a Scottish landowner known as a mathematician, physicist, and astronomer. John Napier is best known as the discoverer of logarithms. He also invented the so-called "Napier's bones" and made common the use of the decimal point in arithmetic and mathematics. Napier made further contributions. He improved more

a Scottish landowner known as a mathematician, physicist, and astronomer. John Napier is best known as the discoverer of logarithms. He also invented the so-called "Napier's bones" and made common the use of the decimal point in arithmetic and mathematics. Napier made further contributions. He improved Simon Stevin's decimal notation. Lattice multiplication, used by Fibonacci, was made more convenient by his introduction of Napier's bones, a multiplication tool using a set of numbered rods.

a Russian scientist, military engineer, inventor and sculptor. He was a personal craftsman of Peter I of Russia, and later a member of the Russian Academy of Science. In 1718 Nartov invented what might have been the first lathe with a mechanical cutting tool-supporting carriage and a set of gears (also known as a compound rest or slide rest). Among other inv...

a Russian scientist, military engineer, inventor and sculptor. He was a personal craftsman of Peter I of Russia, and later a member of the Russian Academy of Science. In 1718 Nartov invented what might have been the first lathe with a mechanical cutting tool-supporting carriage and a set of gears (also known as a compound rest or slide rest). Among other inventions of Nartov are such things as a unique fast-fire battery on a rotating disc, a screw mechanism for changing the artillery fire angle, a gauge-boring lathe for cannon-making and an early telescopic sight.

a Scottish engineer, artist and inventor famous for his development of the steam hammer. He was the co-founder of Nasmyth, Gaskell and Company manufacturers of machine tools. He retired at the age of 48, and moved to Penshurst, Kent where he developed his hobbies of astronomy and photography. Nasmyth patented his steam hammer design in June 1842, and built h...

a Scottish engineer, artist and inventor famous for his development of the steam hammer. He was the co-founder of Nasmyth, Gaskell and Company manufacturers of machine tools. He retired at the age of 48, and moved to Penshurst, Kent where he developed his hobbies of astronomy and photography. Nasmyth patented his steam hammer design in June 1842, and built his first steam hammer later that year in his Patricroft foundry in Manchester, England, adjacent to the (then new) Liverpool and Manchester Railway and the Bridgewater Canal. In 1843 a dispute broke out between the two engineers over priority of invention of the steam hammer.

an American blacksmith born in 1780 in Chesterfield Township, New Jersey. On June 26, 1797, Newbold received the first patent for a cast-iron plow. However, he was unable to sell his plow because many farmers feared that the iron in it would poison the soil. On 1 April 1807, inventor David Peacock was issued a patent for a three-piece iron plow (Newbold's pl...

an American blacksmith born in 1780 in Chesterfield Township, New Jersey. On June 26, 1797, Newbold received the first patent for a cast-iron plow. However, he was unable to sell his plow because many farmers feared that the iron in it would poison the soil. On 1 April 1807, inventor David Peacock was issued a patent for a three-piece iron plow (Newbold's plow was cast in one piece). Newbold then sued Peacock for patent infringement and won $1500.

an English inventor who created the first practical steam engine in 1712, the Newcomen atmospheric engine. He was an ironmonger by trade and a Baptist lay preacher by calling. He was born in Dartmouth, Devon, England, to a merchant family and baptised at St. Saviour's Church on 24 February 1664. In those days flooding in coal and tin mines was a major proble...

an English inventor who created the first practical steam engine in 1712, the Newcomen atmospheric engine. He was an ironmonger by trade and a Baptist lay preacher by calling. He was born in Dartmouth, Devon, England, to a merchant family and baptised at St. Saviour's Church on 24 February 1664. In those days flooding in coal and tin mines was a major problem, and Newcomen was soon engaged in trying to improve ways to pump out the water from such mines. His ironmonger's business specialised in designing, manufacturing and selling tools for the mining industry.

an English physicist and mathematician (described in his own day as a "natural philosopher") who is widely recognised as one of the most influential scientists of all time and as a key figure in the scientific revolution. His book Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica ("Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy"), first published in 1687, l...

an English physicist and mathematician (described in his own day as a "natural philosopher") who is widely recognised as one of the most influential scientists of all time and as a key figure in the scientific revolution. His book Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica ("Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy"), first published in 1687, laid the foundations for classical mechanics. Newton made seminal contributions to optics, and he shares credit with Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz for the development of calculus.

a French inventor, now usually credited as the inventor of photography and a pioneer in that field. Niépce developed heliography, a technique he used to create the world's oldest surviving product of a photographic process: a print made from a photoengraved printing plate in 1825. In 1826 or 1827, he used a primitive camera to produce the oldest surviving p...

a French inventor, now usually credited as the inventor of photography and a pioneer in that field. Niépce developed heliography, a technique he used to create the world's oldest surviving product of a photographic process: a print made from a photoengraved printing plate in 1825. In 1826 or 1827, he used a primitive camera to produce the oldest surviving photograph of a real-world scene. Among Niépce's other inventions was the Pyréolophore, the world's first internal combustion engine, which he conceived, created, and developed with his older brother Claude.

a French clergyman and physicist. He joined the Royal Society of London in 1734 and later became the first professor of experimental physics at the University of Paris. He is reputed to have given the name to the Leyden jar after it was invented by Pieter van Musschenbroek. In 1748 he discovered the phenomenon of osmosis in natural membranes. In 1750 Nollet ...

a French clergyman and physicist. He joined the Royal Society of London in 1734 and later became the first professor of experimental physics at the University of Paris. He is reputed to have given the name to the Leyden jar after it was invented by Pieter van Musschenbroek. In 1748 he discovered the phenomenon of osmosis in natural membranes. In 1750 Nollet made some advances on electrospray.

a Middletown, Connecticut, gun manufacturer, who developed one of America's first milling machines (possibly the very first) in 1818 and played an important role in the development of interchangeable parts manufacturing. North is now generally credited with the invention of the milling machine, the first entirely new type of machine invented in America and o...

a Middletown, Connecticut, gun manufacturer, who developed one of America's first milling machines (possibly the very first) in 1818 and played an important role in the development of interchangeable parts manufacturing. North is now generally credited with the invention of the milling machine, the first entirely new type of machine invented in America and one which, by replacing filing, made the production of interchangeable parts practicable.