Science and technology in the United States facts for kids

Science and technology in the United States has a long history, producing many important figures and developments in the field. The United States of America came into being around the Age of Enlightenment (1685 to 1815), an era in Western philosophy in which writers and thinkers, rejecting the perceived superstitions of the past, instead chose to emphasize the intellectual, scientific and cultural life, centered upon the 18th century, in which reason was advocated as the primary source for legitimacy and authority. Enlightenment philosophers envisioned a "republic of science," where ideas would be exchanged freely and useful knowledge would improve the lot of all citizens.

The United States Constitution itself reflects the desire to encourage scientific creativity. It gives the United States Congress the power "to promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries." This clause formed the basis for the U.S. patent and copyright systems, whereby creators of original art and technology would get a government granted monopoly, which after a limited period would become free to all citizens, thereby enriching the public domain.

Images for kids

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  Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Harvey Firestone. Ft. Myers, Florida, February 11, 1929.

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  Alexander Graham Bell placing the first New York to Chicago telephone call in 1892

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  Theoretical physicist Albert Einstein, who emigrated to the United States to escape Nazi persecution, is an example of human capital flight as a result of political change.

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  Serbian-American inventor Nikola Tesla sitting in the Colorado Springs experimental station with his "Magnifying transmitter" generating millions of volts.

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  Wernher von Braun with the F-1 engines of the Saturn V first stage at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center

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  Men of Progress, representing 19 contemporary American inventors, 1857

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  First flight of the Wright Flyer I, December 17, 1903, Orville piloting, Wilbur running at wingtip.

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  Howard Hughes with his Boeing 100 in the 1940s

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  The Space Shuttle Columbia takes off on a crewed mission to space.

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  A visual example of a 24 satellite GPS constellation in motion with the earth rotating. Notice how the number of satellites in view from a given point on the earth's surface, in this example in Golden, Colorado, USA(39.7469° N, 105.2108° W), changes with time.

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  Bill Gates and Steve Jobs at the fifth D: All Things Digital conference (D5) in 2007

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  Silicon Valley

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  Two Jet Propulsion Laboratory engineers stand with three vehicles, providing a size comparison of three generations of Mars rovers. Front and center is the flight spare for the first Mars rover, Sojourner, which landed on Mars in 1997 as part of the Mars Pathfinder Project. On the left is a Mars Exploration Rover (MER) test vehicle that is a working sibling to Spirit and Opportunity, which landed on Mars in 2004. On the right is a test rover for the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), which landed Curiosity on Mars in 2012.

  Sojourner is 65 cm (2.13 ft) long. The MERs are 1.6 m (5.2 ft) long. Curiosity on the right is 3 m (9.8 ft) long.
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  The Hubble Space Telescope as seen from Space Shuttle Discovery during its second servicing mission

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  Mars Oxygen ISRU Experiment

See also

In Spanish: Ciencia y tecnología en Estados Unidos para niños