Tag Archives: inventor

The Highest of Achievers

The Highest of Achievers

Colin Murdoch, inventor, pharmacist and self-taught engineer, a man who designed something the world could not do without, has died in Timaru, aged 79. Murdoch led an extraordinary life; creator of the disposable syringe,…

Robert J Dickie

Robert J Dickie

RJ Dickie invented, patented and marketed the world’s first stamp vending machine. His machines were in use for 50 years, 18,000 were used in Britain, with countless thousands around the world. The machine that…

Richard Pearse

Richard Pearse

Richard Pearse: “Mad Pearse”, “Bamboo Dick”, self-taught inventor, prophetic designer, trail blazing aviator and eccentric visionary. On or about 31st March 1903 a reclusive New Zealand farmer Richard Pearse climbed into a self-built monoplane…

Ernest Godward

Ernest Godward

An innovator of many talents. During the 1930s he was a leading world expert on the internal combustion engine. He built power tools, eggbeaters, burglar-proof windows and hairpins. He was a champion sportsman, a…

Colin Murdoch

Colin Murdoch

The Timaru inventor who would awaken from dreams at night with three dimensional drawings revolving through his imagination. Pieces would be added and removed: a mental version of CAD. He would then get up…

Ernest Rutherford

Ernest Rutherford

The creator of modern atomic physics and forerunner of the nuclear age, Rutherford was one of the greatest scientists of the 20th century. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1908 and…