100 Inventors Who Made History

Page 41

Louis Braille Born in France in 1809, Louis BraiLLe was blinded in an accident when he was very young. At school, he wanted to read books, but there weren’t any for blind people. When he went to a special school for blind children in Paris at the age of 10, there were books with raised letters that could be read by touch, but there were only a few, and they were very hard to read.

By th

At school, e way... special wa I heard about a y that could of communicating dark, whic be read in the come up w h inspired me to ith my alph abet.

Louis’s alphabet Louis Braille was blinded after an ac in his father’s wo cident when he was thre rkshop e.

Braille was determined to find a better way to read. When he was just fifteen, he invented a system of raised dots arranged in rectangles, with different patterns for each letter. The Braille alphabet was simple to read and cheap to produce, and was soon transforming lives.

Braille The key that unlocked the world of reading for MILLIONS of blind people How it works

it chang ed oBw ra

d

H

Nearly 200 years after Braille came up with ille’s his alphabet, people are still using it, even the doo system opene and edu rs of literatur d with computers. Braille computer displays use people—cation for bli e electromechanically controlled pins to make nd ma for them king it easier Braille characters that can be touched. Research happy a to live a into how to make the Internet more accessible nd full li fe. to blind people is underway, with Braille’s t h e w or l alphabet at the front of the new technology. 39


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Acknowledgments

10min
page 130

Index

2min
page 129

Glossary

3min
page 128

Fantastic future

5min
pages 126-127

Total turkeys

5min
pages 124-125

Micro machines

2min
pages 122-123

Bionic body parts

2min
pages 120-121

Vaccination

2min
pages 118-119

Defibrillator

0
page 117

Aspirin

1min
page 116

Diagnostic devices

2min
pages 114-115

Laser

0
page 113

Microscope

1min
page 112

Antibiotics

2min
pages 110-111

Antiseptics

1min
page 109

Chocolate

2min
pages 104-107

Anesthetics

1min
page 108

Fireworks

2min
pages 102-103

Movies

2min
pages 100-101

Personal stereo

1min
page 99

Musical instruments

2min
pages 96-97

Video games

1min
page 98

Sports shoes

1min
page 95

Desk buddies

1min
pages 92-93

Blue jeans

1min
page 94

Robot

2min
pages 90-91

Material world

2min
pages 88-89

Dynamite

1min
page 87

Crane

1min
page 86

Plow

2min
pages 84-85

Keeping it together

2min
pages 78-81

Battery

2min
pages 76-77

Bar code

1min
page 83

Plastic

2min
pages 74-75

Money

1min
page 82

Refrigerator

2min
pages 72-73

Home helpers

1min
pages 70-71

Light bulb

2min
pages 68-69

Internet

1min
page 60

Pendulum clock

2min
pages 66-67

World Wide Web

3min
pages 61-63

Telescope

2min
pages 58-59

Flush toilet

2min
pages 64-65

Satellite

2min
pages 56-57

Computer

2min
pages 54-55

Microprocessor

1min
page 53

Braille

1min
page 41

Transistor

1min
page 52

Radio

2min
pages 46-47

Picture this

2min
pages 48-49

Television

2min
pages 50-51

Phonograph

2min
pages 42-43

Telephone

2min
pages 44-45

Telegraph

1min
page 40

Rocket

2min
pages 30-31

Printing press

2min
pages 38-39

Nuclear energy

2min
pages 32-35

Helicopter

2min
pages 28-29

Paper

2min
pages 36-37

Airplane

2min
pages 26-27

Car

2min
pages 24-25

Bicycle

2min
pages 20-21

Navigational novelties

2min
pages 14-15

Steam engine

1min
page 16

Electric motor

2min
pages 18-19

Caravel

1min
page 12

Submarine

1min
page 13

The wheel

2min
pages 10-11

Steam locomotive

1min
page 17
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