Beautiful Minds

Suzanne Mordue

Have you ever dreamed of building your own time machine？ Do you wish you could invent something new？ You can find many inventors in British culture， although some of their designs have been more successful than others. Here we look at a few.

The Sinclair C5

The C5 was a simple vehicle which moved at 24 kilometres per hour and had three wheels. You didnt even need to have a driving licence to use it. The C5 was invented by Sir Clive Sinclair in 1985. He spent millions of pounds developing this product and even encouraged Stirling Moss， winner of sixteen F1 Grand Prix motor races， to advertise the vehicle. Unfortunately it had many problems. It did not work well on hills and the battery was easily damaged by rain. It also wasnt very safe. The C5 was so tiny it was difficult for much larger vehicles to see it. Only 12，000 were ever sold and Sinclair lost a lot of money. This didnt stop his enthusiasm for inventing and in 2006 he started selling the ‘A-bike， a lightweight folding bicycle.

Adaptable glasses

Do you wear glasses？ If so， can you imagine life without them？ In 1985 Joshua Silver was a professor at the University of Oxford. One day， a conversation with a colleague about lenses for glasses gave him an idea. He thought， ‘Can I design a pair of glasses that could be changed by the wearer？ In places like Africa there are often no opticians in small towns and so people cant buy glasses. He designed two plastic lenses that are filled with a special liquid. Using syringes， you change the liquid between the lenses until you can see clearly. The glasses are not beautiful but they are easy to use and cheap to make， and sell in their thousands. Now Joshua is chairman of the Centre for Vision in the Developing World， which aims to give one billion people in the developing world the glasses they need for a better life.

The wind-up radio

When you switch on your TV tonight think about all those people without electricity. Trevor Baylis was thinking about this in 1989 when he came up with the idea of designing a radio that could be powered by hand. In common with Joshua Silver， he wanted his invention to be cheap and easy to use. He wanted even the poorest people in developing countries， who dont have electricity and cannot afford batteries， to use it. The radio has a generator which is powered by turning a handle. In 1996 it won a BBC Design Award for Best Product and Best Design. Baylis often stays awake all night working. He has also designed a range of inventions to help disabled people. All this from a man who started his working life as a stunt man！

The Dyson cleaner

In many homes around the world you can see a vacuum cleaner that looks like a spaceship. This is the Dyson vacuum cleaner which uses something called ‘cyclonic separation to separate the dirt. This means that you dont need a bag for your cleaner and it doesnt get blocked， so its very practical. The idea came to Sir James Dyson after he kept having problems with his vacuum cleaner. He decided he could design a better one and he made over 5，000 prototypes before he got it right. He tried to sell his invention to manufacturing companies but they werent interested， so in 1993 he opened his own factory. The Dyson is now one of the best-selling cleaners in the UK and the US， and Dyson himself is believed to have earned over a billion pounds.

So keep dreaming and inventing， and one day you might get it right！

Word（s） of the week

A ‘new lease of life is when someone is happy because they have a new chance in life.

Answers

Activity 1

1 F 2 T 3 F 4 F 5 T 6 F

Activity 2

1 enthusiasm

2 syringe

3 batteries

4 blocked

5 handle

6 prototype

Activity 3

ugly AG

hi-tech DC

practical DC

tiny C5

inexpensive AG / WR

uncomplicated C5

unsafe C5

Activity 1

Decide if the sentences are true （T） or false （F）.

1 Only opticians can use adaptable glasses.

2 Stirling Moss was a motor racing driver.

3 Sir James Dyson got his cleaner design right first time.

4 Trevor Baylis has designed products for stunt men.

5 The A-bike can be made smaller.

6 Adaptable glasses are upmarket， luxury glasses.

Activity 2

Look at the words below. Fill in the missing vowels to make some words from the article.

1 If you are really interested in something you have    _nth_s_ _sm.

2 Doctors use a syr _ng_ to take your blood.

3 Many electrical machines contain b_tt_r_ _s.

4 If something is bl_ck_d it stops working.

5 A h_ndl_ is the part of something you use to hold.

6 A pr_t_typ_ is the first， experimental model of some-thing new.

Activity 3

Look at the adjectives below. Do they refer to the Sinclair C5 （C5）， adaptable glasses （AG）， the wind-up radio （WR） or the Dyson cleaner （DC）？

ugly ........ hi-tech ........

practical ........ tiny ........

inexpensive ........ ........ uncomplicated ......... ........

unsafe ........

Over to you

Could you be an inventor？

Choose A or B and then check the answers.

1 Do you often stay up all night to finish something？

A Yes                    B No

2 Are you good with your hands？

A Yes                    B No

3 Are you creative？

A Yes                    B No

4 Are you very patient？

A Yes                    B No

5 Do you like making new things？

A Yes                    B No

Mainly As—You are a natural inventor.

Mainly Bs—Sorry， you havent got what it takes.