Taken for granted

“In this high-tech world of ours we take so much for granted,” writes a Craigie regular. “As a youngster growing up in Dundee in the 1930s and 40s, I remember seeing several films about the lives of great scientists and inventors.

“There have been a few television documentaries highlighting some great men and women, but I’m sure many more could be shown and they could be of interest and entertainment.

“Who, for instance, invented such everyday items as safety pins, kirby grips, zip-fasteners, sealed cans as food containers, ring-pulls, can-openers, pneumatic tyres, then the more complicated caterpillar-track vehicles, the hovercraft, the Harrier jump-jet, the jet engine?

“Even such seemingly simple items as string, processed wool and thread must have been invented. Who first discovered that the fluffy wool on a sheep’s back could be converted into thin, continuous strands which could then be knitted, crocheted or spun and woven into tough and hard-wearing clothes?

“Then there are the amazing discoveries in the realms of science and medicine. The list of such near-miracles is endless and we see and use the products of these inventors’ imagination and efforts every day without a thought.

“Wouldn’t it make a wonderful TV series if some programme-maker were to produce a short documentary on each invention and its creator in turn, giving the story of his/her life and how the inventor came up with the idea in the first place?”