Fathers of invention: a survey of Brookline inventors and their creations
Brookline has been home to giants of landscaping, captains of industry, and a plethora of important artists and thinkers, but the town also has its share of inventors who left their mark on society.
Everything from alcohol distillation methods to an early electric car were patented right here on the banks of the Muddy River. We chatted with Ken Liss, president of the Brookline Historical Society, about a few Brookline patents that stick out in his mind. While he doesn’t see a particular trend to Brookline inventions, Liss said there seems to be a bit of an inclination towards medical innovation.
The sketches are taken from patents, which were uploaded online through a partnership between Google and the United States Patent and Trademark office.
Philip Drinker, patented 1931
The inventor: Drinker was an engineer and leading authority on the concept of industrial hygiene — or social and physical issues created by industry. He worked at Harvard Medical School.
The invention: Known at the time as the Drinker Respirator, the iron lung was originally designed to alleviate the problems created by the gas industry. The contraption was essentially an enclosed chamber that used vacuum suction to create changes in air pressure, pulling air in and out of patients’ lungs. The invention saw great success during the polio epidemic of the 1940s-1960s.
Edward Atkinson, patented 1889
The inventor: A Dartmouth College-educated economist and fervent abolitionist, Atkinson became enamored with nutritious eating later in life. Not one to idly daydream, he set out to do something about what he saw as a lack of healthy eating among the poor.
The invention: The Aladdin Oven was designed to allow a lot of cheap food to be cooked with less fuel. The concept is an insulated box oven with a kerosene lamp at the bottom that slowly cooks several layers of food inside. Though it never gained widespread popularity, the invention was one of the first slow cookers, creating a perfect environment for tough, cheap cuts of meat and produce like beans to be cooked.
King Gillette, patented 1904
The inventor: Long before the razor, Gillette learned about innovation firsthand while working for a company that designed the first resealing disposable bottle cap. During his time with the company, he became fixated on the business model of products that would be tossed out after a few uses. Besides his inventing prowess, Gillette was also widely considered to be a master marketer.
The invention: While safety razors were actually invented in the 1880s, they still required frequent sharpening, a problem that reduced their popularity as an alternative to barbershop shaves. Gillette’s big innovation was to create a disposable razor that would be tossed out instead of sharpened. The concept was a hit, selling tens of thousands of units in the first few years of production.
Robert Bowles, patented 1897
The inventor: A former banker, corn merchant, engineer, and insurance agent, Bowles lived in Brookline when he developed his stethoscope. He said he became fascinated with the way quiet sounds could travel long distances through wire.
Invention: The stethoscope also already existed when Bowles began tinkering around with its design. His advance was the so-called flat iron diaphragm—the circular piece the doctor placed against a patient’s chest. Older models of the stethoscope used larger boxes or chambers against the chest, making them cumbersome and harder to hear the heart. His was thin enough that it could be placed against the chest through clothes and still get better sound than it’s predecessors. His version is was the basis of the most popular stethoscopes of the 20th century.
Edward Samuel Richie, patented 1863
The inventor: Born in 1814, Richie began working on ships in New Bedford as a young man and served as an organist at a local church. By 35, he was constructing navigation and mathematical instruments. Tasked with recreating an English compass, he completely redesigned the device, creating a new compass that became standard for U.S Navy ships during and after the Civil War. During his career, he patented several other inventions, including an important induction coil that was used in some of the first automobiles. The company he started still exists in Pembroke.
Invention: The liquid mariners’ compass is an elegant device that submerges a traditional compass inside a closed liquid-filled container. Mounted on ships, the floating compass became invaluable as it maintained an accurate reading even as the ship rocked and rolled during intense storms.
John Blish, patented 1913
The inventor: Blish was a retired Navy commander living in Brookline at the time of the invention. His invention was inspired by years of observing the ways different guns reacted when fired during his time in the Navy.
The invention: Blish’s breech lock mechanism allowed guns to reduce blowback by creating a mechanism that automatically locks the firing chamber when the gun is fired. The mechanism relies on friction created by the extreme pressure of the firing The mechanism would gain prominence as an integral part of the Thompson submachine gun. The Tommy Gun, as it was popularly known, was favored by mobsters and law enforcement officers in the first half of the 20th century.
