At London's Science Museum Hidden Heroes: The Genius of Everyday Things takes 36 commonly used items and asks who invented them, what inspired them, when, why, and how? Some of the items we just can't live without range from tea bags to coffee filters, zips, snap fasteners and coat hangers, pencils, ball point pens, rubber bands and paper clips as well as tin cans, barcodes and the timeless children's toy LEGO. Furthermore, we must not forget the humble egg box, condoms, rawl plugs, light bulbs, cat's eye reflectors, and many more.
The inventions showcased in Hidden Heroes are supplemented by original materials such as sketches and drawings made by their inventors together with original advertisements and patent specifications. Many of the exhibits are accompanied by video presentations, some humorous, showing the process of production from conception to completion.
Hidden Heroes is curated by Dr Susan Mossman, Materials Science Specialist, and Dr Helen Peavitt, Curator of Consumer Technology, both of the Science Museum. The installation has been created by the Vitra Design Museum, Germany, in co-operation with Hi-Cone.
Hidden Heroes: The Genius of Everyday Things – Highlights of the Exhibition
What everyday item you can think of that is one of the most frequently used and rarely thought about? Take the zip, for example: how does it work? The secret lies with the slider and the design of the teeth. When the slider is pulled up the teeth are alternatively pushed together and locked in position. When the slider is pulled down the teeth are lifted slightly forward and released, thus opening the zip. In 1851 Elias Howe received a patent for an 'Automatic, Continuous Clothing Closure.' However, he did not market the device and it was subsequently developed by Gideon Sundbäck, a Swedish electrical engineer, who spent several years researching and perfecting the technique.
Another significant, but also taken for granted invention, is the rubber band. Invented in the mid-19th century, and little changed since that time, the rubber band was the result of experiments by Thomas Hancock in England and Charles Goodyear in America. Both discovered, through the technique known as ″vulcanisation″ that heating rubber with sulphur changed the sticky, unstable, raw material into a stretchy product with numerous uses. Hancock patented the process of vulcanisation on 21st November 1843. The first rubber band, developed by Steve Perry, one of Hancock's licensees, was patented on 17th March 1845 and remains mostly unchanged. The exhibition features an early advertisement.
Perhaps, the most important invention is the barcode (also bar code). Where would we be without it? The barcode tells supermarkets and stores what we buy and where we shop. It can even provide evidence as to where we were on a particular date! The first barcode was introduced in America back in 1973 by IBM. It appeared in Europe in 1976. Norman J. Woodland is considered to be the inventor of the barcode, which he patented in 1952.
Last, but not least, where would the ever-patient parent be without that box of LEGO bricks? The Danish inventor, Ole Kirk Christiansen, named his company LEGO in 1934. The brand name comes from two Danish words, leg godt, meaning 'play well'. Originally Christiansen made traditional wooden toys, but in 1947 he purchased the first injection-moulding machine to be used in Denmark and the first LEGO brick appeared two years later. The brick was perfected over several years, taking its current form in 1958. Like the rubber band, it remains virtually unchanged to this day.
Hidden Heroes: The Genius of Everyday Things will be on show at the Science Museum until 5th June 2012. Further information and tickets are available from the Science Museum.
Sources:
- Science Museum, London, (accessed 8th November 2011).
- Hidden Heroes (accessed 8th November 2011).
Frances Spiegel - Frances Spiegel, B.A. Hons. (Open)., Dip.Eur.Hum., read Art History/European Modern History at the Open University.
