List of Swiss inventions and discoveries

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The following list is composed of items, techniques and processes that were invented by or discovered by people from Switzerland.

Astronomy

First exoplanet orbiting a solar-type star discovered by Swiss astronomers Didier Queloz and Michel Mayor in 1995 (51 Pegasi b), Nobel-prize laureates in Physics in 2019^[1]
Earliest estimation of the "radiation of the stars” in his 1896 article "La Température de L'Espace" by Charles Édouard Guillaume

Biology

DNA structure

Nucleic acid, DNA by Friedrich Miescher (1868)^[2]
Restriction endonuclease by Werner Arber
Research of the Immune system by Rolf M. Zinkernagel

Chemistry

Cellophane bag

Laudanum by Paracelsus
Aluminium foil by Robert Victor Neher^[3]
Cellophane by Jacques E. Brandenberger
DDT by Paul Hermann Müller
Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) by Albert Hofmann
Nickel–steel alloys he named invar, elinvar and platinite [it] by Charles Édouard Guillaume
Reichstein process by Tadeus Reichstein
Glyphosate by Henri Martin

Clothes and Fashion

Velcro by George de Mestral
Coil Zip fastening invented by Martin Winterhalter^[4]

Computing

Computer mouse:
- First computer mouse by René Sommer, co-inventor^[5]
- First laser mouse (2004)^[6]
Pascal programming language by Niklaus Wirth
Smaky by Jean-Daniel Nicoud
World Wide Web at CERN^[7]

Construction

Construction machines
- Walking excavator by Ernst Menzi, 1966 (Menzi Muck)
Structural steel reinforced concrete revolution by Robert Maillart at ETH Zurich^[8]
- three-hinged arch
- deck-stiffened arch for bridges
- beamless floor slab
- mushroom ceiling for industrial buildings
Tunnel waterproofing by Sika^[9]

Cuisine

Dry muesli mix, served with milk

Absinthe
Älplermagronen^[10]
Aromat^[6]
Bündnernusstorte^[10]
Cheeses and cheese recipes
- Fondue^[10]
- Gruyère
- Raclette^[11]
- Sbrinz, the ancestor of the Parmiggiano Reggiano and the Pecorino romano^[12]
Chocolates:
- Conching by Rudolf Lindt^[13]
- Hazelnut chocolate by Charles-Amédée Kohler^[13]
- Milk chocolate by Daniel Peter^[13] (disputed)^[a]
- White chocolate by Nestlé And his Partner
Coffee
- Capsule^[6]
- Instant coffee by Max Morgenthaler^[4]
Meringues^[10]
Milk powder^[15]
Muesli by Maximilian Bircher-Benner
Rösti^[11]
Stock cubes^[10]
Tools:
- Immersion blender by Roger Perrinjaquet
- Rex vegetable peeler by Alfred Neweczerzal^[4]
Zürcher Geschnetzeltes

Economics

Discovery of economic cycles and propagation of Social policy against the classic liberal economy by Simonde de Sismondi
Bank secrecy

Mathematics

Leonhard Euler

Leonhard Euler's work:

Mathematical notations that he introduced:
- Concept of a function (first to write f(x) to denote the function f applied to the argument x)^[16]
- Letter Σ for summations
- Letter $i$ to denote the imaginary unit
- Modern notation for the trigonometric functions
- Natural logarithm (now also known as Euler's number)
Differential equations
Defined logarithms for negative and complex numbers
Defined the exponential function for complex numbers and discovered its relation to the trigonometric functions
Development of power series, the expression of functions as sums of infinitely many terms^[17]
Euler–Bernoulli beam equation, a cornerstone of engineering
Euler's critical load, the critical buckling load of an ideal strut
Euler equations in Fluid dynamics
Euler's formula $e^{i\varphi }=\cos \varphi +i\sin \varphi$
Euler's identity $e^{i\pi }+1=0$
Introduction of exponential function and logarithms in analytic proofs
Predicted the phenomenon of cavitation in 1754 before observing it
Solution to the Basel problem (1735)

Bernoulli family

Jacob Bernoulli (1655–1705)

Jacob Bernoulli's work:

Ars Conjectandi published in Basel in 1713, theory of probability from which resulted the Bernoulli trial.
Bernoulli numbers
Bernoulli differential equation solved y

$y'=p(x)y+q(x)y^{n}.$

Discovery of the constant $e$ by studying a question about compound interest

$\lim _{n\to \infty }\left(1+{\frac {1}{n}}\right)^{n}$

Introduces the term integral in calculus
Lemniscate of Bernoulli
Solution of differential equation by separation of variables

Nicolaus I Bernoulli (1687-1759)

Nicolaus I Bernoulli's s contributions:

Orthogonal trajectories^[18]
Probability and statistics research with the St. Petersburg Paradox^[19]

Nicolaus II Bernoulli (1695-1726)

Nicolaus II Bernoulli's contribution:

He posed the problem of reciprocal orthogonal trajectories

Daniel Bernoulli (1700–1782)

Daniel Bernoulli's contributions:

Bernoulli's principle is of critical use in aerodynamics.^[20]
Expected utility theory
He laid the basis for the kinetic theory of gases, and applied the idea to explain Boyle's law (Hydrodynamica 1738).^[21]
He worked with Euler on elasticity and the development of the Euler–Bernoulli beam equation.^[22]
Principle of superposition was first stated by Daniel Bernoulli in 1753 ("The general motion of a vibrating system is given by a superposition of its proper vibrations")^[23]

Other Swiss mathematicians

Gabriel Cramer
- Cramer's theorem (algebraic curves)
- In 1750 he published Cramer's rule, giving a general formula for the solution for any unknown in a linear equation system having a unique solution, in terms of determinants implied by the system. This rule is still standard.

Medicine

Artificial hip joint (Sulzer joint, by Maurice Edmond Müller)^[15]
Diazepam (Valium) (1958, company Hoffmann-La Roche)^[6]
Diclofenac (Voltaren) (1973, company Ciba-Geigy)
Hydro-alcoholic gel (1995, Didier Pittet)
Hydrogel skin cancer treatment (2022, University of Bern)^[24]
Laudanum by Paracelsus
Panthenol (Bepanthen) (1944, company Roche)
Stent (1986, Medinvent, Hans Wallsten)^[6]
Theodor Kocher
- Anesthesia
  - Masks to deliver chloroform-ether narcosis^[25]
- Surgical methodology
  - Hygiene rules^[25]
  - Techniques of sterilisation^[25]
  - Surgical records quantifying and analysing success and failures^[25]
- Surgical procedures
  - Pre-operative preparation of patients to receive anaesthesia to avoid aspiration of gastric content^[25]
  - Reduction technique for shoulder dislocation^[25]
  - Thiroidectomy^[25]
- Surgical tools
  - Artery clamp^[15]
  - Bowel clamp^[25]
  - Craniometer^[25]
  - Kidney holding forceps^[25]
  - Scissors chisels and files^[25]

Military

Victorinox "Huntsman" Swiss Army knife

Physics

Argand lamp by Aimé Argand
Twisted nematic field effect by Hoffmann-La Roche
Scanning tunneling microscope by Heinrich Rohrer (co-inventor with German Gerd Binnig)
Super-twisted nematic display by Brown, Boveri & Cie
Swatch Internet Time by Swatch
Research on Nuclear Magnetic Resonance by Kurt Wüthrich

Sports

The Swiss bobsleigh team from Davos, ca. 1910

Technology

Electricity production and transmission:
- Transmission of electrical energy using high-voltage three-phase current developed by Brown, Boveri & Cie for the International Electrotechnical Exhibition^[26]
- Research on steam and gas turbines developed at ETH Zurich with Aurel Stodola^[27]
  - Law of the Ellipse
  - First gas turbine electric generator in collaboration with Brown, Boveri & Cie^[28]
  - Aurel Stodola constructs a closed-loop heat pump in 1928 (water source from Lake Geneva) which provides heating for the Geneva city hall to this day.
Electric kilns invented by Brown, Boveri & Cie^[26]
Electric toothbrush, the Broxodent by Dr. Philippe Guy Woog^[29]
Gearless cement drive developed by Brown, Boveri & Cie in 1969^[30]
Internal combustion engine invented in 1806 by François Isaac de Rivaz, using oxygen and hydrogen.^[31]
LCD projector at Brown Boveri & Cie^[6]
Precision machinery:
- Thread whirling by Tornos in the 1990s^[32]
- Cam multispindle machine with the Tornos AS 14 (1958)^[32]
- CNC multispindle machine (Tornos CNC 632, 1988)
Precision valve steam engine (Sulzer, 1876)
Shuttle-less loom (Sulzer, 1876)
Ski lifts^[15]
Turbocharger by Alfred Büchi
Chronometry / watches:
- Constant escapement by Girard-Perregaux
- Cross-beat escapement and remontoire for watches by Jost Bürgi
- Quartz watches (Centre électronique horloger)^[6]
- Tourbillon by Abraham-Louis Breguet
- Charles Édouard Guillaume's Guillaume balance (a type of balance wheel)^[33]^[34]

Transportation

Azipod, first azimuth thruster with the motor located in the pod itself (by ABB Group)
Bathyscaphe Trieste by Auguste Piccard
Trains and tracks
- Articulated locomotive by Anatole Mallet
- Diesel electric locomotive traction control by Hermann Lemp
- High-speed locomotive with drive shafts fitted exclusively in bogies developed by Brown, Boveri & Cie in 1944^[30]
- Riggenbach rack system by Niklaus Riggenbach
- Diesel-Sulzer-Klose GmbH, first train to run with a mechanical diesel power in 1912.^[35]
Solar Impulse by Bertrand Piccard in co-operation with EPFL

Miscellaneous

See also

List of Swiss inventors and discoverers

Notes

^ Jordan & Timaeus claims to have created milk chocolate using donkey milk in 1839 in Dresden^[14]

References

^ "Nobel Winners Changed Our Understanding with Exoplanet Discovery - NASA Science". science.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2024-07-25.
^ Dahm, Ralf (January 2008). "Discovering DNA: Friedrich Miescher and the early years of nucleic acid research". Human Genetics. 122 (6): 565–581. doi:10.1007/s00439-007-0433-0. PMID 17901982. S2CID 915930.
^ Mary Bellis (2012-04-09). "Charles Martin Hall - The History of Aluminum". Inventors.about.com. Archived from the original on July 16, 2012. Retrieved 2012-12-28.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "8 Swiss inventions that changed the world | Swiss Science & Education". houseofswitzerland.org. 2018-07-19. Retrieved 2024-07-25.
^ "Computer mouse inventor dies in Vaud". World Radio Switzerland. 2009-10-14. Archived from the original on 2011-07-07. Retrieved 2009-10-28.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g "Les 20 inventions suisses qui ont marqué ces 70 dernières années". agefi.com (in French). 2024. Retrieved 2024-07-25.
^ "The birth of the Web | CERN". home.cern. Retrieved 2022-11-16.
^ "Robert Maillart (1872–1940)". library.ethz.ch. Retrieved 2024-07-25.
^ "History". www.sika.com.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Foods Invented in Switzerland | Swiss tours and travel". www.alpenwild.com. Retrieved 2024-07-25.
^ ^a ^b "Switzerland's national dishes". www.eda.admin.ch. Retrieved 2024-07-25.
^ swissinfo.ch, S. W. I. (2002-04-22). "L'ancêtre des fromages a son AOC". SWI swissinfo.ch (in Swiss French). Retrieved 2024-07-25.
^ ^a ^b ^c Thomas Stephens (13 December 2017). "The pioneers of Switzerland's 'Chocolate Revolution'". Swissinfo. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
^ "Wie zwei Dresdner die Milchschokolade erfanden". Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk. 7 July 2018. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "33 Swiss inventions that will amaze you". Swiss Activities. Retrieved 2024-07-25.
^ Dunham 1999, p. 17.
^ Ferraro 2008, p. 155.
^ Engelsman, Steven B., ed. (1984). "Nicolaus I Bernoulli and Orthogonal Trajectories". Families of Curves and the Origins of Partial Differentiation. North-Holland Mathematics Studies. Vol. 93. pp. 92–123. doi:10.1016/S0304-0208(08)73567-9. ISBN 978-0-444-86897-8.
^ Peterson, Martin (2023), "The St. Petersburg Paradox", in Zalta, Edward N.; Nodelman, Uri (eds.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2023 ed.), Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University, retrieved 2024-07-25
^ [Anon.] (2001) "Daniel Bernoulli", Encyclopædia Britannica
^ Rouse Ball, W. W. (2003) [1908]. "The Bernoullis". A Short Account of the History of Mathematics (4th ed.). Dover. ISBN 0-486-20630-0.
^ Timoshenko, Stephen (1983). History of Strength of Materials: With a Brief Account of the History of Theory of Elasticity and Theory of Structures. Courier Corporation. ISBN 978-0-486-61187-7.^{[page needed]}
^ Brillouin, L. (1946). Wave propagation in Periodic Structures: Electric Filters and Crystal Lattices, McGraw–Hill, New York, p. 2.
^ Bradley, Simon (2022-12-27). "Top Swiss inventions you may have missed this year". SWI swissinfo.ch. Retrieved 2024-07-25.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k Tröhler, U. "The Subtle Knife: A Revolution in Surgery". Karger Gazette. No. 71.
^ ^a ^b "140 years of ASEA". new.abb.com. 2023-10-30.
^ Lang, Norbert. "Aurel Stodola and his influence on the ETH and on Mechanical Engineering" (PDF).
^ Early Gas Turbine History at web.mit.edu
^ Ebneter, Catherine (2023-01-04). "Swiss discoveries that changed the world". The Swiss Times. Retrieved 2024-07-25.
^ ^a ^b "History of ABB". ABB Group. Retrieved 2024-07-25.
^ Michelet, Henri (1965). L'inventeur Isaac de Rivaz: 1752 - 1828 (in French). Editions Saint-Augustin. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
^ ^a ^b "A History of Precision: The Invention and Evolution of Swiss-Style Machining". www.mmsonline.com. 2024-07-24. Retrieved 2024-07-25.
^ "Phillips: CH080217, Patek Philippe". Phillips. Retrieved 2019-02-27.
^ Bond, Alexander Russell (1921). Scientific American Monthly.
^ Glatte, Wolfgang (1993). Deutsches Lok-Archiv: Diesellokomotiven 4. Auflage. Berlin: Transpress. ISBN 978-3-344-70767-5.

Sources

Churella, Albert J. (1998). From Steam to Diesel: Managerial Customs and Organizational Capabilities in the Twentieth-Century American Locomotive Industry. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-02776-0.

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