Timeline of Australian inventions

Lore & Background

Australian inventions include the very old, such as woomera, and the very new, such as the scramjet, first fired at the Woomera rocket range. The Australian government has suggested that Australian inventiveness springs from the nation's geography and isolation. Perhaps due to its status as an island continent connected to the rest of the world only via air and sea, Australians have been leaders in inventions relating to both maritime and aeronautical matters, including powered flight, the black box flight recorder, the inflatable escape slide, the surf ski and the wave-piercing catamaran winged keel. Since the earliest days of European settlement, Australia's main industries have been agriculture and mining. As a result of this, Australians have made many inventions in these areas, including the grain stripper, the stump jump plough, mechanical sheep shears, the Dethridge water wheel, the froth flotation ore separation process, the instream ore analysis process and the buffalo fly trap. Australian inventions also include a number of weapons or weapons systems, including the woomera, the tank, and the underwater torpedo. In recent years, Australians have been at the forefront of medical technology with inventions including ultrasound, the bionic ear, the first plastic spectacle lenses, the electronic pacemaker, the multi-focal contact lens, spray-on artificial skin and anti-flu medication. Australians also developed a number of useful household items, including Vegemite, and the process for producing permanently creased fabric. Many of Australia's inventions were realised by individuals who get little credit or who are often overlooked for more famous Europeans. Australian-Aboriginal man David Unaipon is known as 'Australia's Leonardo' for his contributions to science and the Aboriginal people. His inventions include a tool for sheep-shearing, a centrifugal motor, a multi-radial wheel and mechanical propulsion device. Unaipon appears on Australia's $50 note. The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian-government-funded institution. A number of CSIRO funded scientists and engineers are featured in this list. CSIRO scientists lead Australian research across a number of different fields, and work with industry and government to solve problems such as using insects to tackle weeds, growing more sustainable crops and

Reader's Guide

The source article lists mechanical clippers under the year 1877, stating: '1877 – Mechanical clippers – Various mechanical shearing patents were registered in Australia before Frederick York Wolseley finally succeeded in developing a practical hand piece with a comb and reciprocating cutter driven by power transmitted from a stationary engine.' The source does not mention a demonstration in 1884. Therefore, the entry remains as 1877, consistent with the source.

Did You Know?

• The woomera is a type of spear thrower, adding thrust to a spear as part of a throwing action.
• The didgeridoo is a wind instrument of northern Australia, traditionally made by termites hollowing out a Eucalyptus branch.
• David Unaipon, known as 'Australia's Leonardo', appears on Australia's $50 note.