By Molly Edmonds

http://www.howstuffworks.com

At the end of the 20th century, only 10 percent of all patents were awarded to female inventors. When you compile a list of the most famous inventions of the past few centuries, few women will show up as the creators of those items. Women were also less likely to receive a technical education that would help them turn an ingenious idea into an actual product. Many women faced prejudice and ridicule when they sought help from men in actualizing their idea. And some women came up with ideas that would improve life in their households. (443 no spaces)

In this article, we'll salute 10 things invented by women.

There are:

1) Circular Saw

2) Dishwasher

3) Windshield Wiper

4) Nystatin

5) Kevlar

6) The Square-bottomed Paper Bag

7) Flare System

8) The Compiler and COBOL Computer Language

9) Liquid Paper

10) Chocolate Chip Cookies (232 no spaces)

Now we tell you about three of them.

Circular Saw

In the late 18th century, Tabitha Babbitt lived in a Shaker community in Massachusetts and worked as a weaver, but in 1810, she came up with a way to lighten the load of her brothers. She observed men cutting wood with a pit saw, which is a two-handled saw that requires two men to pull it back and forth. Though the saw is pulled both ways, it only cuts wood when it's pulled forward; the return stroke is useless. To Babbitt, that was wasted energy, so she created a prototype of the circular saw that would go on to be used in saw mills. She attached a circular blade to her spinning wheel so that every movement of the saw produced results. (534 no spaces)

Dishwasher

You might think that the first dishwasher was invented by someone who spent years washing dishes. Actually, Josephine Cochrane, who received the patent for the first working dishwasher, didn't spend that much time washing dishes. The real impetus for her invention was frustration over her servants breaking her heirloom china after fancy dinners. (305 no spaces)

Cochrane was a socialite who loved to entertain, but after her husband died in 1883, she was left with massive debt. Rather than selling off that beloved china, she focused on building a machine that would wash it properly. Her machine relied upon strong water pressure aimed at a wire rack of dishes, and she received a patent for the device in 1886. (289 no spaces)

Windshield Wiper

At the dawn of the 20th century, Mary Anderson went to New York City for the first time. She saw a much different New York City than the one tourists see today. There were no cabs honking, nor were there thousands of cars vying for position in afternoon traffic. Cars had not yet captured the American imagination and were quite rare when Anderson took that trip, but the woman from Alabama would end up inventing something that has become standard on every automobile. During her trip, Anderson took a tram through the snow-covered city. (460 no spaces)

She noticed that the driver had to stop the tram every few minutes to wipe the snow off his front window. At the time, all drivers had to do so; rain and snow were thought to be things drivers had to deal with, even though they resulted in poor visibility. When she returned home, Anderson developed a squeegee on a spindle that was attached to a handle on the inside of the vehicle. When the driver needed to clear the glass, he simply pulled on the handle and the squeegee wiped the precipitation from the windshield. Anderson received the patent for her device in 1903; just 10 years later, thousands of Americans owned a car with her invention. (531 no spaces)

Total: 2 836 no spaces

TASKS

1. Find in the text equivalents for the following:

предубеждение, насмешка, ткач, фамильная ценность, стимул, соперничать, швабра, лобовое стекло.

2. Match the words with their definition:

1) pit saw

2) two-handle saw

3) circular saw

4) cylinder saw

5) crown saw

6) cross-cut saw

a) круглая пила

b) поперечная пила

c) маховая пила

d) продольная пила

e) двуручная пила

f) цилиндрическая пила