歷史上最偉大發(fā)明的真相

愛迪生真的發(fā)明了電燈泡？萊特兄弟真的發(fā)明了飛機？那些歷史上具有里程碑意義的發(fā)明是否真如傳言所說，是某些發(fā)明家靈感忽現(xiàn)的產(chǎn)物？撥開歷史的重重迷霧，也許你會發(fā)現(xiàn)：有些人，一直在(或“被”)沽名釣譽；有些事，我們一直被蒙在鼓里……

The world’s most famous inventors are household names. As we all know， Thomas Edison invented the light bulb， Alexander Graham Bell invented the phone， and Samuel Morse invented the telegraph.

Except they didn’t. The ideas didn’t spring， Athena-like， fully formed from their brains. In fact， they didn’t spring fully formed from anybody’s brains. That is the myth of the lonely inventor and the eureka1) moment.

“Simultaneous invention and incremental2) improvement are the way innovation works， even for radical inventions，” Mark A. Lemley3) writes in his fascinating paper The Myth of the Sole Inventor. Lemley’s paper concentrates on the history and problems of patents. But he also chronicles the history of the 19th and 20th century’s most famous inventors—with an emphasis on how their inventions were really neither theirs， nor inventions. Here is a super-quick summary of his wonderful distillation of the last 200 years in collaborative innovation.

Light Bulb

As just about everyone is taught， Thomas Edison invented the light-bulb. And as just about everyone later learns， Thomas Edison in no way invented the light-bulb. Electric lighting existed before him， incandescent4) light bulbs existed before him， and when other inventors got wind of5) Edison’s tinkerings6)， they roundly7) sued him for patent infringement. So what did Edison actually do? He discovered that a special species of bamboo had a higher resistance to electricity than carbonized paper， which means it could more efficiently produce light. Edison got rich off the bamboo， and filthy disgusting rich8) from superior manufacturing and marketing of his product. But within a generation other inventors had developed better filaments9) and today’s light-bulbs.

Telegraph

As the tale goes， Samuel Morse was having dinner with friends and debating electromagnetism10) when he realized that if an electrical signal could travel instantly across a wire， why couldn’t information do the same? Like most fun eureka stories， it’s a fib11). The telegraph was invented by not only Morse， but also Charles Wheatstone， Sir William Fothergill Cooke， Edward Davy， and Carl August von Steinhiel so near to each other that the British Supreme Court refused to issue one patent. It was Joseph Henry， not Morse， who discovered that coiling wire12) would strengthen electromagnetic induction13). Of Morse’s key contribution—the application of Henry’s electromagnets to boost signal strength—Lemley writes that “it is not even clear that he fully understood how that contribution worked.”

Telephone

Like Morse， Alexander Graham Bell invented a technology that would later bear his name. But how much did he deserve it? The problem that Bell solved was to turn electrical signals into sounds. But this was such an obvious extension of the telegraph that there were many people working on it. Philip Reis had already designed a sound transmitter， and Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand von Helmholtz had already built a receiver. Bell’s real contribution was “to vary the strength of the current to capture variations in voice and sound，” Lemley writes. In this tweak14)， he was racing against Thomas Edison. Even Bell’s final product—which combined transmitter， fluctuating current， and receiver—had company. Elisha Gray filed a patent application on the exact same day as Bell， only to lose the patent claim in court. Lemley’s conclusion: “Bell’s iconic status owes as much to his victories in court and in the marketplace as at the lab bench.”

The Movie Projector

Most of these stories here are about how we mistake incremental improvements for eureka moments. But the story of the movie projector is simpler. It’s basically a story about theft. Francis Jenkins built what we consider the ur-instrument of the motion-picture15) industry with a projector that showed strips of films for 1/24th of a second， creating the illusion of moving pictures. But his financial backer stole the Jenkins prototype and sold it to a theater chain， which called it the “Edison Vitascope” for no better reason than the word Edison was familiar and useful for branding. That Edison was tinkering with his own movie projector is true， but besides the point16).

The Automobile

Today’s cars bear the names of their founders and innovators: Benz， Peugeot， Renault. But have you ever heard of a Dodge bicycle? Or a Mercedes tricycle? In fact， both companies specialized in bikes before moving into the autos. The car industry represents the epitome17) of incremental innovation. Take a tricycle. Add an engine. You’ve got a car. Condensing the invention of cars to those six words leaves out18) a lot of detail and a few main characters. It was Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach who designed the first four-wheel car with a four-stroke19) engine and Henry Ford who perfected the assembly line. But the long story short is that the car was a typical “invention” that was far too complicated for one person to conceive on his own.

The Airplane

Speaking of building bikes， that’s exactly what Orville and Wilbur Wright did before they became the first team to fly a heavier-than-air machine. But， as we’ve learned， every great inventor stands on the shoulders of giants. When the Wright brothers asked the Smithsonian20) for all available information on the history of flight in 1899， they opened a history that had begun with Leonardo da Vinci’s scribbling and continued all the way to the 19th century gliders of Otto Liliental. But the Wrights solved one of the most nagging21) problems facing airplane developers—stability—by having “a single cable warp22) the wing and turn the rudder23) at the same time.” That was the tweak that put the first plane in the air.

Television

The “Farnsworth Invention” was named after Philo T. Farnsworth， the nominal father of television. But his invention was neither his nor an invention. Teams of scientists and tinkerers all around the world were working to build， essentially， a radio for images—i.e.: to combine the technology of a wireless telegraph with the magic of a movie projector. One key was the cathode24) ray tube， a vacuum with an electron gun that beams images onto screen that can receive or transmit signals. But the cathode ray tube itself has so many fathers that it’s difficult to say exactly who invented even the central organ of the television， much less the television itself. In 1927， Farnsworth projected a straight line on a machine he called the Image Dissector， which is truly the basis for the all-electronic television. But， unlike Edison， he was not as gifted at marketing， producing， and becoming a household name for his tweak. “It may be accurate to describe Farnsworth as an inventor of the television， but surely not as the inventor，” Lemley writes.

世界上最著名的發(fā)明家可謂家喻戶曉。我們都知道，托馬斯·愛迪生發(fā)明了電燈泡，亞歷山大·格雷姆·貝爾發(fā)明了電話，而塞繆爾·摩爾斯發(fā)明了電報機。

但事實并非如此。發(fā)明創(chuàng)造的點子不會像雅典娜的智慧那樣，完全成形地從發(fā)明家的腦子里冒出來。事實上，它們不會完全成形地從任何人的腦子里冒出來。那樣的情形不過是獨立發(fā)明家和“尤里卡”時刻的傳說而已。

“同時產(chǎn)生的發(fā)明與漸進式完善才是創(chuàng)新運作的方式，即便是重大發(fā)明也是如此?！瘪R克·A·萊姆利在一篇題為《獨立發(fā)明家的傳說》的文章中這樣寫道。這是一篇非常有趣的文章，文中萊姆利重點論述了專利的歷史與問題，但也記述了19和20世紀最著名的發(fā)明家的故事，他的側(cè)重點在于：這些發(fā)明家的發(fā)明實際上不能算作他們本人的成果，甚至不能稱之為發(fā)明。他對過去兩百年里的聯(lián)合創(chuàng)新進行了精彩的梳理，本文就是對他梳理內(nèi)容的極簡概括。

電燈泡

幾乎每個人都被告知，是托馬斯·愛迪生發(fā)明了電燈泡。而后來幾乎每個人也都了解到，托馬斯·愛迪生絕對沒有發(fā)明電燈泡。電路照明在愛迪生之前就已問世，白熾燈也在他之前即已問世，當其他發(fā)明者聽說愛迪生將自己的小修小補視為發(fā)明創(chuàng)造后，狠狠地告了他一把，說他侵犯了專利權。那么愛迪生事實上做過些什么呢？他發(fā)現(xiàn)，有一種特殊的竹子比碳化紙具有更高的電阻，因而能更有效地發(fā)光。這種竹子讓愛迪生發(fā)了財。由于產(chǎn)品的生產(chǎn)與營銷都很出色，愛迪生賺得盆滿缽滿。但在同一時代，其他發(fā)明者早已研制出了更好的燈絲和今天所使用的電燈泡。

電報機

據(jù)說，塞繆爾·摩爾斯在一次宴會上與朋友討論電磁學的時候，忽然意識到如果電子信號可以瞬間通過電線傳播，為什么信息就不可以呢？與大多數(shù)可笑的“尤里卡”故事一樣，這也是瞎說的。電報機的發(fā)明者并非只有摩爾斯，還有查爾斯·惠特斯通、威廉姆·福瑟吉爾·庫克爵士、愛德華·戴維和卡爾·奧古斯特·馮·斯坦希爾。但是因為他們彼此的發(fā)明時間太接近，英國最高法院拒絕為此頒發(fā)專利。發(fā)現(xiàn)線圈可以增強電磁感應的人也不是摩爾斯，而是約瑟夫·亨利。摩爾斯的主要貢獻是使用亨利的電磁體來增加信號強度。對此，萊姆利寫道：“人們甚至不清楚他是否完全理解電磁體是如何增加信號強度的。”

電話

同摩爾斯一樣，亞歷山大·格雷姆·貝爾發(fā)明的一項技術后來以他的名字命名。但是他在多大程度上配得上這一榮譽呢？貝爾所解決的問題是將電子信號轉(zhuǎn)換成聲音。但是顯而易見，這是對電報機功能的一項拓展，當時許多人都致力于此。此前菲利普·賴斯就已經(jīng)發(fā)明了一部聲音發(fā)送機，赫爾曼·路德維格·費迪南德·馮·赫姆霍茲已經(jīng)建造了一部接收機。萊姆利寫道，貝爾真正的貢獻是“改變電流強度從而體現(xiàn)聲音與音調(diào)的變化”。而在這一方面，他一直在與托馬斯·愛迪生競爭。貝爾的最終產(chǎn)品集發(fā)送機、波動電流與接收機于一體，但連這甚至都不是獨一無二的。埃利薩·格雷與貝爾在同一天提交了專利申請，但卻在法庭上將專利權輸給了貝爾。萊姆利總結(jié)說：“貝爾的偶像地位有一半來自于他在實驗室的努力，而另一半則要歸功于他在法庭與市場上的勝利?！?/p>

電影放映機

這里所講的大多數(shù)故事都是我們誤將漸進式的完善認作了令人激動的“尤里卡”時刻。但關于電影放映機的故事就簡單多了。這基本上就是一個關于偷竊的故事。弗朗西斯·詹金斯用一臺放映機以每秒24幀的速度放映膠片，創(chuàng)造出運動圖像的錯覺，我們將這一機器視作電影行業(yè)的原始儀器。但是詹金斯的資助人偷走了他的原型機，并將其賣給了一家連鎖劇院。這家劇院將其命名為“愛迪生放映機”，不為別的，只是因為“愛迪生”這個詞為人熟知，用作品牌宣傳很有用。雖然愛迪生也在鼓搗他自己的電影放映機，但那是另外一回事了。

汽車

當代汽車皆以汽車業(yè)的先驅(qū)和改進者的名字命名，比如奔馳、標致和雷諾。但是你聽說過道奇自行車或者梅賽德斯三輪車嗎？事實上，這兩家公司在制造汽車之前，主要生產(chǎn)自行車。汽車行業(yè)代表了典型的漸進式完善過程。給三輪車裝上發(fā)動機，就是一輛汽車。但若只將汽車的發(fā)明簡單概括為上述這句話，那就遺漏了許多細節(jié)和一些重要人物。戈特利布·戴姆勒與威廉·邁巴赫設計了第一臺裝配四沖程發(fā)動機的四輪汽車，而亨利·福特完善了汽車裝配線。長話短說，汽車是一種典型的復雜“發(fā)明”，任何人都無法獨自完成。

飛機

說到制造自行車，奧維爾·萊特與威爾伯·萊特兩兄弟在第一次駕駛重于空氣的機器飛行之前，就是干這一行的。但是，眾所周知，每一位偉大的發(fā)明家都是站在巨人的肩膀上。萊特兄弟1899年請求史密斯森學會提供一切有關飛行史的信息，由此打開了一段有關飛行的歷史：從萊昂納多·達芬奇的飛行器草圖開始，一直延續(xù)到19世紀奧托·利林塔爾的滑翔機。但是萊特兄弟解決了一個令飛機研發(fā)者最為苦惱的問題——穩(wěn)定性。他們使用“一根纜繩扭曲機翼，同時扭轉(zhuǎn)方向舵”。就是這樣的一個小小的改進讓第一架飛機飛上了天。

電視機

“法恩斯沃斯發(fā)明”是以斐洛·T·法恩斯沃斯的名字命名的，他是名義上的電視機之父。但是這項發(fā)明既不是他的成果，也不能稱為發(fā)明。當時，全世界有許多科學家與技術人員都致力于制造一種實際上是圖像無線接收器的裝置——也就是說，集無線電報技術與神奇的電影放映機于一體。關鍵元件之一是陰極射線管。這是一種裝有電子槍的真空管，電子槍能將圖像射到可接收或傳播信號的屏幕上。但是，陰極射線管本身就擁有眾多的發(fā)明者，光是準確界定誰是這一關鍵元件的發(fā)明者都很困難，就更不用說去界定誰是電視之父了。1927年，法恩斯沃斯在一臺機器上放映了一條直線，他將這臺機器稱為“圖像分解器”，這一機器為全電子電視機奠定了真正的基礎。但是，與愛迪生不同，他在營銷和生產(chǎn)方面缺乏才華，也未能因自己的小小改進而變得家喻戶曉?！胺ǘ魉刮炙菇^對不是電視機的唯一發(fā)明者。將他形容為電視機的發(fā)明者之一可能會更加準確。”萊姆利寫道。

1.eureka：“尤里卡”，原是古希臘語，意為：“天??！我發(fā)現(xiàn)了！”相傳古希臘學者阿基米德有一次在浴盆里洗澡時突然來了靈感，發(fā)現(xiàn)了他久未解決的計算浮力問題的辦法，因而驚喜地叫了一聲“尤里卡”，阿基米德定律由此誕生。該詞現(xiàn)用作因重大發(fā)現(xiàn)而發(fā)出的驚嘆語。

2.incremental [?nkr?m?ntl] adj. 增加的，遞增的

3.Mark A. Lemley：馬克·A·萊姆利，全美最著名的專利法專家之一，斯坦福大學法學院教授，原加州大學柏克萊分校法律和技術中心主任

4.incandescent [??nk?n?des?nt] adj. 白熱的，白熾的

5.get wind of：得到風聲，獲得線索

6.tinkering [?t??k?r??] n. 小修小補

7.roundly [?ra?ndli] adv. 嚴厲地；尖刻地；狠狠地

8.filthy rich：富得流油的，非常有錢的

9.filament [?f?l?m?nt] n. [電]燈絲

10.electromagnetism

[??lektr???m?ɡn??t?z(?)m] n. 電磁，電磁學

11.fib [f?b] n. 謊話

12.coiling wire：(電路的)線圈

13.electromagnetic induction：電磁感應

14.tweak [twi?k] n. 微調(diào)，小的改進

15.motion-picture：電影的

16.besides the point：離題的

17.epitome [??p?t?mi] n. 典型

18.leave out：遺漏，忽略

19.four-stroke：四沖程的

20.Smithsonian：史密斯森學會，由美國政府資助的半官方性質(zhì)的博物館機構(gòu)

21.nagging [?n?g??] adj. 無法擺脫的，煩人的

22.warp [w??p] vt. [空]扭曲(機翼等)

23.rudder [?r?d?] n. (飛機的)舵，方向舵

24.cathode [?k?θ???d] n. 陰極