Meet some inventors who used science to achieve

Every May, we honor the creative geniuses who help make our world a better place! National Inventors Month is the perfect time to explore groundbreaking inventions and celebrate the innovators behind them. Want to be inspired by the power of imagination and ingenuity? Here are some of our favorite inventors:

1. Patricia Bath
   Dr. Patricia Bath was the first African American woman to receive a medical patent—a first for an African American woman—for her invention of the Laserphaco Probe, a device that uses laser technology to treat cataracts. Her technique of using lasers to remove cataracts has improved or restored the vision of millions of patients around the world.

2. Thomas Jefferson
   When he wasn't advocating for freedom or leading the nation, Thomas Jefferson loved to invent. He loved to create things that made everyday life easier and more enjoyable— a swivel desk chair, or the new dumbwaiter system. During his time as Secretary of State for George Washington, he came up with an inventive way to keep secrets safe. He called it the 'Wheel Cipher'” a tool that allowed people to send messages in a secure and uncomplicated way.

3. George Washington Carver
   George Washington Carver used his knowledge of science to come up with brilliant ideas that helped farmers make a decent living. Most famous for the invention of peanut butter, he also revolutionized farming by experimenting with crop rotation. He decided not to patent most of his ideas so that other people could use them for free.

4. Marie Van Brittan Brown
   Marie Van Brittan Brown is credited with inventing the first home security system. Her invention featured a camera that could be monitored from a television set and a two-way communication system that allowed homeowners to speak to visitors at their door. Her innovation has had a huge impact on the entire security system. Her idea has expanded beyond just security for those at home, and her ideas can be seen in security systems in businesses around the world.

5. The Lumière brothers
   Auguste and Louis Lumière were legendary for their innovative idea that changed the way of entertainment forever—the movies! They invented the Cinématographe, a remarkable three-in-one device that could record, develop, and show films to viewers. The Lumières also developed the first practical photographic color process, known as the Lumière Autochrome.

6. Grace Murray Hopper
   Grace Murray Hopper was an incredible American computer scientist and brave United States Navy rear admiral. She had the brilliant idea of inventing machine-independent programming languages, eventually leading to COBOL, one of the earliest high-tech programming languages. And she's also known for coming up with the word "debugging," which is when you help fix a computer that isn't working right—and she got the idea from a real-life moth that was stuck in a computer!

7. Tim Berners-Lee
   You are reading this thanks to Tim Berners-Lee. He found it frustrating that different information was kept on different computers, meaning a researcher needed to look at different computers to get all the data. So he decided to make it easier by making the first communication between an HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) client and server through the Internet, known as the World Wide Web.