This is a list of inventors.
See also: list of scientists, List of inventions named after people, timeline of invention, inventor, and Category:Inventors.
Alphabetical list
A
- Al-Jazari, (12th century), Mesopotamia — Crankshaft
- Archimedes, (c 287 BC-212 BC), Greece — Archimedes screw
- Ami Argand, (1750-1803), France — Argand lamp
- Edwin H. Armstrong,(1890-1954), USA — FM radio
- William George Armstrong, (1810-1900), UK — hydraulic crane
- Joseph Aspdin, (1788-1855), England — Portland cement
- John Vincent Atanasoff, (1903-1995), United States;Bulgaria — modern programmable computer
- Neil Arnott, (1788-1874), UK — waterbed
B
- Charles Babbage, (1791-1871), UK — Analytical engine
- Roger Bacon, (1214-1292), England — magnifying glass
- Leo Baekeland, (1863-1944), Belgian–American — Velox photographic paper and Bakelite
- Ralph H. Baer, (1922-), German born American — video game console
- John Logie Baird, (1888-1946), Uk — an electromechanical television
- Donat Banki, (1859-1922), Hungary — inventor of the carburetor
- John Bardeen, (1908-1991), USA — co-inventor of the transistor
- Anthony R. Barringer Canadian – American — INPUT (Induced Pulse Transient) airborne electromagnetic system
- Earl W. Bascom, (1906-1995), Canada and United States — side-delivery rodeo chute, hornless rodeo saddle, rodeo bareback rigging, rodeo chaps
- Eugen Baumann, (1846-1896), Germany — PVC
- Trevor Baylis, (1937-), UK — a wind-up radio
- Francis Beaufort, (1774-1857), France — Beaufort scale
- Arnold O. Beckman, (1900-2004), USA — pH meter
- Alexander Graham Bell, (1847-1922), Canada — telephone
- Karl Benz, (1844-1929), Germany — the petrol-powered automobile
- Emile Berliner, (1851-1929), Germany and USA — the disc record gramophone
- Tim Berners-Lee, (1955-), UK — with Robert Cailliau, the World Wide Web
- Bi Sheng (Chinese:畢昇), (ca.990-1052), China — clay movable type printing
- Laszlo Biro, (1899-1985), Hungary — modern ballpoint pen
- J. Stuart Blackton, (1875-1941), USA — stop-motion film
- Otto Blathy (1860-1939), Hungary — co-inventor of the transformer, wattmeter, alternating current (AC) and turbogenerator
- Katharine B. Blodgett, (1898-1979), UK — nonreflective glass
- Nils Bohlin, (1920-2002), Sweden — the three-point seat belt
- Joseph-Armand Bombardier, (1907-1964), Canada — snowmobile
- Robert W. Bower, (1936-), USA — self-aligned–gate MOSFET
- Seth Boyden, (1788-1870), USA — nail-making machine
- Walter Houser Brattain, (1902-1987), USA — co-inventor of the transistor
- Louis Braille, (1809-1852), France — the Braille writing system
- Karl Ferdinand Braun, (1850-1918), Germany — cathode-ray tube oscilloscope
- Harry Brearley, (1871-1948), UK — stainless steel
- John Moses Browning, (1855-1926), USA — automatic handgun
- Edwin Beard Budding, (1795-1846), UK — lawnmower
C
- C`ai Lun, (50 AD - 121), China — paper
- Marvin Camras, (1916 - 1995), USA — magnetic recording
- Chester Carlson, (1906-1968), USA — Xerography
- Wallace Carothers, (1896-1937), USA — Nylon
- Adrian Chernoff, (1971-), USA — GM Autonomy, GM Hy-wire, Rubber Bandits
- Niels Christensen (1865- 1952), USA — O-ring
- Samuel Hunter Christie, (1784-1865), UK — Wheatstone bridge
- Christopher Cockerell, (1910-1999), UK — Hovercraft
- Jacques Cousteau, (1910-1997), France — co-inventor of the aqualung and the Nikonos underwater camera
- Aeneas Coffey, (1780-1852), Ireland, heat exchanger, inventor of the Coffey still
- Holger Crafoord, (1908-1982), Sweden — inventor of the artificial kidney
- János Csonka, (1852-1939), Hungary — co-inventor of carburetor
- Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot, (1725-1804), France — automobile
- Juan de la Cierva, (1895-1936), Spain — the autogyro
- William Cullen, (1710-1790), UK — first artificial refrigerator
- Glenn Curtiss, (1878 - 1930), USA — ailerons
- Corliss Orville Burandt, USA — Variable valve timing
- Joseph Constantine Carpue, (1764-1846), France — rhinoplastic surgery
- Joseph Bienaimé Caventou, (1795-1877), France — caffeine, chlorophyll, strychnine
- George Cayley, (1773-1857), (UK) — tension-spoke wheels, Caterpillar track
- Georges Claude, (1870-1960), France — neon lamp
- Josephine Cochrane, (1839-1913), USA — dishwasher
- Cornelis Corneliszoon, (1550-1607), The Netherlands — sawmill
- Bartolomeo Cristofori, (1655-1731), Italy — piano
- William Cumberland Cruikshank, (1745-1800), UK — chlorinated water
D
- Gustaf Dalen, (1869-1937), Sweden — AGA cooker; Dalen Light; Agamassan
- Salvino D'Armate, (?-?), Italy — credited for inventing eyeglasses in 1284
- Joseph Day, (1855-1946), UK — the crankcase compression two stroke engine
- Lee DeForest, (1873-1961), USA — triode
- Sir James Dewar, (1842-1923), UK — Thermos flask
- Miksa Deri (1854-1938), Hungary — co-inventor of transformer
- William Kennedy Laurie Dickson, (1860-1935), UK — motion picture camera
- Rudolf Diesel, (1858-1913), Germany — Diesel engine
- William H. Dobelle, (1943-2004), United States — first functioning artificial eye
- Karl Drais, (1785-1851), Germany — dandy horse (Draisine)
- Cornelius Drebbel, (1572-1633), The Netherlands — first navigable submarine
- Richard Drew, (1899-1980), USA — Masking tape
- Charles Brace Darrow, (1889-1967). USA — Monopoly
- Jacob Davis, (1868-1908), USA — riveted jeans
- Edmund Davy, (1785-1857), Ireland — acetylene
- Humphry Davy, (1778-1829), UK — Davy miners lamp
- Bryan Donkin, (1768-1855), UK — print industry composition roller
- John Boyd Dunlop, (1840-1921) UK — first practical pneumatic tyre
- Karl Drais, (1785-1851), Germany — velocipede
E
- George Eastman, (1854-1932), USA — film-roll
- Thomas Edison, (1847-1931), USA — phonograph, commercially practical light bulb, motion picture projector, stock ticker, etc.
- Willem Einthoven, (1860-1927), The Netherlands — the electrocardiogram
- Douglas Engelbart, (1925-), USA — the computer mouse [1]
- Rune Elmqvist, (1857-1924), Sweden — implantable pacemaker
- John Ericsson, (1803-1889), Sweden — the two screw-propeller
- Lars Magnus Ericsson, (1846-1926), Sweden — the handheld micro telephone
- Ole Evinrude, (1877-1934), Norway — outboard motor
- Tiasha King
F
- Samuel Face, (1923-2001), USA — concrete flatness/levelness technology; Lightning Switch
- Philo Farnsworth, (1906-1971), USA — electronic television
- James Fergason, (1934-), USA — improved liquid crystal display
- Reginald Fessenden, (1866-1932), Canada — two-way radio
- Adolf Eugen Fick, (1829-1901), Germany — contact lens
- Alexander Fleming, (1881-1955), Scotland — penicillin
- Sandford Fleming, (1827-1915), Canada — Universal Standard Time
- John Ambrose Fleming, (1848-1945), England — vacuum diode
- Benjamin Franklin, (1706-1790), USA — the pointed lightning rod conductor, bifocal glasses, the Franklin stove, the glass harmonica
- William Friese-Greene, (1855-1921), England — cinematography
- Buckminster Fuller, (1895-1983), USA — geodesic dome
- Gerhard Fischer, Germany/USA — hand-held metal detector
- Augustin-Jean Fresnel, (1788-1827), France — Fresnel lens
- Jean Bernard Léon Foucault, (1819-1868), France — Foucault pendulum, gyroscope, eddy current
- Benoît Fourneyron, (1802-1867), France — water turbine
- Enrico Fermi, (1901-1954), Italy — nuclear reactor
- Michael Faraday, (1791-1867), England — rubber balloon, electric transformer
G
- Dennis Gabor, (1900-1979), Hungary — holography
- Elmer R. Gates, (1859-1923), foam fire extinguisher, electric loom mechanisms, magnetic & diamagnetic separators, educational toy ("box & blocks")
- William Henry Gates III, (1955-), Windows operating system, chief architect of Visual Basic
- Robert Goddard, (1882-1945), USA — liquid fuel rocket
- Heinrich Göbel, (1818-1893), Germany — first functional incandescent lamp
- Peter Carl Goldmark, (1906-1977), Hungary — vinyl record (LP)
- Gordon Gould, (1920-2005), USA — co-inventor of laser
- Richard Hall Gower, (1768-1833), England — ship's hull and rigging
- Bette Nesmith Graham, (1924-1980), USA — Liquid Paper
- Chester Greenwood, (1858-1937), USA — thermal earmuffs
- James Gregory, (1638-1675), Scotland — reflecting telescope
- William Robert Grove, (1811-1896), Wales — fuel cell
- Otto von Guericke, (1602-1686), Germany — vacuum pump, manometer, dasymeter,
- Johann Gutenberg, (c 1390s-1468), Germany — modern movable type printing press
- Hans Wilhelm Geiger, (1882-1945), Germany — Geiger counter
- Henri Giffard, (1825-1882), France — powered airship, injector
- Charles Goodyear, (1800-1860), USA — vulcanization of rubber
- Samuel Guthrie, (1782 - 1848), USA — discovered chloroform
- James Henry Greathead, (1844-1896), South Africa — tunnel boring machine, tunnelling shield technique
H
- John Hadley, (1682-1744), England — the sextant
- James Hargreaves, (1720-1778), England — invented the spinning jenny
- John Harrison, (1693-1776), England — marine chronometer
- Victor Hasselblad, (1906-1978), Sweden — invented the 6 x 6 cm single-lens reflex camera
- Rudolf Hell, (1901-2002), Germany — the Hellschreiber
- Avram Hershko, (1937-), Hungary — Ubiquitin
- Jozef Karol Hell, (1713-1789), Slovakia — the water pillar
- Joseph Henry, (1797-1898), USA — electromagnetic relay
- George de Hevesy, (1885-1966), Hungary — radioactive tracer
- Erna Schneider Hoover, (1926-), USA — computerized telephone switching system
- Frank Hornby, (1863-1936), England — invented Meccano
- Heron, Greece — invented Aeolipile
- Joseph Hon – book index thumb notch system for dictionaries Patent #561888
- Christopher Hansteen, (1783-1873), Norway — discovery of terrestrial magnetism
- William Harvey, (1578-1657), England — blood circulation in the human body
- Robert A. Heinlein, (1907-1988), USA — waterbed
- Henry J. Heinz, USA — tomato ketchup
- Joseph Henry, (1797-1878), Scotland — electromagnetic relay
- Heinrich Hertz, (1857-1894), Germany — radio telegraphy, electromagnetic radiation
- Rowland Hill, (1795-1879), UK — postage stamp
- Felix Hoffmann (Bayer), (1868-1949), Germany — Aspirin
- Herman Hollerith, (1860-1929), USA — mechanical tabulator based on punched cards
- Nick Holonyak, (1928- ), USA — LED (Light Emitting Diode)
- Robert Hooke, (1635-1703), England — balance wheel, iris diaphragm
- Coenraad Johannes van Houten, (1801-1887), Netherlands — cocoa powder, cacao butter, chocolate milk
- Elias Howe, (1819-1867), USA — sewing machine
- Christiaan Huygens, (1629-1695), Netherlands — pendulum clock
- John Wesley Hyatt, (1837-1920), USA — celluloid manufacturing
I
- János Irinyi, (1817-1895), Hungary — noiseless match
- Sumio Iijima, (1939- ), Japan — nanotubes
J
- Karl Jatho, (1873-1933), Germany — aeroplane
- György Jendrassik, (1898-1954), Hungary — turboprop
- Thomas Jefferson, (1743-1826), USA — swivel chair
- Steve Jobs, (1955-), Macintosh operating system
- Carl Edvard Johansson, (1864-1943), Sweden — Gauge blocks
- Johan Petter Johansson, (1853-1943), Sweden — the pipe wrench and the modern adjustable spanner
- Nancy Johnson, USA — American version of the hand cranked ice cream machine in (1843)
- Scott A. Jones, (1960-), USA — created one of the most successful versions of voicemail as well as ChaCha Search, a human-assisted internet search engine.
- Whitcomb Judson, (1836-1909), USA — zipper
K
- Dean Kamen, (1951-), USA — Invented the Segway HT scooter and the IBOT Mobility Device
- John George Kemeny, (1926-1992), Hungary — co-inventor of BASIC
- Charles F. Kettering, (1876-1958), USA — invented automobile self-starter ignition, Freon ethyl gasoline and more
- Jack Kilby, (1923-2005), USA — patented the first integrated circuit
- Fritz Klatte, (1880-1934), Germany — vinyl chloride, forerunner to polyvinyl chloride
- Margaret Knight, (1838-1914), USA — machine that completely constructs box-bottom brown paper bags
- Ivan Knunyants, (1906-1990), Ukraine — invented Nylon-6
- Willem Johan Kolff, (1911-), Netherlands — artificial kidney hemodialysis machine
- Gleb Kotelnikov, (1872-1944), Russia — knapsack parachute
- Stephanie Kwolek, (1923-), USA — Kevlar
- John Howard Kyan (1774-1850), Ireland — The process of Kyanization used for wood preservation
- Heike Kamerlingh Onnes, (1853-1926), Netherlands — liquify helium
- Theophilus Van Kannel, revolving door (1888)
- John Harvey Kellogg, (1852-1943), cornflake breakfasts
- Robert Koch, (1843-1910), method for culturing bacteria on solid media
- Willem Johan Kolff, Netherlands/USA, (1911- ) — hemodialysis, pioneer in the field of other artificial organs
L
- Hedy Lamarr, (1913-2000), Austria and USA — Spread spectrum radio
- Edwin H. Land, (1909-1991), USA — Polaroid polarizing filters and the Land Camera
- Irving Langmuir, (1851-1957), USA — gas filled incandescent light bulb, hydrogen welding
- Lewis Latimer, (1848-1928), — worked with Thomas Edison and patented an improved lightbulb manufacturing process
- Gustav de Laval, (1845-1913), Sweden — invented the milk separator and the milking machine
- Sergei Vasiljevich Lebedev, (1874-1934), Russia — synthetic rubber
- Tim Berners-Lee, (1955- ) England — World Wide Web
- Justus von Liebig, (1803-1873), Germany — nitrogen-based fertilizer
- Frans Wilhelm Lindqvist, (1862-1931), Sweden — Kerosene stove operated by compressed air
- Archibald Low, (1882-1956), Britain — Pioneer of radio guidance systems
- Giovanni Luppis, (1813-1875), Austrian Empire (ethnical Italian) — self-propelled torpedo
- René Laënnec, (1781-1826), France — stethoscope
- Karl Landsteiner, (1868-1943), Austria — classification of blood groups
- Samuel P. Langley, (1834-1906), USA — bolometer
- John Bennet Lawes, (1814-1900), England — superphosphate or chemical fertilizer
- Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, (1632-1723), Netherlands — development of the microscope, discovery of bacteria, spermatozoa and celled organisms
- Jean-Joseph Etienne Lenoir, (1822-1900), Belgium — internal combustion engine, motorboat
- Willard Frank Libby, (1908-1980), USA — Radiocarbon dating
- Otto Lilienthal, (1848-1896), Germany — air glider
- Hans Lippershey, (1570-1619), Netherlands — telescope
- Auguste and Louis Lumière, France — Cinématographe
M
- Ma Jun, (c. 200-265 AD), China, South Pointing Chariot (for navigation, see differential gear), mechanical puppet theater, chain pumps, improved silk looms
- Charles Macintosh, (1766-1843), Scotland — waterproof raincoat, life vest
- George William Manby, (1765-1854), England — Fire extinguisher
- Guglielmo Marconi, (1874-1937), Italy — radio, transatlantic radiosignals
- John Landis Mason, (1826-1902), USA — Mason jars
- Henry Maudslay, (1771-1831), England — screw-cutting lathe, bench micrometer
- James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879) and Thomas Sutton Scotland — colour photography
- John McAdam, (1756-1836), Scotland — improved "macadam" road surface
- Elijah McCoy, (1843-1929), Canada — Displacement lubricator
- Hippolyte Mège-Mouriés, (1817-1880), France — margarine
- Antonio Meucci, (1808-1889), Italy — telephone (prototype)
- Edouard Michelin, (1859-1940), France — pneumatic tyre
- Narcis Monturiol i Estarriol, (1819-1885), Spain — steam powered submarine
- Robert Moog, (1934-2005), USA — the Moog synthesizer
- Montgolfier brothers, (1740-1810) and (1745-1799), France — hot-air balloon
- John J. Montgomery, (1858-1911), USA — heavier-than-air gliders
- Samuel Morey, (1762-1843), USA — internal combustion engine
- Garrett A. Morgan, (1877-1963), USA — inventor of the gas mask, and traffic signal.
- Samuel Morse, (1791-1872), USA — telegraph
- Jozef Murgas, (1864-1929), Slovakia — inventor of the wireless telegraph (forerunner of the radio)
- William Murdoch, (1754-1839), Scotland — Gas lighting
- Pieter van Musschenbroek, (1692-1761), Netherlands — Leyden jar, pyrometer
N
- Yoshiro Nakamatsu, (1928-), Japan — Floppy disk (world record holder for over 3,000 patented inventions)
- John von Neumann, (1903-1957), Hungary — Von Neumann computer architecture
- Isaac Newton,(1642-1727), England — reflecting telescope (which reduces chromatic aberration)
- Jun-Ichi Nishizawa, (1926-), Japan — Optical communication system, SIT/SITh (Static Induction Transistor/Thyristor), Laser diode, PIN diode
- Alfred Nobel, (1833-1896), Sweden — dynamite
- Carl Rickard Nyberg, (1858-1939), Sweden — the blowtorch
- John Napier, (1550-1617), Scotland — logarithms
- James Nasmyth, (1808-1890), Scotland — steam hammer
- Joseph Nicephore Niépce, (1765-1833), France — photography
O
- Theophil Wilgodt Odhner, (1845-1903), Sweden — the Odhner Arithmometer, a mechanical calculator
- Elisha Otis, (1811-1861), USA — passenger elevator with safety device
- J. Robert Oppenheimer , (1904-1967), USA — the father of the atomic Dome
- Hans Christian Ørsted, (1777-1851), Denmark — electromagnetism, aluminium
P
- Helge Palmcrantz, (1842-1880), Sweden — the multi-barrel, lever-actuated, machine gun
- Les Paul, (1915-), USA — Multitrack recording
- Spede Pasanen, (1930-2001), Finland — The ski jumping sling
- Slavoljub Eduard Penkala, (1871-1922), Croatia — mechanical pencil
- Gustaf Erik Pasch, (1788-1862), Sweden — the safety match
- Arthur Paul Pedrick, England — chromatically selective cat flap and others
- Henry Perky, (1843-1906), USA — Shredded wheat
- Peter Petroff, (1919-2004), Bulgaria — digital wrist watch, heart monitor, weather instruments
- Christopher Polhem, (1661-1751), Sweden — the modern padlock
- Olivia Poole, (1889-1975), USA, — the Jolly Jumper baby harness
- Baltzar von Platen, (1898-1984), Sweden — refrigerator
- Mihajlo Pupin, (1858-1935), Serbia — pupinization (loading coils), tunable oscillator
- Tivadar Puskas, (1844-1893), Hungary — telephone exchange
- Daniel David Palmer, (1845-1913), Canada — Chiropractic
- Luigi Palmieri, (1807-1896), Italy — seismometer
- Alexander Parkes, (1831-1890), England — celluloid
- Blaise Pascal, (1623-1662), France — barometer
- Charles Algernon Parsons, (1854-1931), British — steam turbine
- John Pemberton, (1831-1888), USA — Coca-Cola
- Joseph Plateau, (1801-1883), Belgium — phenakistiscope (stroboscope)
- James Leonard Plimpton, USA — roller skates
- George Pullman, (1831-1897), USA — Pullman sleep wagon
Q
R
- Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, (1845-1923), Germany — the X-ray machine
- Josef Ressel, (1793-1857), Czechoslovakia — ship propeller
- John Roebuck, (1718-1794) England — lead chamber process for sulfuric acid synthesis
- Erno Rubik, (1944-), Hungary — Rubik's cube, Rubik's Magic and Rubik's Clock
- Karl von Reichenbach, (1788-1869), paraffin, creosote oil, phenol
- Ira Remsen, (1646-1927), USA — saccharin
- Charles Francis Richter, (1900-1985), USA — Richter magnitude scale
- Ernst Ruska, (1906-1988), Germany — electron microscope
S
- Hassan Kamel Al-Sabbah, (1895-1935), Lebanon — solar power, cathode ray tube
- Kees A. Schouhamer Immink (1946- ), Netherlands Major contributor to development of Compact Disc
- Augustus Siebe, (1788-1872), Saxony&England Inventor of the standard diving dress
- Alberto Santos-Dumont, (1873-1932), Brazil — non-rigid airship and airplane
- Isidor Sauers, (1948- ), inventor of a process for measuring the degradation of SF6 in high-voltage systems
- Adolphe Sax, (1814-1894), Belgium — saxophone
- Christian Schnabel (1878-1936), German, designed simplistic food cutleries
- August Schrader, USA — Schrader valve for Pneumatic tire
- David Schwarz, (1852-1897), Croatia, — rigid ship, later called Zeppelin
- Bela Schick, (1877-1967), Hungary — diphtheria test
- Iwan Serrurier, (active 1920s), Netherlands/USA — inventor of the Moviola for film editing.
- Mark Serrurier, (190?-1988), USA — Serrurier truss for Optical telescopes
- Shen Kuo (1031-1095), China, improved gnomon, armillary sphere, clepsydra, and sighting tube
- William Bradford Shockley, (1910-1989), USA — co-inventor of transistor
- Werner von Siemens, (1816-1892), Germany — an electromechanical "dynamic"
- Sir William Siemens, (1823-1883), Germany — regenerative furnace
- Igor Sikorsky, (1889-1972), Ukraine — helicopter
- Charles Simonyi, (1948-), Hungary — Hungarian notation
- Aurel Stodola, (1859-1942), Slovakia - gas turbines
- Elmer Ambrose Sperry, (1860-1930), USA — gyroscope-guided automatic pilot
- Reverend Dr Robert Stirling (1790-1878), Scotland — Stirling engine
- Levi Strauss, (1829-1902), USA — blue jeans
- John Stringfellow, (1799-1883), England — airplane
- Almon Strowger, (1839-1902), USA — automatic telephone exchange
- Su Song, (1020-1101), China, first chain drive
- Simon Sunatori, (1959-), Canada — inventor of Sunatori Pen
- Joseph Swan, (1828-1914), England — Incandescent light bulb
- Thomas Savery, (1650-1715), England — steam engine
- Marc Seguin, (1786-1875), France — wire-cable suspension bridge
- Henry Shrapnel, (1761-1842), England — Shrapnel shell ammunition
- Augustus Siebe, (1788-1872), Germany — standard diving dress
- Isaac Singer, (1811-1875), USA — sewing machine
- Percy Spencer, (1894-1970), USA — microwave oven
- George Stephenson, (1781-1848), England — steam locomotive
- Simon Stevin, (1548-1620), Netherlands — land yacht
T
- Bernhard Tellegen, (1900-1990), Netherlands pentode
- Edward Teller (Ede Teller), (1908-2003), Hungary — hydrogen bomb
- Nikola Tesla, (1856-1943), Serbian-Croatian-American — developer of the Tesla Coil and inventor of the induction motor, alternating current polyphase power distribution system, wireless communication, robotics, logic gates, the bladeless turbine, radio, VTOL aircraft, etc.
- Kalman Tihanyi, (1897-1947), Hungary — co-inventor of cathode ray tube and iconoscope
- Benjamin Chew Tilghman, (1821-1897), USA — sandblasting
- Alfred Traeger, (1895-1980), Australia — the pedal radio
- Franc Trkman, (1903-1978), Slovenia — electrical switches, accessories for opening windows
- Alan Turing, (1912-1954), England — the Turing machine
U
- Lewis Urry, (1927-2004), Canada — long-lasting alkaline battery
V
- Hub van Doorne, (1900-1979), Netherlands, continuously variable transmission
- Louis R. Vitullo, (1924?-2006), United States — developed the first sexual assault evidence kit
- Alessandro Volta, (1745-1827), Italy — battery
- Faust Vrancic, (1551-1617), Croatia — parachute
W
- Barnes Wallis, (1887-1979), England — bouncing bomb
- Robert Watson-Watt, (1892-1973), Scotland — microwave radar
- James Watt, (1736-1819), Scotland — improved Steam engine
- Jonas Wenström, (1855-1893), Sweden — three-phase electrical system
- George Westinghouse, (1846-1914), USA — Air brake
- Charles Wheatstone, (1802-1875), England — concertina, stereoscope, microphone, Playfair cipher
- Eli Whitney, (1765-1825), USA — the cotton gin
- Frank Whittle, (1907-1996), England — co-inventor of the jet engine
- Otto Wichterle, (1913-1989), Czechoslovakia — invented modern contact lenses
- Paul Winchell, (1922-2005), USA — the artificial heart
- Edmund Wingate, (c.1593-1656), England — straight slide rule
- A. Baldwin Wood, (1879-1956), USA — high volume pump
- Granville Woods, (1856-1910), USA — the Synchronous Multiplex Railway Telegraph
- The Wright brothers, Orville Wright, (1871-1948) and Wilbur Wright, (1867-1912), USA — powered airplane
- Bruce Wydner, (1935-), USA — inventor of Cost-Effective Machine Translation
- Arthur Wynne, (1862-1945), England — creator of crossword puzzle
- Thomas Wedgwood, (1771-1805), England — first (not permanent) photograph
Y
- Hidetsugu Yagi, (1886-1976), Japan — Yagi antenna
- Yi Xing, (683-727), China, invented the escapement mechanism
- Arthur M. Young, (1905-1995), USA — the Bell Helicopter
Z
- Zhang Heng, (78-139), China, invented the first hydraulic-powered armillary sphere