France is famous. When you talk about France it is almost impossible for one not to mention or tie anything to Paris and we cannot blame anyone for that.
Why is this? France and is famous for cuisine, wine, language, landmarks, tourist sites, automobiles, culture, latest trends in fashion among other things.
So, what about serious academic, scientific or technological inventions originating from France? Fun fact! We know little about French novel inventions!
France has housed some of the biggest minds in the science and technology space since time immemorial and very little is known about it.
Today, France flourishes in the engineering, fintech and technological sector thanks to some of these inventions.
More fascinating is the fact that due to technological advancement access to some of these appliances is extremely easy and convenient.
Online buying or shopping can be complicated at times especially in choosing viable sites and corporations to buy from.
It is advised, therefore, before buying anything online you should read honest reviews from customers who have been in your shoes before.
Such an online review site in France is AmonAvis.fr which gives reviews on numerous sites and corporations, including sites that sell high tech electrical appliances such as Joybuy
This writing will focus on French historical inventions in the technological and scientific sphere people give less attention to.
Below are 5 French inventions you probably never knew came from France.
- The Stethoscope
This is one of the instruments common to all doctors in hospitals today.
The Stethoscope was invented in 1816 by a French physician Rene Theophile Hyacinthe Laennec who is considered the father of clinical auscultation.
This French genius wrote the first seminal work on the use of listening to body sounds, bronchiectasis and cirrhosis descriptions hence the title father of clinical auscultation.
The stethoscope is based on the amplification of sounds using mediate auscultation rather than immediate auscultation.
In other words, the stethoscope uses the small disc-shaped resonator at the top to amplify the internal sounds of the patient.
This invention is probably one of those symbols that can identify a doctor from a mile away.
- The hot air balloon ( Mongolfiere)
On September 19th 1783 Pilatre De Rozier, a French scientist, launched the first air balloon.
He for this particular flight used a rooster, a duck and a sheep as his passengers. These passengers enjoyed their flight for about 15 minutes before mercilessly crashing.
The first human experience on a hot air balloon came two months later when two French brothers Joseph and Etienne Montgolfier launched a hot air balloon from the centre of Paris which flew for a period of about 20 minutes.
Two years later, a French and American balloonist flew across the English Channel using the same idea.
That is how hot air balloons were born and are here with us! Over the years people have done pretty impressive things with this invention.
For example, Richard Branson and his copilot Per Lind strand have a record for being the first to cross the Atlantic, the Pacific and travelling from Japan to Canada in a hot air balloon.
- The Braille
This has proved to be a priceless tool for the physically blind human population on a quotidian basis.
The braille is a French invention developed by Louis Braille who unfortunately got completely blinded at the age of three.
He accidentally blinded himself in one eye and his other eye went blind due to sympathetic ophthalmia, an inflammation to both eyes that comes with trauma to one.
This French genius invented the universal mode of communication of the blind when he was 15.
Louis invented the braille for reading and writing for the blind and worked on it more when he got admitted to the French Royal Institute for the blind.
- Pasteurization
This was discovered by the French microbiologist Louis Paster. He revolutionized food preservation.
His process was first put to test and worked in 1862. It involves heating milk at a particular very high temperature to eliminate microorganisms that would otherwise make it go bad.
This method of preservation of milk is still in use today and multi-million milk companies are using it to deliver to their customers the best of their products.
- The Aqua-Lung
This is a recent invention in relation to the other French Inventions.
This invention is the first-ever made oxygen supply under water.
It was created in Paris France 1943 by two French engineers Jacques Cousteu and Emile Gagnan.
It launched decades of innovation especially in the sports sector since now we have scuba diving.
Further, the Aqua-Lung has revolutionized the aquatic world as it has made it more accessible. Cousteau coined the word Aqua-Lung for the English speaking countries. Today the Aqua-Lung is used universally.