Innovations by Women That Changed Daily Life

In Philadelphia, it is still a snowy and cold mess from the recent storms. Thankfully, most of us have either a warm car to get us to campus or a heated classroom to sit in. Margaret A. Wilcox, an engineer in the 1890s, invented and patented the first car heater. Originally, the car heater was meant for train cars, but overtime evolved to be used in modern day cars. This was done by redirecting the heat from around the combustion engines to the cars. Additionally, in 1919, Alice Parker found a way to use natural gas to heat a house, rather than wood. She invented a furnace connected to ducts to heat the whole house, but then invented the method of using multiple furnaces to allow for varying temperatures room to room.

Dr. Jane Cooke Wright made great strides in the treatment of cancer patients. Dr. Wright was an oncologist from New York Medical College who developed a methotrexate-based chemotherapy regimen. This treatment specifically helped to treat breast and skin cancers, and is still used today. She was also the first African American woman to become Associate Dean and Professor of Surgical Research in a US medical institution.

Unfortunately, as with many inventions by women in history, not all of them were patented under the original inventors’ names. This was the case for Sarah Babbitt, who came up with the idea for the circular saw in the early 1810s. The idea was to connect the saw to a water powered system, and replace the whipsaw which was a very inefficient tool. I find it inspiring that in the typically male-dominated field of construction, a woman invented a tool that is so commonly relied on today.

Like most college students, I drink coffee, and a lot of it. So, coffee filters are used in my home everyday. Melitta Bentz, a German inventor born in 1873, invented the coffee filter and the drip coffee method of brewing. Her company, Melitta, is still running and is a leading company in the coffee industry selling coffee, filters, and pour-overs.

The electric refrigerator was no doubt a revolutionary invention in food safety and modern day living. Thanks to Florence Parpart, we can now store our leftovers in the fridge and completely forget they exist! Florence Parpart patented the electric refrigerator in 1914 and eventually gained three additional patents for improved inventions. Unfortunately, her husband was always listed as a co-inventor with his name first on the patent, so she never received the full credit she deserved.

Almost everyone who wears glasses has benefited from Dr. Katharine Burr Blodgett. She was a physicist and chemist in the 1930s who invented the anti-reflective coatings for glasses. This invention was then transferred to camera lenses, windshields, and picture glass. Additionally, Dr. Blodgett was the first woman to receive a PhD in physics at the University of Cambridge!

In the 1930s and 1940s, Hedy Lamarr was a famous movie actress and an inventor. Many think she invented Wi-Fi, but she actually invented the precursor technology, which enabled further technological developments beyond Wi-Fi. The tech was called frequency-hopping spread spectrum or “secret communication systems,” and it was initially developed during wartime to prevent radio-controlled torpedoes from being intercepted by Nazis. This technology was then used to create more modern systems such as GPS, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi!