For most people， gadgets like smart phones and wearable computers are nothing more than the magical little machines. However， they probably dont know who invented the first smart watch or the person who paved the way for smart refrigerators that can tell you when youre out of milk.

Many of the worlds biggest inventions that have made life possible and transformed entire industries came from the minds of overlooked and underrated geniuses.

Lets meet the talented men and women together whove shaped our reliance on and expectations for technology， but who arent as widely known as they should be.

對(duì)于大多數(shù)人來說，像智能手機(jī)和便攜式計(jì)算機(jī)只是一些神奇的小電器?？墒?，人們大概并不知道是誰(shuí)發(fā)明了第一款智能手表，也不知道誰(shuí)為能告訴你什么時(shí)候沒牛奶了的智能冰箱的發(fā)明鋪平了路。

世界上有許多最偉大的發(fā)明，它們?yōu)槲覀儗?shí)現(xiàn)了新的生活方式，革新了整個(gè)工業(yè)系統(tǒng)，而它們卻都是源于一些被眾人忽略與輕視的天才頭腦。

讓我們一起了解一下這些天才人物，是他們促生了我們對(duì)科技的依賴和期望，他們本應(yīng)名聲斐然，卻鮮為人知。

1. Bertha Benz—Mother of Motoring

貝爾塔·本茨——汽車之母

Bertha Benz， the wife of the German engineer， Karl Benz， was a trailblzing woman and credited today with inventing the first modern car. Karl was apparently a genius engineer， but he didnt have the same business acumen or vision as his wife. He didnt even think to fit the vehicle with a fuel tank， but Bertha does.

貝爾塔·本茨是德國(guó)機(jī)械師卡爾·本茨的妻子，她是名具有開拓精神的女子，她為第一輛現(xiàn)代汽車的發(fā)明做出了不小的貢獻(xiàn)?？柎_實(shí)是個(gè)天才機(jī)械師，但他卻不如妻子那樣具有商業(yè)頭腦和遠(yuǎn)見。他甚至沒想過在汽車上裝油箱，但是貝爾塔想到了。

2. Florence Parpart—Creator of The Modern Refrigerator

佛羅倫薩·帕帕特——現(xiàn)代冰箱的發(fā)明者

In 1914， Florence Parpart， a housewife from New Jersey， won a patent for the first modern refrigerator that used electricity， rendering the icebox obsolete. It is believed that she may have used her fiancés expertise in electrical circuitry to assist with the first prototype.Anyway， She is a talented woman.

1914年，佛羅倫薩·帕帕特，這位來自美國(guó)新澤西的家庭婦女，為自己的發(fā)明獲得了一項(xiàng)專利，她發(fā)明了第一臺(tái)電力驅(qū)使的現(xiàn)代冰箱，淘汰了冷柜（譯注：里面放冰塊以冷藏食物的冰箱）。人們認(rèn)為她在研制第一代冰箱原型的時(shí)候可能借助了她的未婚夫在電路上的專業(yè)優(yōu)勢(shì)。不管怎樣，她的確是一位天才婦女。

3. Marie Van Brittan Brown—Mother of Home Security Siren

瑪麗·范·布里坦·布朗——家用安保系統(tǒng)之母

As a nurse who worked odd hours， Marie was concerned about the recent increase in crime and wanted to easily identify visitors at the door.

She with the help of her husband Albert Brown， an electronics technician， devised a mechanism featuring four peep holes and a motorized camera， which could slide up and down to look out each one. The surveillance device also gave a homeowner the ability to unlock the door with a remote control， or press a button to alert a nearby neighbor or security firm.

Patented in 1969， Maries invention is now the framework for modern home security， crime prevention， and traffic monitoring.

作為一名上班時(shí)間不固定的護(hù)士，瑪麗對(duì)當(dāng)時(shí)犯罪率的不斷上升感到憂慮，她希望在家門口就能辨別來訪的人是否安全。

她在作為電子機(jī)械師的丈夫艾伯特·布朗的幫助下發(fā)明了一種機(jī)械，這種機(jī)械裝備有四個(gè)監(jiān)控口，還有一個(gè)可活動(dòng)的攝像頭，攝像頭可以上下移動(dòng)，觀測(cè)四個(gè)監(jiān)控口中的情況。這種監(jiān)控設(shè)備還能讓家中主人遙控開門，或者觸動(dòng)按鈕向周圍鄰居或安全公司發(fā)出警報(bào)。

瑪麗的這項(xiàng)發(fā)明在1969年獲得了專利，使其成為現(xiàn)代家庭安保設(shè)備，社會(huì)預(yù)防犯罪設(shè)施及交通監(jiān)控設(shè)施得以發(fā)展的基本架構(gòu)。

4. Edward Thorp—Father of Wearable Computer

愛德華·索普——可穿戴式電腦之父

Edward Thorp， MIT mathematics professor and Hedge Fund manager， loved beating the odds so much. In 1961， Thorp under the help of his co-conspirator， professor Claude Shannon， who had worked on cryptography and code-breaking during World War II， created what is widely regarded as the first wearable computer. And he used the wearable computer to help him win at casinos.

麻省理工大學(xué)的數(shù)學(xué)教授和“對(duì)沖基金”經(jīng)理愛德華·索普喜歡戰(zhàn)勝困難。1961年，索普在自己的合作者，在二戰(zhàn)時(shí)期致力于密碼編寫和破譯的相關(guān)研究的克勞德·香農(nóng)的幫助下，發(fā)明了被公認(rèn)為世界上第一臺(tái)的可穿戴式電腦。他用可穿戴式電腦，在賭場(chǎng)里贏錢。