The Great Lakes Zephyr - Wind Energy & Hydrogen Journal

CNET.com special report on offshoring:

The next battlefields for
advanced technology
By Mike Ricciuti, Ed Frauenheim and Mike Yamamoto
May 7, 2004, 4:00AM PT

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--Few people know it, but the invention of the microwave oven can be traced back to an inquisitive engineer's sweet tooth.

It happened one day in 1946, the story goes, when Percy Spencer noticed that a candy bar had melted in his pocket while he was testing a new magnetron vacuum tube for Raytheon, as part of its radar research that began during World War II. Intrigued, he placed some popcorn kernels near the tube, and an egg, the next morning--and discovered that the intense heat had similar effects.

"Scientists familiar with magnetrons knew the tubes generated heat at the same time they radiated the microwave energy that made radar possible," reads the official history of the company, which was founded more than 80 years ago here near Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and other crucibles of advanced research. "Spencer was the first, however, to discover that one could cook food using microwave radio signals."

History is full of accidental inventions like this, especially in the United States: Teflon, Coca-Cola and nylon all emerged as serendipitous offshoots of unrelated research. And that is exactly why many U.S. corporate and political leaders believe that it is imperative for the nation to maintain its emphasis on advanced research and innovative science. With more resources and policies concentrated on...(Full Story)