Research Papers for USEM 171: Invention and Innovation

The aim of the paper will be to trace the evolution of some common artifact or technique of our present-day society, from its primitive origins. You will also list the ancillary inventions that make the modern artifact possible.

Here is a possible example:

The bicycle wheel (wire wheel).

It differs from earlier wheels in several ways:
  1. it has a pneumatic tire;
  2. the spokes are strong in tension, rather than in compression (as in a wagon wheel);
  3. the bearing is part of the wheel itself, rather than of the vehicle (as in an automobile wheel).
    You will explain these differences: how they evolved and when; and how they enhance or make possible the function of the item. If some of the above distinguishing characteristics are not always true, explain why not and how not. For example, there are wire wheels for sports cars that mount on bearings attached to the car, just as with any other automobile wheel.

    In explaining how the various characteristics enable the wheel to do its job, explain how variations--e.g. fat vs. thin tires, heavy vs. light tread--have crept in as these wheels have evolved for different kinds of vehicles such as touring, racing or mountain bikes.

    Inventions that were necessary to the development of the bicycle wheel:

    1. The wheel itself, and wheeled vehicles.
    2. Rubber (vulcanized natural, or synthetic);
    3. Steel (and/or other metals);
    4. Steel wire;
    5. Ball bearings;
    6. The screw and nut (mounting the wheel on the bike frame, tensioning the spokes);
    7. Welding (various kinds);
    8. Cord (cotton, silk, steel, nylon, kevlar or whatever) in the tire body;
    9. Wrenches for turning screws and nuts;
    You will list them and their origins and dates, as best you can. In doing so you should discuss possible alternatives and whether they would be as good or better--for example, why aluminum or bronze wire is not used for the spokes (maybe it is, for all I know!).

    This research paper should give sources for the information you have obtained. Primary sources--such as direct discussion with a bicycle manufacturer or mechanic, or the manufacturer's technical data sheets or brochures--are preferable to secondary ones. However, it would be unreasonable to expect you to use only primary sources, especially in discussing historical issues, such as when and where steel was first made, or when and by whom the vulcanizing process for rubber was invented (and why).

    Finally, keep in mind that these papers will be read by your professor, who has a sensitive ear that is easily jarred by bad English usage and poor writing. Please take some care with the writing and do not give me a last-minute, first-draft. Rewrite and edit your first draft at least once to clean up the errors.

    Grammatical errors that particularly pain me are misspellings, run-on sentences and use of the incorrect word. If you are not sure what a word means, look it up or find a synonym. A thesaurus and a dictionary should be available during the composition of the paper from your detailed outline. Use them. Remember that Mark Twain said
    "The difference between the almost-right word and the right word is like the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning."
     Examples of word-pairs--homonyms or almost homonyms--commonly mistaken for one another around this campus and in the CD are: Try to get them (and all the others I don't have room to list) right.  --jvn