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The Greatest Invention of All Time ?

General

Industrial Research Laboratory

The first industrial research laboratory began working in New Jersey in 1876 created by the “wizard of Menlo Park,” Thomas Alva Edison, Menlo Park was the world’s first industrial research lab or “invention factory” as Edison would call it. With so many copies of Edison’s invention, the industrial research lab became possibly the greatest invention of all time. Many of the greatest inventions of the 20th century originated in industrial research labs.

In creating the first industrial research lab, Thomas Edison became the father of modern technology.

The lab created over 400 US patents. Two experimenters and 3 machinists worked there initially, the peaked to over 50 employees in 1880. The light bulb filament and the phonograph were the 2 most famous inventions from Menlo Park. Edison moved from Menlo Park in 1882 to West Orange, New Jersey, a larger facility. The West Orange lab would evolve into General Electric Research Laboratory, founded by Thomas Edison, Willis R. Whitney, and Charles Steinmetz in 1900. Notable inventions from the GE research lab: electric fan, tungsten light bulb filament, gas filled light bulb, portable x-ray machine, commercial television, first US jet engine, first auto pilot system, solid state laser, computed tomography scanner, MRI system.

The industrial research lab is arguably the greatest invention of all time by one of the world’s greatest inventors.

Surpassed by Bell laboratories as the premier research facility in the world, notable inventions from Bell labs include: transistor, radio astronomy, electron diffraction (solid state electronics), photovoltaic cell, calculators, transatlantic telephone cable, MOSFET -metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor, carbon dioxide laser, UNIX computer operating system, CCD-charge coupled device, C and C++ computer programming languages.

By 2020, over 6000 industrial research labs exist in the US alone.

The Menlo Park lab was so successful that many similar labs rapidly developed. Currently, world wide, 3000 research centers in energy, 5500 research centers in materials, 4500 labs in engineering including 4000 research labs in the United Kingdom (LJ Anthony 1988). According to JAMA the National Research Council list in 1941, 2264 industrial research labs were present in the United States.

The industrial research lab is not on my list of the 100 Greatest Inventions of All Time for three reasons:

1) the industrial research lab does not categorize in the technology classes of data, energy, machines, material, and biotechnology,

2) the industrial research lab creates inventions more than being an invention in and of itself.

3) no patent exists for a research lab. That is, the research lab is not patent able.

National Laboratories

Government laboratories receive funds by taxes without profit as a primary goal. Inventions which have come from national laboratories:

Human Genome Project

NASA and the moon landing

Advanced Superconducting

internet (began as a US Department of Defense project)

nuclear medicine initiatives

Manhattan project which built the fission bomb

22 elements originated in National Labs