Amal Al-Sibai

Saudi Gazette

 

JEDDAH — We are taught in schools and we often read about brilliant men like Thomas Edison who invented the light bulb and Henry Ford who built the first car in America. But there are many amazing women who discovered useful inventions to make our lives much easier. Women came up with medicines, space helmets, toys, computer programs, coffee makers and much more! So be sure to remember the names of these great women, just like you know the names of Albert Einstein and Isaac Newton. And one day, you too can be an inventor.



Marie Curie was a Polish scientist and she discovered the element Radium in the year 1903 and how it can be used to help people. Have you ever fallen down and hurt your arm so bad that you thought it could be broken? The only way to find out if it is broken and exactly which bone has been damaged is by using an x-ray. After the x-ray the doctor can put a cast on your arm so it can heal. It is thanks to Marie Curie’s hard work with radiation that we have x-rays.



Bette Nesmith Graham is the reason why you and thousands of other students can use ‘liquid paper’ or ‘white out’ to fix mistakes on your homework instead of scratching it out, scribbling over, or throwing the paper away and doing your writing all over again. That’s right, it was a woman who thought of this invention that saves us a lot of time. Bette used to work as a secretary at a bank and she typed letters and important papers. Every time she made a mistake, she had to re-type the whole paper and it was a waste of time. As a hobby, Bette loved to paint and she knew how to mix colors. She invented a perfect color that looked exactly like the paper and with a tiny paintbrush, she covered over her mistakes. Soon, her friends wanted some too and she started making the special paint and filling it in small bottles and selling them to her friends. And soon enough, she had a successful business.



Mary Anderson was visiting New York City in the year 1902 to see the sights of this exciting city. She took a car ride but she could not see anything because it was such dreary day. Snow and hail covered the glass windshield of the car. The snow on the glass ruined her tour and made it hard for the driver to see where he was going. Mary came up with the idea to invent a device on the outside of the windshield that could be easily controlled by the driver so he could clean the windshield, see better, and drive safely. She kept on trying until she was able to create wipers that could wipe off rain, dirt, and snow from the windshield of a car. Not only did she make driving easier, but think of how many lives she has saved with this invention.



Ann Moore, like all women, was smart, busy, creative, and loved to take care of her children. She was a nurse who helped treat sick children. Babies cry a lot and they like to be carried, but it is hard for a mom to carry her baby when she also needs to answer the phone, cook, clean up, and buy things at the store. Ann sewed a cozy baby carrier that the baby can sit in like a pouch, allowing the mom to tie it onto her shoulders. It worked like magic: the baby was happy and mom could get her work done.