Birmingham

:This article is about the city in England. For other uses, please see Birmingham, Alabama or other places named Birmingham.

Science and invention

:Main article: Science and invention in Birmingham

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Local inventions and notable firsts include: gas lighting, roller skate wheels, the Baskerville Font, questionnaires, Custard powder, foam rubber, the magnetron (the core component in the development of radar), the UK electroplating industry, the first ever use of radiography in an operation, and the UK's first ever hole-in-the-heart operation, at Birmingham Children's Hospital.

Related Topics:
Gas lighting - Roller skate - Font - Questionnaire - Custard powder - Foam rubber - Magnetron - Radar - Electroplating - Radiography - Operation - Hole-in-the-heart - Birmingham Children's Hospital

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Among the city's notable scientists and inventors are:

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• Matthew Boulton, proprietor of the Soho engineering works.
• Sir Francis Galton, originator of eugenics and important techniques in statistics.
• Alexander Parkes, inventor of celluloid, the first synthetic plastic.
• Joseph Priestley, chemist and radical.
• James Watt, engineer and inventor; associated with the steam engine.
• John Wright, inventor of a type of electroplating.