Greatest British Inventions: Part One Quiz

Answer: Isaac Newton

Before the reflecting telescope was the refracting telescope, which had limitations. Refracting telescopes use lenses to gather light, reflecting telescopes use mirrors. Mirrors do not cause chromatic aberration. Reflecting telescopes are cheaper and less unwieldy than their longer counterparts.

Reflecting telescopes became more common over the past 100 years and, some argue are more powerful in any case. At the time this quiz was written, the world's largest reflecting telescope had a mirror of 10.4 metres diameter, but others of up to 39 metres were under planning.

Answer: Serving a jail term

Sometime between 1770 and 1778, Addis was in jail for causing a riot. At that time it struck him that the existing method of cleaning teeth with a rag and soot was ineffective and he came up with an alternative.

While in prison he began to work on his toothbrush invention. After drilling small holes in a cattle bone, he tied pig flesh fibres into bunches and passed them through the holes where they were glued together,

The company he founded, Wisdom, was still going strong well into the 21st Century.

Answer: Jethro Tull

Tull's seed drill is often said to be the machine that sparked the Agricultural Revolution. It enabled farmers to sow seed consistently at an exact depth and then cover it with soil.

Answer: Thomas Savery

Savery's invention was designed to pump water out of deep coalmines. This design boiled water that turned into steam, thus causing a vacuum and drawing water into pipes. It worked, but not very efficiently. Early boilers also had a tendency to explode.

In 1712, Thomas Newcomen came up with the first practical and reliable steam engine. It, too, was designed to pump water from mines and remained in use for about 50 years.

Answer: Tin can

Durand sold his patent in 1812 to Bryan Donkin, John Gamble and John Hall for £1,000, a lot of money in those days. From this patent the modern canning process developed.

The first factory was set up in London and by 1813 the company was supplying canned food to the Royal Navy. Cans were initially made from steel or iron which were plated with tin for its preservative qualities. It became common to refer to a "tin" of the foodstuff. That description is still used today.

Answer: Self-propelled torpedo

Whitehead's torpedo was designed to run underwater powered by compressed air. He demonstrated it in 1866 to the Austrian navy. Austria is a landlocked country, of course, but in the 19th Century the Austro-Hungarian Empire spread far and wide and was involved in many conflicts.

It took just 12 years for the self-propelled torpedo to show its value. In 1878 the first ship to be sunk by a self-propelled torpedo was a Turkish steamer, Intibah, during the Russo-Turkish War.

Pedants please note the careful use of the description "self-propelled torpedo".

Answer: Vacuum flask

Known initially as the Dewer flask, it is often known generically as a Thermos. The concept is that a vacuum between two internal walls keeps hot things hot and cold things cold. This quiz author finds the flask handy for carrying a choc ice and black coffee together.

Answer: Hovercraft

Cockerell and his team developed a craft that could travel on land or over water. Columns of air blown downwards and retained by a 'skirt' enabled the body of the craft to rise above the surface.

Hovercraft were used for carrying passengers across stretches of water, among them the links between England and France across the English Channel. In military use, they carried troops during landings from the sea.

Answer: Turbojet engine

In 1921, Maxime Guillaume submitted the first patent for a similar engine. However, it was not technically feasible and the patent was not awarded. In 1932 a patent was awarded to Whittle and his first working engine was developed in 1937.

In Germany in 1936, Hans von Ohain took out a patent for an engine that used the exhaust from a gas turbine for power. The first jet, the Heinkel HeS 1, flew in August in 1937. Von Ohain later admitted his design was developed from Whittle's patent.

The first British aircraft based on Whittle's patent, the Gloster E28/39, flew in May 1941.

Answer: Robert William Thomson

Red herring time, I confess: the first practical pneumatic tyre was the idea of John Boyd Dunlop in 1888, but Thomson got the first patent, in 1847.

Before the pneumatic tyre, wheels were solid, often made from wood. The pneumatic tyre, a thin tube filled with air inside a thick rubber outer, offered more comfort. In modern tyres, the rubber tube is no longer used.