1926), Russia – budenovka military hat
• Vladimir Veksler (1907–1966), Russia – synchrophasotron, co-inventor of synchrotron
• John Venn (1834–1923), UK – Venn diagram (1881)
• Auguste Victor Louis Verneuil (1856–1913), France – Verneuil process (crystal growth)
• Pierre Vernier (1580–1637), France – Vernier scale (1631)
• Lucien Vidi (1805–1866), France – Barograph
• Edgar Villchur (1917–2011), USA – a.o. Acoustic suspension (loudspeaker)
• Dmitry Vinogradov (c.1720/25–1758), Russia – original Russian hard-paste porcelain (together with Mikhail Lomonosov)
• Rudolf Virchow (1821–1902), Germany – standardised Autopsy protocols
• Artturi Ilmari Virtanen (1895–1973), Finland – a.o. AIV fodder
• Louis R. Vitullo (1924?–2006), United States – developed the first sexual assault evidence kit
• Alessandro Volta (1745–1827), Italy – battery, see also Voltaic pile
• Bernard Vonnegut (1914–1997), together with Henry Chessin, and Richard E. Passarelli, Jr., USA – a.o. Cloud seeding by silver iodide
• Faust Vrančić (1551–1617), Croatia – parachute
• Ivan Vučetić (1858-1925), Croatia - Method of fingerprint classification
• Traian Vuia (1872–1950), Romania – designed, built, tested the first aircraft able to take off/land independently on its own wheels in 1906. Vuia reportedly flew to a height of 1 Meter and was able to stay aloft for 20 Meters.
• Ivan Vyrodkov (1488–1563–64), Russia – siege tower

W

• Paul Walden (1863–1957), Latvia/Russia/Germany – Walden inversion, Ethylammonium nitrate (the first room temperature ionic liquid)
• Jimmy Wales (born 1966), together with Larry Sanger (1968–), USA – Wikipedia
• Madam C.J. Walker (1867–1919), USA – beauty and hair products for African American women
• Barnes Wallis (1887–1979), UK – bouncing bomb
• Frederick Walton (c. 1834–1928), UK – Linoleum
• Aldred Scott Warthin (1866–1931), together with Allen Chronister Starry (1890–1973), USA – Warthin–Starry stain (histology)
• Robert Watson-Watt (1892–1973), Scotland – microwave radar
• James Watt (1736–1819), Scotland – improved Steam engine
• Thomas Wedgwood (1771–1805), UK – first (not permanent) photograph
• Huang Weilu, China – Anti-ship ballistic missile and series of DF-21 missiles
• Carl Auer von Welsbach (1858–1929), Austria – Gas mantle, ferrocerium
• Jonas Wenström (1855–1893), Sweden – three-phase electrical power
• George Westinghouse (1846–1914), USA – Air brake (rail)
• Charles Wheatstone (1802–1875), UK – a.o. concertina, stereoscope, microphone, Playfair cipher, pseudoscope, dynamo
• Richard T. Whitcomb (1921–2009), USA – Supercritical airfoil, Winglet
• Eli Whitney (1765–1825), USA – the cotton gin
• Frank Whittle (1907–1996), UK – co-inventor of the jet engine
• Otto Wichterle (1913–1989), Czechoslovakia – soft contact lens
• Gottlob Widmann (inv. c. 1954), Germany – Electrical drip coffee maker
• Norman Wilkinson (1878–1971), UK – Dazzle camouflage
• Charles Thomson Rees Wilson (1869–1959), UK – Cloud chamber
• Paul Winchell (1922–2005), USA – the artificial heart
• Sergei Winogradsky (1856–1953), Russia / USSR – Winogradsky column for culturing microorganisms
• Niklaus Wirth (born 1934), Switzerland – Pascal (programming language)
• A. Baldwin Wood (1879–1956), USA – high volume pump
• Norman Joseph Woodland (1921–2012), together with Bernard Silver (1924–1963), USA – Barcode
• Granville Woods (1856–1910), USA – the Synchronous Multiplex Railway Telegraph
• James Homer Wright (1869–1928), USA – Wright's stain (histology)
• Wright brothers, Orville (1871–1948) and Wilbur (1867–1912) – USA – powered airplane
• Arthur Wynne (1862–1945), UK – creator of crossword puzzle

X

• Yi Xing (683–727), China – astronomical clock

Y

• Pavel Yablochkov (1847–1894), Russia – Yablochkov candle (first commercially viable electric carbon arc lamp)
• Hidetsugu Yagi (1886–1976), together with Shintaro Uda (1896–1976), Japan – Yagi-Uda antenna
• Alexander Yakovlev (1906–1989), Russia – Yak-series aircraft, including Yakovlev Yak-40 (the first regional jet)
• Linus Yale, Jr. (1821–1868), USA – cylinder lock
• Linus Yale, Sr. (1797–1858), USA Penetomas – pin tumbler lock
• Shunpei Yamazaki (born 1942), Japan – patents in a.o. computer science and solid-state physics, see List of prolific inventors
• Gazi Yasargil (born 1925), Turkey – Microneurosurgery
• Khalid ibn Yazid (635–704), Syria/Egypt – potassium nitrate
• Ryōichi Yazu (1878–1908), Japan – Yazu Arithmometer
• Gunpei Yokoi (1941–1997), Japan – Game Boy
• Arthur M. Young (1905–1995), USA – the Bell Helicopter
• Vladimir Yourkevitch (1885–1964), Russia/France/USA – modern ship hull design
• Tu Youyou (1930–), China – Artemisinin
• Sergei Yudin (1891–1954), Russia – cadaveric blood transfusion and other medical operations
• Muhammad Yunus (born 1940), Bangladesh – microcredit, microfinance
• Abu Yusuf Yaqub (c. 1274), Morocco/Spain – siege cannon
• Abraham Albert Yuzpe (inv. c. 1974), USA – Yuzpe regimen (= form of Emergency contraception)

Z

• Abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi (Abulcasis) (936–1013), Islamic Spain – catgut surgical suture, various surgical instruments and dental devices
• Frank Zamboni (1901–1988), USA – Ice resurfacer
• Giuseppe Zamboni (1776–1846), Italy – Zamboni pile (early battery)
• Ludwik Łazarz Zamenhof (1859–1917), Russia/Poland – Esperanto
• Walter Zapp (1905–2003), Latvia/Estonia/Germany – Minox (subminiature camera)
• Abū Ishāq Ibrāhīm al-Zarqālī (Arzachel) (1028–1087), Islamic Spain – almanac, equatorium, universal astrolabe
• Yevgeny Zavoisky (1907–1976), Russia – EPR spectroscopy, co-developer of NMR spectroscopy
• Nikolay Zelinsky (1861–1953), Russia – the first effective filtering coal gas mask in the world
• Ferdinand von Zeppelin (1838–1917), Germany – Zeppelin
• Frits Zernike (1888–1966), The Netherlands – Phase contrast microscope
• Tang Zhongming (1897–1980), China – internal combustion engine powered by charcoal
• Jian Zhou (1957–1999), together with Ian Hector Frazer (1953–), China/USA – HPV vaccine against cervical cancer
• Nikolai Zhukovsky (1847–1921), Russia – an early wind tunnel, co-developer of the Tsar Tank
• Karl Ziegler (1898–1973), together with Giulio Natta (1903–1979), Germany/Italy – Ziegler–Natta catalyst
• Franz Ziehl (1857–1926), together with Friedrich Neelsen (1854–1898), Germany – Ziehl–Neelsen stain (histology)
• Konrad Zuse (1910–1995), Germany – invented the first programmable general-purpose computer (Z1, Z2, Z3, Z4)
• Vasily Zvyozdochkin (1876–1956), Russia – matryoshka doll (together with Sergey Malyutin)
• Vladimir Zworykin (1889–1982), Russia/USA – Iconoscope, kinescope.

See also

• Creativity techniques
• List of emerging technologies
• List of prolific inventors
• Ten Japanese Great Inventors
• The heroic theory of invention and scientific development
• Timeline of historic inventions