00:00:01 Lockheed Electronics and its nearly 2,000 New Jersey employees are pleased to present this Science Screen Report

00:00:10 with the hope that it will lead to increased understanding and appreciation of science and technology in our world today.

00:00:30 1880, Thomas Edison patents the electric light.

00:00:56 Developed in his invention factory in Menlo Park, New Jersey, paving the way to the practical use of electric power.

00:01:06 1906, the Wright brothers patent their designs for a heavier-than-air flying machine, initiating the age of powered flight.

00:01:21 1914, Robert H. Goddard patents his plans for rockets employing both solid and liquid fuels, introducing a method of reaching extreme altitudes.

00:01:33 Much of the history of the United States resulted from fostering its people's efforts at invention, innovation, and imagination.

00:01:46 In particular, history records numerous individuals of vision, many of minority origins, whose ideas and discoveries,

00:01:54 recorded by the United States patent system, have improved the quality of life.

00:02:00 This program is an introduction to a few of these people.

00:02:08 Established by Congress and written into the Constitution, the United States patent system was set up to protect inventors

00:02:28 by excluding others from making, using, or selling their inventions.

00:02:33 The public file of patents, now including over four and a half million, protects both inventors and business investors from exploitation,

00:02:41 and so promotes the development of their ideas.

00:02:45 Among these many patents are those by minority inventors which have significantly advanced our nation's technology, providing both new jobs and business growth.

00:02:56 Lewis Howard Latimer was born in 1848.

00:03:00 His father was a runaway slave who managed to obtain his freedom and live in the Boston area.

00:03:06 Latimer, a self-taught draftsman, learned his trade while working as a clerk in a patent attorney's office.

00:03:12 Eventually, he was promoted to chief draftsman.

00:03:18 Around this time, Alexander Graham Bell hired Latimer to prepare diagrams of various patent applications.

00:03:25 Few are aware of Latimer's contributions to the field of electricity.

00:03:30 He invented and received a patent in 1882 for an improved carbon filament to replace Edison's filament for the electric lamp.

00:03:40 In 1918, he became a charter member of the Edison Pioneers, an exclusive association of scientists, technicians, and inventors who worked closely with Edison.

00:03:56 Granville T. Woods was an exceptional inventor from Indiana.

00:04:00 He holds 60 patents related to the railroad industry.

00:04:04 His patents include a steam boiler furnace, a telephone transmitter, automatic air brakes to slow or stop trains, and overhead wires used by cable cars and street cars.

00:04:23 He also created over a dozen devices to improve electric railway cars.

00:04:29 Granville Woods' most noted invention is the third rail system, the power source used to keep the trains running.

00:04:36 This is the same system used in subways today.

00:04:47 George Washington Carver was born to slave parents at Diamond Grove, Missouri, in 1864, but was freed during infancy.

00:04:56 He is known for his experiments in plant chemistry and agriculture.

00:05:00 He developed 300 products from peanuts, 118 from sweet potatoes, and 60 from pecans.

00:05:09 Dr. Carver also holds three patents for processing paints and stains of superior color and sheen, and for producing cosmetics.

00:05:18 He developed such products as bleach, shaving soap, lanolin, paper, and ink.

00:05:24 Dr. Carver dedicated his life to his experiments and studies at a school which is now the Tuskegee Institute at Tuskegee, Alabama.

00:05:35 Garrett A. Morgan designed and patented the traffic signal, a mechanically controlled apparatus that raised and lowered stop and go signals at regular intervals.

00:05:45 Electric lamps illuminated the signals.

00:05:48 The same principle, much developed, is used in the modern traffic light, an invention that affects people's lives around the world every day.

00:06:00 Garrett Morgan is also known for his gas inhalator, or gas mask.

00:06:05 Various kinds of noxious gases were used in World War I.

00:06:10 His gas mask, used in trench warfare, saved thousands of lives.

00:06:18 At the start of World War II, Charles Drew, a young doctor from Washington, D.C., was experimenting with ways to preserve blood.

00:06:27 Dr. Drew both researched and developed a revolutionary process for separating the plasma, the liquid part of the blood, from the rest of the blood.

00:06:36 And storing it for later use.

00:06:39 Working with the British, Dr. Drew helped establish mobile units which provided plasma and emergency aid to those at the front.

00:06:47 After World War II, Dr. Drew was appointed the first medical director of the American Red Cross Blood Bank.

00:06:55 As high technology advances, minority inventors continue to play a significant role in science, engineering, and medicine.

00:07:04 Phillip B. Stevens, a member of the Oglala Sioux Indian tribes, and a kid from the wrong side of the tracks, as he describes himself, has made major contributions to high tech.

00:07:16 Mr. Stevens' first patents focused on rocket propulsion.

00:07:20 After World War II, ways were found to steer liquid-fueled rockets, such as this space shuttle engine, by swinging or vectoring.

00:07:29 What was needed was a way to similarly control the thrust vector from a solid-fuel rocket system.

00:07:36 Mr. Stevens' invention permitted solid rocket motors to similarly deflect their thrust vectors, to be steered in the same way as a liquid-fuel engine.

00:07:48 His invention was utilized in the mini-bombs.

00:07:52 Subsequently, Mr. Stevens formed his own company, Ultra Systems, which now employs 1,300 people.

00:08:00 He was a pioneer in the field of nuclear propulsion.

00:08:04 His invention was utilized in the Minuteman I, II, and III intercontinental ballistic missiles.

00:08:15 Subsequently, Mr. Stevens formed his own company, Ultra Systems, which now employs 1,300 people.

00:08:24 This proposed advanced wood-fired power plant, which uses waste wood materials to generate electricity,

00:08:32 is one of its several projects in the fields of energy and safety aimed at helping society.

00:08:41 An idea from the 1950s, microencapsulation has been enhanced and patented by Robert Bayless, president of Capsulated Systems.

00:08:51 Its first use was in carbonous paper, a smearless form of carbon paper.

00:08:57 Microencapsulation involves mixing two different substances, like oil and water.

00:09:03 Typically, when oil mixes with water, the oil forms a suspension of tiny droplets.

00:09:09 But if a polymer, such as polyvinyl alcohol, is introduced, it surrounds the oil droplets and forms protective shells,

00:09:17 which are hardened by chemical treatment.

00:09:20 When water is drained off, a powdery residue is left, microencapsulated droplets of oil.

00:09:29 Applications of this process include indicator paper, whose sensitive microcapsules turn it blue if water is present.

00:09:38 A chemical locking device for nuts and bolts, an epoxy which reacts with a carrying agent,

00:09:46 so they can't be easily separated after 24 hours.

00:09:57 Microencapsulated dyes in the form of powders can be used to produce inks and other coloring agents.

00:10:06 Isidore Martinez-Martinez, after working in missile design,

00:10:12 turned to medical work designing semi-permanent implants for victims of arthritis.

00:10:18 His new device minimizes removal of bone and provides the same five types of movement as the original knee joint.

00:10:27 The design involves linked structural members, which form the completely assembled device.

00:10:33 Test implantations in primates at Tulane University Medical School held up for five years

00:10:40 and reproduced every original function, even letting them hang upside down and climb trees.

00:10:47 Dr. Meredith Charles Gordine, president of Energy Innovators, holds over 50 patents worldwide

00:10:53 and despite recent vision problems, he continues his research.

00:11:01 Dr. Gordine went to Cornell University to study engineering physics,

00:11:06 where he was able to develop a new device that could be used to make implants.

00:11:12 Dr. Gordine went to Cornell University to study engineering physics,

00:11:17 but was also outstanding in track and field.

00:11:21 He became team captain and All-American in intermediate hurdles, low hurdles, and broad jump.

00:11:28 In the 1952 Olympics, he took the silver medal, missing the gold by four centimeters.

00:11:34 He found the Olympics a very fulfilling experience that made science his career.

00:11:41 One of Dr. Gordine's newest inventions is a response to the fogging in of airports.

00:11:47 The cost of diverting flights to other airports is about $300 million a year.

00:11:53 A way to clear off the fog would obviously lead to great savings.

00:11:59 Dr. Gordine's patent is a fog dispersal system for airport runways.

00:12:04 Small units line the sides of the runway about an eighth of a mile apart.

00:12:10 Each box holds a generator that shoots compressed air about 300 feet into the fog.

00:12:16 The air, charged with negative ions, mixes with the neutral fog particles, charging them.

00:12:23 The charged fog particles are then attracted to the positively charged ions on the earth.

00:12:29 Essentially, it rains, clearing the air of fog, allowing the pilot to take off and land safely.

00:12:37 For 200 years, the patent office has helped American inventors pursue their dreams until they became amazing realities.

00:12:45 Abraham Lincoln, himself a patent lawyer for many years, commented,

00:12:49 the patent system added the fuel of interest to the fire of genius.

00:12:56 In years to come, all segments of society will doubtless continue to contribute ideas aimed at improving our way of life.

00:13:04 Alexander Graham Bell defined an inventor as a person who wants to improve whatever he sees, who wants to benefit the world.

00:13:13 The new discoveries will provide new jobs and make existing ones easier, save lives and reduce human suffering,

00:13:21 and in some instances, alter the course of history.

00:13:27 This edition of the Science Screen Report has been brought to you by Lockheed Electronics and its nearly 2,000 New Jersey employees.