science

Inventors' Day

Inventors' Day is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Inventors' Day rather than just read about it. In short: Inventors' Day is a day of the year set aside by a country to recognise the contributions of inventors. Not all countries recognise Inventors' Day.

Key takeaways

Inventors' Day belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Inventors' Day to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Inventors' Day from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Inventors' Day is a day of the year set aside by a country to recognise the contributions of inventors. Not all countries recognise Inventors' Day. Those countries which do recognise an Inventors' Day do so with varying degrees of emphasis and on different days of the year.

By location

Argentina

The Inventors' Day (Spanish: Día del Inventor) in Argentina has been celebrated since 1986 and is held yearly on 29 September, the birthday of the inventor of the ballpoint pen, László József Bíró.

Austria, Germany and Switzerland

The Inventors' Day (German: Tag der Erfinder) in the German-speaking countries Germany, Austria and Switzerland is celebrated on 9 November, the birthday of the Austrian-born inventor and Hollywood actress Hedy Lamarr whose main invention was the frequency-hopped spread spectrum 1942. The day was proclaimed by Berlin inventors and entrepreneurs Gerhard Muthenthaler and Marijan Jordan. According to the website of the organisation it intends to pursue the following goals:

Encourage people towards their own ideas and for a change to the better Remind people of forgotten inventors

Brazil The Inventors' Day (Portuguese: Dia do Inventor) in Brazil is celebrated on 4 November.

Hungary

Hungarian Inventors' Day (Magyar Feltalálók Napja) is celebrated on 13 June in memoriam of Albert Szent-Györgyi who registered his national patent about the synthesized Vitamin C in 1941. It is celebrated by the Association of Hungarian Inventors (MAFE) since 2009.

Moldova Since 1995, the Republic of Moldova has celebrated an Inventors' and Rationalizers' Day annually at the end of June.

Russia Since 1957, Russia has celebrated an Inventors' and Rationalizers' Day (Russian: День изобретателя и рационализатора) annually at the last Saturday of June.

Thailand Thailand recognises 2 February as Inventors' Day each year. The Thai Cabinet set this date to commemorate the anniversary of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s allocation of a patent for a slow speed surface aerator on 2 February 1993.

United Kingdom While as of yet, the United Kingdom does not officially recognize an Inventor's Day, in 2014 BT made a public appeal to celebrate "the first" National Inventor's Day on 2 December 2014. While many countries celebrate inventiveness on a significant day relating to one of that country's inventors, 2 December does not appear to have such a relationship. However, the day was also the release of a study by BT of the inventiveness of UK residents. As of 9 November 2016 there has not been any announcement of a second or subsequent National Inventor's Day in the United Kingdom.

United States

Ronald Reagan as President of the United States proclaimed 11 February 1983 as National Inventors' Day, Proclamation 5013 Archived 2014-04-10 at the Wayback Machine, to "...call upon the people of the United States to observe this day with appropriate ceremonies and activities". In recognition of the enormous contribution inventors make to the nation and the world, the Congress, pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 140 (Public Law 97 – 198), has designated 11 February, the anniversary of the birth of the inventor Thomas Alva Edison, who held over 1,000 patents, as National Inventors' Day.

See also The heroic theory of invention and scientific development World Intellectual Property Day World Book and Copyright Day

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Inventors' Day

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Inventors' Day claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Inventors' Day before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Inventors' Day ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Inventors' Day

In research: Inventors' Day appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Inventors' Day in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Inventors' Day is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics February observances, Inventors, June observances, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Inventors' Day outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Inventors' Day in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Inventors' Day means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Inventors' Day out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Inventors' Day in simple terms?

Inventors' Day is a day of the year set aside by a country to recognise the contributions of inventors. Not all countries recognise Inventors' Day.

Why does Inventors' Day matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Inventors' Day?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Inventors' Day.