science

List of South African inventions and discoveries

List of South African inventions and discoveries 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 List of South African inventions and discoveries rather than just read about it. In short: The following is a list and timeline of innovations as well as inventions and discoveries that involved South African people or South Africa including predecessor states in the history of the formation of South Africa. This list covers innovation and invention in the mechanical, electronic, and industrial fields, as well as medicine, military devices and theory, artistic and scientific discovery and innovation, and…

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

The following is a list and timeline of innovations as well as inventions and discoveries that involved South African people or South Africa including predecessor states in the history of the formation of South Africa. This list covers innovation and invention in the mechanical, electronic, and industrial fields, as well as medicine, military devices and theory, artistic and scientific discovery and innovation, and ideas in religion and ethics.

18th Century 1743 Jukskei is a folksport originating from the Cape and is thought to be the forerunner of the American game Horseshoes. 1772 Rooibos tea is recorded by naturalist Carl Thunberg, who noted that "the country people made tea" from a plant related to rooibos or redbush which reignited popular interest in the tea. Khoisan people of the Cederberg region had made the tea for hundreds of years prior.

18–19th Century 1787–1828 The iklwa, a shorter style of spear, was popularized under the rule of Shaka Zulu.

20th century

1900–1930 1925, Pinotage is South Africa's signature variety wine grape, and was bred from a cross between Pinot noir and Cinsaut grapes.

1930–1960 1940s, the Wadley loop circuit was designed by Dr. Trevor Wadley and was first used for a stable Wavemeter. 1950, Sasol, the country's largest fuel producer, was founded. 1950, Q20 lubricant was invented by Mr. Robertson in Pinetown. Q20 is an all purpose lubricating spray that is owned by the Triton-Leo Group (Pty) Ltd. The name derives from "it has 20 answers to 20 questions". 1957, Flame ionization detector by Harley and Pretorius at the University of Pretoria in Pretoria, South Africa 1959, Tellurometer was the first successful microwave electronic distance measurement equipment and was also invented by Dr. Trevor Wadley. 1960s, Helikon vortex separation processis an aerodynamic uranium enrichment process designed around a device called a vortex tube.The Uranium Enrichment Corporation of South Africa, Ltd. (UCOR) developed the process, operating a facility at Pelindaba near Pretoria.

1960–1980 1961, the Black & Decker Workmate, a portable, multipurpose workbench, was invented by Ron Hickman, and has since sold about 30 million units around the world. 1963, the CT scan, or CAT scan, was invented by Allan MacLeod Cormack. He shared the 1979 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Godfrey Hounsfield for his work on X-ray CT. 1963, the dolos is invented. It is a large concrete block weighing up to 20 tons in a complex geometric shape, used to protect harbor walls from the erosive force of the ocean waves. 1965, Freddie "Saddam" Maake claimed to have invented the vuvuzela by fabricating an aluminium version in 1965 from a bicycle horn. 1965, Doctor Selig Percy Amoils unveiled the Amoils Cryo Pencil, the world's first surgical tool to use extreme cold to destroy unwanted tissue, at Baragwanath Hospital. Amoils refined the cryoextraction technique for cataract surgery. It has been used to treat Margaret Thatcher and Nelson Mandela's eyes. His invention has been widely used for cryosurgery in gynecology and ophthalmology. 1967, Sir Doctor Christiaan Barnard completed the world's first successful heart transplantation on 3 December 1967, in Cape Town. 1969, Pratley's Putty was carried aboard the Apollo 11 Eagle landing craft. George Pratley invented Pratley's Putty to hold electrical box components. 1970, the diamond vitrectomy cutter was invented by Selig Percy Amoils. 1975, the Scheffel bogie was invented by Doctor Herbert Scheffel. This novel bogie design was used to facilitate the development of the South African narrow-gauge railway system. 1971, Percy Tucker of Benoni, Gauteng founded Computicket, the world's first computerized ticketing system. It was deployed nationally in 1971. 1974, Kreepy Krauly was invented by Ferdinand Chauvier, formerly from the Belgian Congo. 1978, South African Class 6E1, Series 4 unit no. E1525 set the world narrow-gauge rail speed record of 245 kilometres per hour.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with List of South African inventions and discoveries

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what List of South African inventions and discoveries 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 List of South African inventions and discoveries 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 List of South African inventions and discoveries 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 List of South African inventions and discoveries

In research: List of South African inventions and discoveries 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 List of South African inventions and discoveries 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: List of South African inventions and discoveries is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Lists of inventions or discoveries, Science and technology in South Africa, South Africa history-related lists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for List of South African inventions and discoveries 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 List of South African inventions and discoveries in 20 minutes

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Frequently asked questions

What is List of South African inventions and discoveries in simple terms?

Why does List of South African inventions and discoveries 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 List of South African inventions and discoveries?

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 List of South African inventions and discoveries.