The 10 Greatest Inventors in the Modern Era

#10 Francis H. Richards (October 20th, 1850 died unknown, American)

894 patents filed. Born in 1850 in Connecticut, Richards had the choice of attending a technical college or of learning to become a machinist. He went the machinist route and began working under the supervision of his father, also an accomplished inventor. Notable works include the Richards Envelope Machine, which prints, folds, gums, counts, and bands 80,000 letters envelopes per day.

#9 Melvin De Groote (1896 1963, American)

925 patents filed.

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De Groote was born in 1895 and worked as a flavorings expert at the Mellon Institute. He was rumored to have been hired by Coca Cola to re-formulate its taste after they removed the alcoholic ingredients that were made illegal under Prohibition. Notable inventions include de-emulsifying agents that separate crude oil from salt, sulfur and water. Without them, most of the oil pumped in the US for the last century would have been too corrosive for pipelines or tankers to transport.

#8 Leonard Forbes (born 1940, Canadian)

948 patents filed until 2009. Forbes was born in 1940 and has lived quite an academic life - he's taught at University of California at Davis, University of Arkansas Fayetteville, Portland State University, and Oregon State. Notable work includes a method for stacking semiconductors in a wafer for increased performance.

#7 John F. O'Connor (1864 December 24th, 1951, American)

949 patents filed. O'Connor was born in 1864, but almost nothing is known of his life. His notable invention is railway draft gearing, the system used to connect a railroad locomotive to its frame.

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#6 Donald Weder (born 1947, American)

951 patents filed until 2009. Born in 1947, Weder is still active today, having been president of floral company Highland Supply Corporation since 1977. Weder's patents are all related to the floristry industry. He created various ways to wrap flowers and flower pots, and different materials to use for doing so.

#5 Paul Lapstun (20th century, Australian)

969 patents filed. Paul Lapstun is an Australian inventor with a number of patents in the technology field. He notably invented a system that lets someone send an email to another person only if they have that person's business card.

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#4 George Albert Lyon (1882 1961, American)

993 patents filed. George Lyon was born in 1882. During his life he was known for his love of fishing, his chess skills, and his impressive aim with a slingshot. He invented the automobile bumper, saving lives and minimizing damage.

#3 Thomas Alva Edison (February 11th, 1847 October 18th, 1931)

1,084 patents filed. One of the more notable inventors in American history, Edison lived from 1847 to 1931 and earned the nickname "The Wizard of Menlo Park." He famously invented the light bulb, the phonograph, and an improved typewriter that perforated paper.

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#2 Shunpei Yamazaki (born 1942, Japanese)

2,061 patents filed until 2008. Born in 1942, Japanese inventor and physicist Yamazaki passed Edison as the most prolific inventor on June 17, 2003. His notable work is the thin-film transistor (pictured). It's a special kind of transistor made by depositing thin films of a semiconductor over a piece of glass, and it's how LCD displays work.

#1 Kia Silverbrook (born 1958, Australian)

3,847 patents filed until 2009. Silverbrook was born in 1958 and hasn't stopped inventing since. He holds patents in a diverse set of fields, from digital music synthesis to mechanical engineering. Silverbrook notably invented Memjet, a high-speed color printing technology. When Silverbrook first announced the technology in 2007, it was so advanced that many thought it was a hoax.

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