9. Edwin Land

Connecticut physicist and inventor Edwin Land didn’t invent photography, of course, but he invented or perfected almost everything else having to do with it. While a freshman at Harvard University in 1926, he developed a new kind of polarizer by aligning and embedding crystals in a plastic sheet, which he called Polaroid. Later, joined by other young scientists, he applied the polarizing principle to light filters, optical devices, and motion picture processes and founded the Polaroid Corporation in the process. Holder of no fewer than 535 U.S. Patents, Land is probably best known for developing the first self-developing camera, making it possible to embarrass your friends on the spot rather than having to wait for the film to come back from the drug store before humiliating them.

6. Jerome “Jerry” Hal Lemelson

What, you’ve never heard of Jerome Lemelson? Well, you have now, for he was one of the most prolific inventors in history, with 605 patents to his credit. What did he invent? Things like automated warehouses, industrial robots, cordless telephones, fax machines, videocassette recorders, camcorders and the magnetic tape drive used in Sony’s Walkman tape players. Lemelson also filed patents in the fields of medical instrumentation, cancer detection and treatment, diamond coating technologies, and consumer electronics and television. He was probably best known, however, as a tireless advocate for the rights of independent inventors, which made him a controversial and even much loathed figure by patent attorneys and some of the larger companies whose noses he tweaked, but a champion of the independent inventor’s community.

5. George Westinghouse

Though it was Edison that got most of the credit, it’s hard to argue that in many ways Westinghouse’s contributions were almost as great as Edison’s. Certainly it was his electrical system, which used alternating current based (a result of the work of Nikola Tesla, by the way), that ultimately prevailed over Edison’s insistence on direct current and paved the way for the modern power grid. But Westinghouse wasn’t a one-hit wonder; before he bested Edison with his AC power system, he invented the railway air brake, which did much to improve the safety of the American railway system. Like Edison, he also had an experimental streak which induced him play around with a perpetual motion machine. It didn’t quite work, of course (largely due to the fact that such a machine would violate the laws of physics) but you couldn’t blame him for trying. In any case, a prolific inventor and engineer with 361 patents to his credit, Westinghouse easily rounds out the top five candidates.

4. Alexander Graham Bell

You don’t often see the inventor of the telephone finish this high on such a list, but when one looks at the accomplishments the man was responsible for during his seventy five years on earth, it seems impossible not to include him in the top five. Though most famous for the telephone (which came about as a result of his early work with the deaf) not many people know he also invented devices that did everything from locate icebergs and detect minor hearing problems (an audiometer) to finding hidden treasure (he invented the modern metal detector). He even tried his hand at eugenics, built hydrofoils and worked on early airplanes, demonstrating quite a range of interests. And that copy of National Geographic Magazine you’ve been meaning to get around to one of these days? Thank Mister Bell for that as well, for he was one of the founding members of the National Geographic Foundation way back in 1888. Quite a résumé by any standard, if you ask me.

3. Thomas Edison

What? The most prolific inventor in modern history, with over a thousand patents to his credit, not number one? The inventor of the light bulb, the phonograph, the motion picture camera and the man who electrified New York City—literally—not top dog? Impossible! Actually, while Edison was a gifted man, many of his better known inventions were developed by others working for him or in collaboration with an entire design team, making him responsible for their development rather than their chief inventor. He also had a nasty tendency to renege on contracts and claim credit for other people’s work, but then nobody is perfect. However, even if he wasn’t personally responsible for everything that came out of his shop at Menlo Park and was at time integrity challenged, he was the master of R & D and oversaw the creation and production of many of the great inventions of the nineteenth century, earning him, if not the number one spot, at least a top five showing.

2. Nikola Tesla

Though largely unknown during his lifetime and a man who died in relative obscurity (and as something of a reclusive mad scientist at that), the brilliant Serb—who is enjoying a resurgence in popularity lately—was probably more responsible for the birth of commercial electricity than any man in history. While Tesla’s patents and theoretical work formed the basis of modern alternating current (AC) electric power systems, including the polyphase system of electrical distribution and the AC motor which helped usher in the Second Industrial Revolution, he is probably best known for his work in the field of electromagnetism. He also contributed in varying degrees to the science of robotics, laid the foundation for the development of remote control, radar, and computer science, and even helped in the expansion of ballistics, nuclear physics, and theoretical physics. Some people also believe he developed anti-gravity, teleportation, and even death rays, but that’s a bit more difficult to substantiate. In any case, with 111 patents to his credit, he was genuinely one of the finest and most innovative minds in history whose recognition has been long in coming.