Innovation Through the Ages
By Lesley Manchester
Lead: The unknown genius who imagined the wheel did not foresee the impact of his ingenuity: a transportation and industrial revolution that created our modern-day world.
What is the relationship – the commonality – between the first innovators (the unknown inventors) and those of today? The people whose brains conceptualized the leading edge ideas and pushed the boundaries of societal acceptance or abhorrence every time over all the centuries must share a key characteristic. What instinct is it that those people, who first imagined the wheel and visualized its purpose, had; how did they know the purpose it would serve and how it could make life easier then. Could they have foreseen the historic evolutionary chain-of-eventual development for its universal functionality today. What immense impact such visionaries have had on the progress of mankind and the growth of humankind. Each was indeed simple and practical in their own way and time. The word innovate derives from the latin innovatus pp. of innovare “to renew or change” from “in” + “”novus” = “into new”.
So innovation can be a process that renews something that already exists.
An accident of geography and geology provided the Romans with a new base for their concrete and so also for their architectural creations. Mud, adobe, sand and mortar were used for centuries. Pozzalana soil, which was volcanic sand, was mixed with lime by the people of Pozzalana for buildings at the waters edge. This formed an enriched concrete that hardened in contact with water. Even when piers of it were constructed under the sea, they set hard and fast under water. This is why those buildings have endured.
The earliest dated printed book known is the “Diamond Sutra” printed in China in 868 CE. In 1041, movable clay type was first invented. Johannus Gutenberg, a goldsmith and businessman in southern Germany borrowed money to invent a technology that changed the world of printing. He invented the printing press with replaceable/moveable wooden or metal letters in 1436 (completed by 1440). He developed the press from the technology of the screw-type wine press of the Rhine Valley. In 1440, ink was rolled over raised surfaces of moveable hand-set block letters held within a wooden form and the form was then pressed against a sheet of paper. This method of printing can be credited not only for a revolution in the production of books, but also for fostering rapid development in the sciences, arts and religion through the transmission of the written word and the mass production of texts. The bible was the first book to be printed in this manner.
Roads of rails called Wagonways, used as early as 1550, consisted of wooden rails over which horse-drawn wagons or carts moved with greater ease than over dirt roads. By 1776, iron replaced the wood in the rails and wheels on the carts. Wagonways evolved into railways and spread through Europe. Horses still provided the pulling power. In 1789, an Englishman, William Jessup, designed the first wagons with flanged wheels – this was an important shift in design that carried over to later locomotives. In 1803, Sam Homfray decided to fund the development of a steam-powered vehicle to replace the horse-drawn carts on the tramways. Richard Trevithick (1771-1833) built that vehicle, the first steam engine tramway locomotive. On Feb 22, 1804, the locomotive hauled a load of 10 tons of iron, 70 men and five extra wagons over 9 miles between the ironworks to the bottom of a valley in Wales. It took two hours to complete the trip. In 1821, Englishman, Julius C. Griffiths was the first person to patent a passenger road locomotive. George Stephenson’s locomotive pulled six loaded coal cars and 21 passenger cars with 450 passengers over 9 miles in 1 hour.
In 1800, the first electric light was made by Humphrey Davy, an English scientist. He invented an electric battery. He connected wires to his battery to produce an electric arc. The English physicist, Sir Joseph Wilson Swan, devised a practical long-lasting electric light with a carbon paper filament. By 1877, an American Charles Francis Brush manufactured some carbon arcs to light a public square in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. Thomas Alva Edison experimented with thousands of different filaments to find just the right materials to glow well and be long-lasting. In 1879, Edison discovered that a carbon filament glowed in an oxygen-free bulb for 40 hours. Lewis Howard Latimer improved the bulb by developing a method of manufacturing carbon filaments. In 1903, Willis R. Whitney invented a treatment for the filament so it would not darken the inside of the bulb as it glowed. In 1910, William David Coolidge invented a tungsten filament which lasted longer. The incandescent bulb revolutionized today’s world.
The history of the repeating fire rifle changed the ground war tactical advantage significantly. Mr. Benjamin Tyler Henry first conceived of a lever action repeating rifle and patented his idea in 1860. This gave one man the power of a dozen marksmen. The Native Americans used Henry repeating rifles at Little Bighorn while Custard and his troops used the single shot Springfield rifle. The design was completed by Christopher Spencer in 1860 with a magazine fed lever-operated rifle chambered for the 56-56 Spencer rimfire cartridge. When empty the rifle tube could be rapidly loaded by dropping in fresh cartridges or from the Blakeslee Cartridge Box, which contained up to thirteen tubes with seven cartridges each. The Winchester repeater model was introduced in 1873. In 1855, Smith, Wesson and Henry formed the Volcanic Arms Company to produce and market their final design in 1855. In 1886, the name was changed by Oliver Winchester to the Winchester Repeating Arms Company and was entirely owned by Winchester.
The telephone invented in 1876, by Alexander Graham Bell, advanced local, national and international communications to revolutionize the daily lives of ordinary people. Bell’s experiments with Thomas Watson finally had success on March 10, 1876 when the first complete sentence was transmitted. “Watson, com-here; I want you”. An instrument which converts sound, specifically the human voice, to electrical impulses of various frequencies and then back to a tone that sounds like the original voice. By the early 1960’s, low-cost transistors and associated circuit components made the introduction of touch-tone into home telephones possible. The first picturephone test system build in 1956 was crude – it transmitted an image only once every two seconds. Now we have corporations conducting business internationally by live real-time video conferencing.
In terms of the lives of average people, there is little doubt that the automobile is the most revolutionary invention in the history of transportation since the wheel. The basic premise of the automobile was simple; choose a wheeled vehicle from any of the types pulled by horses or oxen, add a motor and create a self-propelled, personal transportation vehicle. The earliest prototype of the modern automobile was the Fardier, a three wheeled, steam-powered, 2.3 mph vehicle built in 1771 by Nicolas Joseph Cugnot for the French minister of war. This machine was not put into mass production since it was much slower and harder to operate than a horse-drawn vehicle. Amodee Bollee, also a Frenchman, built an improved 12-passenger steam car in 1873 but the steam engine proved impractical for a machine intended to challenge the speed of a horse-and-buggy. The invention of the workable internal combustion engine by Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach in Germany in 1889 meant a milestone breakthrough. Powered by a 1.5 hp two-cylinder gas engine; it had 4 speed transmission and traveled at 10 mph. Karl Benz, another German, built a gasoline powered car that same year. Only a handful were manufactured. The first auto produced in quantity was the 1901 Curved Dash Oldsmobile, which was built in the United States by Ransom E. Olds. Modern auto mass production and its use of the modern industrial assembly line is credited to Henry Ford of Detroit Michigan, who built his first gas powered car in 1896. Ford began production of his Model-T in 1908 and over 18 million rolled off the assembly line.
Leonardo Di Vinci had envisioned flying machines but it was 1903 when Orville Wright and Wilbur Wright requested a patent for a “flying machine” and had the first successful flight in December that same year. The Kitty Hawk soared to an altitude of 10 feet, traveled 120 feet and landed 12 seconds after take-off. After making two longer flights that day, Orville and his older brother Wilbur sent a telegram to their father asking him to “inform the press”.
The computer was the idea of many mathematicians, scientists, engineers and visionaries. The ideas were discussed and developed independently of each other in Germany, Great Britain and the U.S.A. throughout the 1930’s and 1940’s.
In Germany, Konrad Zuse built a program-controlled calculating machine when he had to do extensive calculations in statistics. It was based on the binary system and used punched tapes for input and was designed in his parent’s home in Berlin. By May 1941, he finished the Z3 – the first freely programmable program-controlled automatic calculator that was operational. Howard h. Aileem conceived of the program-controlled relay calculator in 1937 and by 1939 IBM built this machine. The IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator Mark 1 was used in production work in 1944. The Moore School of Electrical Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania created the ENIAC for computing ballistic trajectories for the US Army during World War II with the analog Differential Analyzer. In August 1942, John W. Machly presented the design for a vacuum tube computer. John V. Alanasoff developed a special-purpose computer at Iowa State to solve systems of linear equations. John P. Eckert suggested a mercury delay-line memory which would increase memory capacity by a factor of 100 compared with the electronic memory used in ENIAC. In 1944, John Von Neumann suggested the idea of a stored-program so the memory was to store the program in addition to the data. The “concept” of a computer in the modern sense was born. The first two computers featuring this ability to execute multi-level functioning and the instant change in flowing program was built in Great Britain. On June 21, 1948, F. C. Williams of the University of Manchester ran the prototype of the Manchester Mark 1 and proved it was possible to build stored-program universal computers. The second Von Neumann computer was built by Maurice Wilkes at Cambridge University May 6, 149. The Internet began as a computer network of ARPA that linked computer networks at several universities and research laboratories. The World Wide Web was developed in 1989 by English computer scientist Timothy Berners-Lee for the European Organization for Nuclear Research. The internet is a world wide network of thousands of computers and computer networks. It is a public voluntary and co-operative effort between the connected institutions and not owned or operated by any single organization.
Johannes Gutenberg, James Watt, Watson and Crick, Bill Gates were all people of creative and practical imagination. Each had an intellectual challenge and a relevant practical problem to solve in their respective fields at that time. They found the reasonable solution to their problems working with the tools available to them then. Could they possibly imagine today’s world; a world covered with their fingerprints. Each invention and innovation has led in a perfect direct line, to 2011. Innovations make money, while inventions take money to create the final product. New technologies now come hard on the heels of the prior ones. We are deluged with new products, and to be honest, much disquiet in the human psyche. Society is instantaneously connected, global travel is accomplished in hours instead of years. New inventions and innovations have created a sense that we are now functioning at the speed of light; warp speed, the mode of travel envisioned by Gene Roddenberry in Star Trek seems now a very real outcome, as our lives pass by at dizzying light-speed.
There has always been a period of limited acceptance for each new idea or step we take. Change is frightening and difficult and same-old, same-old safe, predictable, secure. But, it seems we constantly play catch-up with all the new ideas and products and changes. Should we be thrilled or frightened by what man has wrought for us today, or should we embrace change for change sake? Perhaps we should hear an echo of a voice from the past, someone who believed that man could not help by yield to innovations.
Quote: We have a “violent fondness for change, and a greater eagerness after novelties,” B. Mandeville, 1732. In this dissertation, we have encountered those visions and visionaries that have impacted every man, woman and child’s life progress experience in profound ways. Innovation is not however limited. It is implicit in the change process for cultures, society, religions, philosophy, medicine and within global companies grasping to be better, stronger, more relevant and better corporate citizens of the world. CSR – Corporate Social Responsibility resounds in the hallways of leadership to Green their efforts. The Global conscience is focused on efforts to save the environment, save the creatures that populate this mother-earth with us, save the children, save the world which we all inhabit. Cecil B. Rhodes left a legacy to scholars from the world who would become global leaders to propose peace and lead peaceful solutions. Nobel, the man responsible for the development of weapons of mass destruction, left a legacy in perpetuity – The Nobel Peace Prize – to be awarded annually to great thinkers and leaders of Peace. Let us pray our innovations produce goodness and leave the world, our world, a better place for all the generations who will follow.
HOORAY FOR THE UNDERDOG: 82 Players who made it to the NHL Undrafted!
By Lesley Manchester
Written February 13, 2013
There are 82 guys playing across the board in the NHL teams who were undrafted. This just shows that the draft system is not perfect. These players still made it even when they were missed by the scouts and the owners at the Draft Selection free-for-all.
Good on those guys who make it through undrafted! Every player like that deserves a pat on the back because it shows that there are rewards for hard work and determination. They are everywhere this NHL season. What do all these players have in common? They went undrafted and still somehow found their way to the NHL. In total, there are 82 undrafted players current on NHL rosters. That represents about 12 per cent of the league.
How did these guys do it? Why did they not get the tap, the nod and the call from the team buyers? Were they late bloomers or not ‘on’ and showing their ability in the numbers or not ‘on the ice’ when the scouts were present? How did they get missed? This is a good question and it is one on the mind of the parents of the thousands of kids who are playing in the midgets, minors and Junior leagues. Indeed, I have seen the tiny Timbit brigade of sweet, awkward five and six year olds slipping and tripping and skating on bent ankles trying valiantly to guide that puck into a net against odds and expectations. Then, there is the ‘natural’ who can handle the stick and cover the ice and make the goal, even at such a young age. I have seen teamwork by the ‘natural’ whose best friend is on his ‘six’ and they pass the puck effortlessly between them to make the score for the team even at this young unbroken, untutored and gentle time of unspoken, brotherly camaraderie. Their talent shines and their love of the game is pure Canadian and sweet as maple syrup.
We can analyze the numbers and cross-check the stats. First round draft picks have a 63 per cent chance of having a career in the NHL. Second round draft picks have a 25 per cent chance while third round picks or later have about a 12 per cent chance of playing in the big league. The probability is highest if a prospect is drafted in the first round however, being drafted in the first round does not guarantee they will have a career in the NHL. There have been number 1 round picks that have blown-up, such as Montreal’s Doug Wickenheiser and Ottawa’s Alexander Daigle. It would be interesting to check the longitudinal records back over the last ten, twenty and thirty years to see if the number of first round picks who are successful has changed over the history of the NHL? I know many parent’s of the next generation of NHL hopefuls who would like the answers to this one.
The Centre for Hockey Excellence
By Lesley Manchester
Written March 17, 2013
http://mapleleafs.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=61189
Do you love ice sports and skating? You will love the Centre for Hockey Excellence! This is a state-of-the-art facility housing three NHL rinks and one Olympic size rink which is just eight minutes west of Etobicoke’s upcoming condominium towers. The historic Toronto waterfront will be an unparalleled destination location for the next generation who enjoy lake side living in Toronto.
Do you want ice time? These rinks are 4.8 kilometres west of the newest condominium development to grace the Toronto water-front. Drive along the beautiful Lakeshore Boulevard on Lakeshore West a mere eight minutes then turn north on Kipling Avenue and you have arrived at the Centre for Hockey Excellence.
You are in great company here! This is the home of Hockey Canada, the NHL Alumni Association, and houses the Hockey Hall of Fame archives. This is the official location of the team practice for our beloved NHL Toronto Maple Leafs, our Toronto OHL Juniors The Marlies and warm-up ice for visiting teams on their away games. You are welcome to lace up your skates and take to the ice yourself on Public Skate Days made available year-round.
Through May until August, everyone is welcome to skate on Sunday afternoons and during the winter, September through to March, pencil in some time on Saturday afternoons to warm up your legs and practice your spins. There are Leaf Hockey Camps for your youngsters and aspiring next generation hockey greats or the guys can rent ice time for your own house league practice games. Sign up for a clinic run by the Maple Leafs.
This is not only a state-of-the-art arena, it is a place filled with people who believe in their community, support their neighbours and helped green the environment surrounding their building by planting the trees themselves. The guys on the team make time to put smiles on children’s faces by going to visit children at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. The staff here organized a support kitchen to serve up hot meals for local people in difficult circumstances. This is an organization filled with folks who give back with pride to their community.
What an amazing neighbourhood to belong to as a Lakeside home-owner and a member of our community!
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