Invention: Exploratorium's Ten Cool Sites

Latitude: The Art and Science of 15th Century
Navigation - Learn about the development of the mapmaking and navigation techniques which opened up the world for European exploration (and, more ambivalently, colonization). This site is impressively detailed and thorough.
Cool Site: April 1999

The Museum of Questionable Medical Devices - Wander through this wonderful on-line compendium of countless strange and fraudulent medical devices, including the Psychograph and the Radium-Ore Revigorator.
Cool Site: March 1999

A Century of Radiology- Discover the stories behind the development of X-ray imaging technology.
Cool Site: November 1998

Cyber Telephone Museum - Ignore the goofy title and melodramatic title font, and you will be rewarded by the content of this site, which offers amazing pictures and stories from the history of the telephone.
Cool Site: October 1998

FirstFlight - This visually attractive site explores the Wright brothers' first flight. You can check out the experiments that lead to the successful flight. The site includes a flight simulator that requires the Shockwave plug-in.
Cool Site: February 1998

The ALLSTAR Network: The Principles of Flight - Ever wonder how planes fly? Hands-on experiments with wings, airfoils, and model planes will help you understand the principles of flight. You'll also find an extensive history of human flight and information on how to become a pilot. The site makes uses of Java, but those without Java-capable browsers won't be disappointed.
Cool Site: December 1997

Flying Contraptions - Learn about a variety of flying machines. Personally, "William's Wasp" was a highlight, you have to love those rocket-packs!
Cool Site: May 1997

National Inventors Hall of Fame -Find out who did what, when. An extensive list of inventors linked to biographical information.
Cool Site: April 1997

The Lemelson-MIT Prize Program / Invention Dimension -The Invention Dimension highlights a different American inventor every week. Subjects range from historical figures to "living legends." The inventor of the week archives are an excellent resource.
Cool Site: November 1996

The Perpetual Motion Page -Plans and explanations for four perpetual-motion machines are on this page. The page includes an important disclaimer.
Cool Site: August 1996

The Father of Light -An interesting look at Edison's invention of the incandescent light bulb. The page is well written and includes some interesting images.
Cool Site: April 1996

Nikola Tesla: Inventor, Engineer, Scientist -We thought it only fair, since we included Edison in our 10 Cool Sites, to include a page on Tesla. This page is comprehensive and includes a biography, photo album, and much more.
Cool Site: April 1996

To Fly is Everything... -This interesting site describes in detail the invention of the airplane. It has about 500 photographs as well as articles by the Wright brothers, and other supporting material. A very informative site.
Cool Site: January 1996