Lesson 3

Inventors

Task 1. Answer the question. Can you name an inventor? What did he/she invent?

Task 2. Look at the photos of famous inventors. Work with a partner to discuss the following.

1. What do you know about the people in the photos on this page?

2. What did they invent?

1. Alexander Fleming		2. Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen
		5. Albert Einstein
3. Henry Ford	4. Thomas Edison

a. Penicillin	b. Theory of relativity	c. Incandescent electric lamp
d. X-Rays	e. Model T automobile

Task 3. Watch the video “X-rays” and read the text “Who invented the X-ray?’ and answer the questions.

1. When were X-rays invented?

2. How does an X-ray work?

3. What does the X-Ray machine consist of?

4. What does an X-ray image show?

5. Why are X-rays important?

Who invented the X-ray?

Have you ever had an X-ray taken? X-rays are used to analyze problems with bones, teeth and organs in the human body; to detect cracks in metal in industry; and even at airports for luggage inspection. Yet, despite their versatility, the invention of the X-ray wasn't intentional. The scientific and medical community will forever be indebted to an accidental discovery made by German physicist Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen in 1895.

While experimenting with electrical currents through glass cathode-ray tubes, Röntgen discovered that a piece of barium platinocyanide glowed even though the tube was encased in thick black cardboard and was across the room. He theorized that some kind of radiation must be traveling in the space. Röntgen didn't fully understand his discovery so he dubbed it X-radiation for its unexplained nature.

To test his newfound theory, Röntgen enlisted the help of his wife for his first X-ray photos and captured images of the bones in her hand and her wedding ring in what would become known as the first röntgenogram. He discovered that when emitted in complete darkness, X-rays passed through objects of varying density, rendering the flesh and muscle of his wife's hand mostly transparent. The denser bones and the ring left behind a shadow on a special photographic plate covered in barium platinocyanide. The term X-radiation or X-ray stuck although it is still sometimes referred to as the Röntgen ray in German-speaking countries.

Röntgen's discovery garnered much attention in the scientific community and with the public. He gave his first public lecture on X-rays in January 1896 and showed the rays' ability to photograph the bones within living flesh. A few weeks later in Canada, an X-ray was used to find a bullet in a patient's leg.

Honorary degrees, medals, streets named in his honor and memberships to academic societies all followed. The recognition peaked with the awarding of the first Nobel Prize for physics in 1901. Röntgen deliberately didn't patent his discovery, feeling that scientific advances belonged to the world and should not be for profit.

Task 4. Watch the video “Thomas Edison Biography” and make up 3 questions to the listening text. Ask your partner to answer them.

Task 5. Complete the table with appropriate forms of words.

VERB	NOUN (thing)	NOUN (person)	ADJECTIVE
develop		developer
	design		-
invent		inventor
		use	usable
	innovation
create
patent		patentee

Task 6. Discuss the following statements.

1. There's a saying that genius is 10 percent inspiration and 90 percent perspiration. What does that saying mean, and do you agree with it? Why or why not?

2. What can an inventor do to make it easier for him or her to come up with ideas?

3. Inventors often patent their inventions. What does it mean to patent an invention? In what way does patenting protect an inventor?

Task 7. Read the text and decide if the following statements are true or false.

1. You can potentially patent any idea that is novel, nonobvious, and useful.

2. You can patent a species of mouse that you find running around your laboratory.

3. You cannot patent a genetically engineered mouse that you designed for use in cancer research

4. You cannot patent a combination of bacteria with beneficial properties if that combination occurs somewhere in nature.

5. You can patent a species of bacteria that you genetically alter to solve a common problem if that form does not occur naturally.

6. You can patent computer software.