Mueller Science - Swiss Firsts - Swiss Discoveries

500 Swiss Firsts, Swiss Discoveries and Swiss Inventions

Content

Epochs in geology and cultural history

„Little Switzerland“ for geographic areas world-wide

UNESCO World Heritage: Switzerland

UNESCO Biopshere Reserves in Switzerland

Firsts, Discoveries and Inventions (without mechanical clocks/ watches)

(Culture, science and mathematics, engineering and devices, first ascents, international organizations, etc.)

7775 BC – 1999 AD

separately:

Swiss food and luxury food (7^th century – 2000)

Swiss medicine and biology (1500-2000)

Swiss medicaments and pharmaceutical detections (1520-1999)

Swiss chemistry and chemicals (1778-1993)

Bibliography

Epochs in geology and cultural history

Some epochs in geology and cultural history got names by researchers relating to Switzerland:

Jurassic: geologic period 200-150 Mio. years ago

Valais ocean: an ocean between Europe and Africa 200-65 Mio. years ago

Helveticum or Hevetic zone or Helvetic system: sedimentary rocks originated 160-65 Mio. years ago

Cortaillod culture: 4500/4300-3500/3300 BC

Egolzwil culture: 4300-4000 BC

Pfyn culture: 3900-3500/3400 BC

Horgen culture: 3500/3300-2800 BC

Auvernier culture: 2700-2400 BC

Arbon culture: 1800-1600 BC

Rhône culture: 1800-1500 BC and Aare-Rhône-Group

La Tène culture: 480/450-40 BC

„Little Switzerland“ for geographic areas world-wide

The designation „Little Switzerland“ resp. “Schweiz” for geographic areas we find at least 200 times world-wide, 67 times only in Germany, see:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Switzerland_%28landscape%29

Some examples:

Germany

Bremen

Franconian

Holstein

Mecklenburg

Saxon

Latvia

Kurzeme (Courland)

Czech Republic

Bohemian

Moravian

Mongolia

Mongolian

Deliberately: Abyssinia, Benin, Botswana, Burundi, Malawi, Nigeria, Lesotho, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Swaziland

Afrikanische Schweiz

UNESCO World Heritage: Switzerland

http://whc.unesco.org/en/statesparties/ch

http://www.welterbe.ch

Cultural:

Benedictine Convent of St John at Müstair, Grisons (since 1983)

Convent of St Gall (1983)

Old City of Berne (1983)

Three Castles, Defensive Wall and Ramparts of the market-Town of Bellinzona, Ticino (2000)

Lavaux, Vineyard Terraces, Vaud (2007)

Rhaetian Railway in the Albula-Bernina Cultural Landscape, Grisons/ Italy (2008)

La Chaux-de-Fonds/ Le Locle, watchmaking town planning (2009)

56 Pile Dwellings around the Alps (2011)

Natural:

Swiss Alps Jungfrau-Aletsch, Berne/ Valais (2001)

Monte San Giorgio, Ticino (2003)

Swiss Tectonic Arena Sardona, St Gall/ Glarus/ Grisons (2008)

UNESCO Biopshere Reserves in Switzerland

http://www.unesco.org/mabdb/br/brdir/directory/biores.asp?code=SWI+02&mode=all

Parc Suisse (1979)

Entlebuch (2001)

Firsts, Discoveries and Inventions (without mechanical clocks/ watches)

(Culture, science, engineering, first ascents, etc.)

Prehistoric times

earliest evidence for breeding plants in Europe: Cerealia t. pollen/ Triticum t. (Soppensee, 7775 BC)
see: Willy Tinner, Ebbe H. Nielsen, André F. Lotter: Mesolithic agriculture in Switzerland? A critical review of the evidence. Quaternary Science Reviews, 26.9/10, May 2007, 1416-1431.

oldest prehistoric ice finds in the Alps: leather remnants of shoes and leggings, bow, arrow shafts and arrowheads (Schnidejoch pass in Bernese Oberland, 4500 BC;
see:

http://www.kommunikation.unibe.ch/content/medien/medienmitteilungen/news/2008/eisfunde_vom_schnidejoch__1000_jahre_aelter_als_oetzi/index_ger.html

http://www.landschaftsmuseum.de/Seiten/Lexikon/Schnidejoch_CH.htm

oldest stake building settlements (Kleiner Hafner, 4400 BC; Egolzwil, 4300 BC; Bielersee, 4000 BC)

oldest bread of the world (Max Waehren; Montmirail at the Zihl, 3700 BC; approximately 200 years older than that of Twann)

oldest full disc wheel of Europe (Zurich, 3400 BC)

animal bone ice skates (Berner Stadtmuseum, 2000 BC – according to Rudolf Kutzer, 1955)

400-999

first monastery north of the Alps: Romainmôtier (Roman and Lupicin, around 450)

oldest permanent dynasty: Guelfs (Count Ruthard, in the Thurgau 751)

first Gregorian chorale (Monastery St. Gall, 778)

Latin-(Old High-)German glossary: „Abrogans“ (cloister St. Gallen, 790)

Monastery plan (St. Gall: Gozbert, 820)

Notation for music: "Neumen" (Notker Balbulus, 884; Hartker, around 1000)

Religious play: "Easter play" (Tuotilo, around 900)

First ancestor of the House of Habsburg (Guntram the Rich, in Brugg/ Altenburg after 950)

1000-1099

First hotel of Europe ("Les Trois Rois", Basel 1026; probably a legend; first official record 1681) http://www.altbasel.ch/haushof/les_trois_rois.html

First instruction in governing (Wipo, after 1020)

As first woman canonized: Wiborada (recluse, died 926; 1047)

1100-1199

Arm: Morning star (12th Century)

First description of the economy of the Alps: "Acta Murensia" (monastery Muri, 1160)

Oldest wooden residential building of Europe: Niederöst-Haus (in Schwyz, 1160 or 1176)

1200-1299

Founding of the dynasty of the Hapsburgs (Rudolf I, born on the Kyburg or in Brugg, 1218)

Term "Guild" (Basel, furriers, 1226)

First guild of the building people (Basel, 1248)

First German-speaking Medieval drama: Osterspiel (Monastery Muri, 1250)

Oldest democracy of the world: oath on the "Ruetli" (Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden, 1291)

Halberds (Konrad of Wuerzburg, around 1260; Battle at Morgarten, 1315)

1300-1399

alpenhorn: Alphorn (after 1300; first written document 1527)

Oldest permanent Swiss firm (Bell faundry Rüetschi, Aarau, 1367)

First description of the card game and playing cards (Johannes of Rheinfelden, from Freiburg i. Br., 1377)

First climbing of a high Alp peak: Pilatus (Niklaus Bruder, 1387)

1400-1499

oldest playable organ of the world (church of Valère near Sion, 1440)

dulcimer (1447)

Oldest permanent Swiss publisher (Johann Petri, today publisher "Schwabe", Basel 1488)

1500-1549

Anabaptists (Zurich, 1523/25)

Iconoclastic movement of the Reformation (Huldrych Zwingli, 1524)

Protestant ethic, Puritanism (the French Jean Calvin in Basel and Geneva, 1536)

Bibliography: “Bibliotheca universalis seu Catalogus“ (Conrad Gessner, 1545-55; „Pandekten“ 1548)

First map of the Alps (the German Johannes Stumpf in Zurich, 1548)

1550-1599

comparative linguistics (Conrad Gessner, 1555)

Drawing of fossiles (Conrad Gessner, 1565)

Pencil (Drawing by Conrad Gessner, 1565)

Tables of logarithms (Jost Bürgi, 1588-1610, but only published 1620)

Rangefinder (Jost Bürgi, 1592)

first newspaper of the world: „Annus Christi“ Rorschach (Leonhard Straub, Samuel Dilbaum, 1597)

1600-1649

Proportional dividers (Jost Bürgi, 1604)

Orion nebula, M31 (Johann Cysat, 1619)

Geometry: Guldin’s rule (Paul Guldin, 1635-41)

Illustrated journal (Matthäus Merian d. Ä., 1635)

1650-1699

Division symbol ÷ (Johann Heinrich Rahn, 1659)

Amish People (Jakob Ammann, 1693)

First monthly journal: „Historischer und Politischer Mercurius“ (in Rorschach, 1694)

Saint Bernard dog (1696)

1700-1739

First technical journal (Johann Jakob Scheuchzer, 1705)

Pietists in Philadelphia (Samuel K. Guldin, 1710)

Vertical drilling machine for cannons (Johann Maritz, 1713)

Bernoulli numbers, variation calculus, probability theory (Jakob Bernoulli, 1713)

theoretical mechanics: „Phoronomia“ (Jacob Hermann, 1716)

cristallography (Moritz Anton Kappeler, 1723)

Fossil theory (Johann Jakob Scheuchzer, 1725)

Symbol "e„ (Leonhard Euler, 1727/36)

See: http://www.veling.nl/anne/templars/constants.html

http://www.maths.tcd.ie/pub/HistMath/People/Euler/RouseBall/RB_Euler.html

Coulomb's law (Abel Socin, 1729)

Horizontal drilling machine for cannons (Johann Maritz, 1734)

Oldest watch factories (Blancpain, 1735; Favre Leuba, 1737)

Bernoulli's law; Kinetic gas theory (Daniel Bernoulli, 1738)

1740-1749

Geometry: Euler’s spiral (Leonhard Euler, 1744)

Leyden jar (Pieter van Musschenbroek and the Swiss Jean-Nicolas-Sébastien Allamand, 1746)

German Reformed Church in Philadelphia (Michael Schlatter, 1746)

Right to the "pursuit of happiness" (Jean-Jacques Burlamaqui, 1747)

Infinitesimal analysis (Leonhard Euler, 1748)

corpuscular theory of gravitation (Georges-Louis Le Sage, 1748)

1750-1759

Swiss Chalet (18^th century)

Cramer’s rule and Cramer’s paradox (Gabriel Cramer, 1750)

Relief of a massif: Pilatus (Franz Ludwig Pfyffer of Wyher, 1750)

Central and parallel projection (Johann Heinrich Lambert, 1752)

Panorama of the Alps (Jacques-Barthélemy Micheli du Crest, 1754)

electrical insulation (Wendelin Amersin, 1754)

Summation symbol: “sigma” (Leonhard Euler, 1755)

1760-1769

First Dutch Reformed Church in America (Johannes Henricus Goetchins, ca. 1760)

Photometry (Johann Heinrich Lambert, from Mulhouse, 1760)

Solar thermal collector: „Hot box“ (Horace Bénédict de Saussure 1762-67)

Educational ideal: "Emile" (Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 1762)

Basis of social organization: "Contrat social" (Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 1762)

Term "Phaenomenology" (Johann Heinrich Lambert, 1764)

Systematologie (Johann Heinrich Lambert, 1764/71)

Electrometer (Horace Bénédict de Saussure, 1767)

1770-1779

Androids (Pierre Jaquet-Droz and his son Henri-Louis, 1772-75)

Tarot rediscovered (the Frenchman Antoine Court de Gébelin from Geneva, 1773)

electrostatic telegraph (Georges-Louis Le Sage, 1774)

Physiognomics (Johann Caspar Lavater, 1775)

Cylindrical panorama (Horace Bénédict de Saussure, 1776)

Glaciology (Jakob Samuel Wyttenbach, 1777)

Symbol "i" (Leonhard Euler, 1777)

1780-1789

Hygrometer (Horace Bénédict de Saussure, 1783)

Central draft burner: Quinquet (Ami Argand, 1784)

Gravity is a push (Georges-Louis Le Sage, 1784)

First ascent of Montblanc (Horace Bénédict de Saussure, 1787; Michel-Gabriel Paccard and Jacques Balmat 1786)

mechanical explanation of magnetism (Pierre Prévost, 1788)

1790-1799

first 360°-Panorama of the Alps (Hans Conrad Escher von der Linth, 1792)

viniculture in USA (Jean-Jacques Duofur, 1796)

1800-1809

Banque de France (Jean-François Perregaux et al., 1800)

Waxworks (Marie Grossholz, Madame Tussaud" 1802)

Internal combustion engine (François Isaac de Rivaz, 1802-07)

Breech-loader (Johann Georg Bodmer, 1803)

Educational reform (Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi into Yverdon, 1804-25)

First horological school in Paris (Louis Berthoud, 1804)

First beat wing apparatus (Jakob Degen in Wien, 1808)

First geological map of Scotland (Louis Albert Necker, 1808)

Thermodynamics: law of Prévost (Pierre Prévost, 1809)

1810-1819

Optical lenses (Pierre-Louis Guinand, around 1810)

City Petra (Johann-Ludwig Burckhardt, 1812)

Abu Simbel (Johann-Ludwig Burckhardt, 1813)

‘log-log’ slide rule (Peter Mark Roget in London, 1814)

First inn on a summit: Rigi (1816)

First helicopter model (Jakob Degen in Wien 1816)

1820-1829

Incandescent lamp (Auguste De la Rive, 1820)

Guilloche engraving apparatus to print forgery-proof bank notes (Jakob Degen in Wien, 1920)

First permanent wire cable suspension bridge: Pont Saint-Antoine (Guillaume-Henri Dufour in Genf, 1823)

Comparative history of religions (Benjamin Constant de Rebecque, 1824)

Sapphire cutter: „Ingold cutter“ (Pierre-Fréderic Ingold, 1825 – or around 1860)

chemical theory of electricity (Auguste de la Rive, 1825-36)

Underwater stethoscope (Jean-Daniel Colladon, 1826)

Geometry: Steiner point (Jakob Steiner, 1826)

Cartoons (Rodolphe Toepffer, 1827)

1830-1839

First European Peace Society on the continent (Jean-Jacques de Sellon, 1830)

Geometry: Necker Cube illusion (Louis Albert Necker, 1832)

First multinational enterprise (Georg Fischer, 1833)

Roll chair for mills (Sulzberger, 1834)

Contracting helix: “Roget’s spiral” ((Peter Mark Roget in London, 1835)

Concertina: “Langnauerli” (Johann Samuel Herrmann, 1836)

Theory of the Ice Age (Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz, 1837)

Term „facies“ of geology (Amanz Gressly, 1838)

Idea and therm "Logistics" (Antoine-Henri Jomini, 1838)

Roundabout lathe (Johann Georg Bodmer, 1839)

Gold rush in California (Johann August Sutter, 1839; James Wilson Marshall 1848)

1840-1849

Photometer, dynamometer (Jean-Daniel Colladon, around 1840)

Law of the unchangeable heat sums (Germain Henri Hess, 1840)

Improvement of the sticking machine (Franz Elysäus Rittmeyer, Franz Anton Vogler, 1840)

Loom with Honegger stroke (Caspar Honegger, 1842)

First stamp on the European continent (Orell Fuessli, Zurich, 1843)

Light from northwest on maps (Guillaume-Henri Dufour, 1844)

First pattern for clothing (Zurich, 1844)

first multicolored stamp printed and set up in the relief printing: „Basler Dybli" (Melchior Berri, 1845)

foundation of modern science in USA (Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz, 1846)

Scientific evaluation of the sunspots (Rudolf Wolf, 1848)

1850-1859

Multi-dimensional geometry (Ludwig Schläfli, um 1850)

Chilled casting for railroad wheels (Abraham Ganz, around 1850)

Polar planimeter (Jakob Amsler, 1854)

Theory of stilt houses, lake dwellings (Ferdinand Keller, 1854)

First iron arch bridge (Karl von Etzel, Nikolaus Riggenbach bei Olten, 1854-56)

Linguistic palaeontology (Adolphe Pictet, 1859)

1860-1869

First chair of ethnic/ folk psychology (University of Berne, 1860, for Moritz Lazarus)

"Matriarchy" (Johann Jakob Bachofen, 1861)

Cog wheel septim (Niklaus Riggenbach, 1863)

Spiral drill (Giovanni Martignoni in Düsseldorf, 1863)

Special lathe: Taps machine (Johann Georg Bodmer, Jakob Friedrich Reishauer, 1863)

Shuttle stick automat (Isaak Groebli, 1863)

First “Guided tour” to Switzerland (the Englishman Thomas Cook, 1863)

Red Cross (Jean Henri Dunant, 1864)

First general factory and work law on the continent (Fridolin Schuler, 1864)

Graphic statics (Carl Culmann in Zürich, 1864-66)

Term „entropy“ (the German Rudolf Clausius in Zürich, 1865)

first Kindergarten in USA (William Nicholas Hailmann, 1865)

first sowing machine (Johann Ulrich Aebi, 1865)

Steam engine with valves (the Englishman Charles Brown with Sulzer, 1865)

„Davoser sledge“ (Emanuel Heinz-Friberg, 1865)

First ascent of Matterhorn (Peter Taugwalder and son with Michel Croz of Chamonix escort the Englishmen Edward Whymper and Lord Francis Douglas, 1865)

Flat knitting machine (Eduard Dubied, 1867)

First seat of an international organization: International Telecommunications Union ITU (Berne, 1868-1948)

Martini-Henry rifle (Friedrich von Martini, 1869; Alexander Henry, 1871)

1870-1879

Bionics (Simon Schwendener, 1870)

first mountain railway of Europe (Vitznau-Rigi-railroad, 1871)

Philosophy of Life (the German Friedrich Nietzsche in Basel, 1872)

Idea of an International Court of Justice (Gustave Moynier, 1872)

Compressed air drill (Jean-Daniel Colladon for the drive of the Gotthard tunnel, 1872)

Roll chair with porcelain rolls (Friedrich Wegmann, 1873/76)

First ascent of Elbrus (Peter Knubel and 3 englishmen, 1874)

Gramophone (John Heinrich Kruesi, according to instructions of Thomas Alva Edison, 1877)

Liquid oxygene (Raul-Pierre Pictet, concurrently with the Frenchman Louis-Paul Caillet, 1877)

Temperance movement: Blue cross (Louis-Lucien Rochat, 1877)

Displaceable caisson (Conradin Zschokke, 1878)

Lead coating for electrical cords (François Borel, 1879)

Discovery of source of Niger River (Josua Zweifel with Frenchman Marius Moustier, 1879)

1880-1889

Psychotherapy: Persuasion method (Paul Dubois, ca. 1880)

Dialect research (Jules Gilliéron, 1880)

Ten-color photochromic printing (Orell Fuessli, 1880)

Development of the Braille types (François-Henri Lavanchy-Clarke, approx. 1880)

Eiffel Tower (Maurice Koechlin from Alsace, 1880)

Car with two-stroke engine (Pierre-Joseph Ravel, 1880)

Bush roller chain (Hans Renold in Lancashire, 1880)

Lamella tooth rack for mountain railways (Carl Roman Abt, 1882)

first Marxist group (Georgij Walentinowitsch Plechanow in Genf, 1883)

First air conditioning system: „Ozonator“ (Hôtel-Kursaal de la Maloja, 1884)

Four-cylinder-compound double engine (Anatole Mallet, 1884)

Dredge (Conradin Zschokke in Rome, 1885)

Spectral series (Johann Jakob Balmer, 1885)

Concertina: „Schwyzerörgeli“ (Robert Iten, 1885)

Circuit line Kriegstetten-Solothurn (the Englishman Charles Brown and Josef Meyer, 1886)

Theroelectric damper regulator and alarme (Albert M. Butz in Minnesota, 1886)

first graduated woman lawyer of Europe (Emily Kempin-Spyri, 1887)

Telephoto lens: "Telephot" (Frédéric Boissonnas, before 1890 ?)

Three-phase current (the German Michael von Dolivo-Dobrowlowsky and the Englishman Charles Brown of the Werkzeugmaschinenfabrik Oerlikon, 1888)

first aluminium plant of Europe (Gustave Naville, Peter Emil Huber et al. with Paul-Louis-Toussaint Héroultin Neuhausen, 1888)

Steepest cog railway in the World: Pilatusbahn (Eduard Locher, 1889)

First bobsled built (Christian Mathis, 1889; first bobsled race: St. Moritz, 1892)

First golf championship in the Alps (St. Moritz, 1889)

1890-1899

Propagation of electromagnetic waves (Lucien de la Rive and Eduard Sarasin, 1890)

Permanent International Peace Bureau (Elie Ducommun and the Danish Fredrik Bajer in Berne, 1891)

Swiss Army Knife; later "Victorinox" (Karl Elsener, 1891; Patent 1897)

Hemstitch sewing machine (Karl Friedrich Gegauf, 1893)

First ski club (Christof Iselin, Glarus, 1893)

Foundation of psychology of religion (James Henry Leuba at Clark University, 1895)

Rolled flat bottom rail: „ Strub rack system“ (Emil Strub, 1896)

Nickel-steel alloy: Invar (Charles Edourad Guillaume in Sèvres near Paris, 1896)

First man on top of Aconcagua (Matthias Zurbriggen, 1897)

First Alp crossing in the balloon (Eduard Spelterini, 1898)

Sulzer Diesel (the German Rudolf Diesel, 1898)

1900-1909

motor for cycles: „Motosacoche“ ( Henri und Armand Dufaux, 1901)

Bitumen coating for streets: Goudronnage (Ernest Guglielminetti in Monaco, 1902)

Language geography (Jules Gilliéron, 1902)

Copying machine: Schapirograph (Rudolf Fuerrer, 1902)

Standardized dust bin (Jakob Ochsner, 1902)

rhythmic gymnastics: Eurhythmics (Emile Jaques-Dalcroze, 1903)

two-shell steam turbine "Zoelly" (Heinrich Zoelly, 1903)

High performance condensers (the Polish Ignacy Moscicki, 1903)

Improved electric flatiron (Samuel Blumer, 1903)

Electric heating pad (Samuel Blumer, 1903; W. Schaufelberger, before 1908)

General Theory of Relativity (Albert Einstein, of Ulm and Zurich, 1905)

Helicopter (Armand and Henri Dufaux, 1905)

Turbocharger (Alfred J. Buechi with Sulzer, 1905)

Thermal spray process (Max Ulrich Schoop, 1906/11)

E=mc² (Albert Einstein, 1907)

improved theodolite (Heinrich Wild, 1907)

Diesel engine for trucks (Hippolyt Saurer, 1908)

flat slabs: “mushroom floor” (Robert Maillart, 1908)

World Esperanto Alliance (Hector Hodler, 1908)

precision level (Heinrich Wild, after 1908)

1910-1919

first crossing of Léman lengthwise (Armand Dufaux, 1910)

cosmic radiation (Albert Gockel, 1910)

general business administration (Johann Friedrich Schaer, 1911)

aluminium foil (Company Alusuisse, 1912)

highest railway station of Europe: Jungfraubahn (1912)

First diesel locomotive (the German Rudolf at Sulzer, 1912; Borsig in Germany 1912)

First crossing of Pyrenees and the Alps in airplane (Oskar Bider, 1913)

Bend arm sun blind (Emil Schenker, 1913)

First ascent of Olymp mountain (Daniel Baud-Bovy and Fred Boissonnas, with Greek Christos Kakalos, 1913)

Swung concrete bridge: Langwies-Viadukt in Grisons (Eduard Zueblin, 1914)

V-8 aircraft engine (Mark Birkigt, 1914)

Structuralism in linguistics (Ferdinand de Saussure, 1916)

X-ray-diffraction-analysis (Paul Scherrer and the Dutch Peter Debye, 1916)

Dada movement (Hans Arp from Alsace, the Germans Hugo Ball, Hans Richter and Richard Huelsenbeck, the Romanians Marcel Janco and Tristan Tzara, in Zurich, 1916)

1920-1929

Service Civil International (Pierre Cérésole, 1920)

First arch dam in Europe: Monsalvens (Heinrich Eduard Gruner, 1920)

Cutting machine "Rapid" (Jacob Fahrni, 1920)

Ink blot test (Hermann Rorschach, 1921)

Seat of the League of Nations (Geneva, 1921)

First slalom race (the Englishman Arnold Lunn into Muerren, 1922)

ready-made Zip-fastener: "Riri" (Martin Othmar Winterhalter, 1923)

improved theodolite: T2 “Universaltheodolit Wild” (Heinrich Wild, 1923)

Geochemistry (Victor Moritz Goldschmidt, 1923-38)

Biodynamic agriculture (the Austrian Rudolf Steiner in Silesia and in the Goetheanum Dornach, 1924)

Peaceful arrangement of all European disputes: Treaty of Locarno (1925)

International Bureau of Education (Edouard Claparède, Pierre Bovet, Adolphe Ferrière, 1925)

“The Child’s Conception of the World” (Jean Piaget, 1926)

Levelfree cloverleaf interchange (Willy Sarbach, 1927)

First transcontinental flight with seaplane: Zurich-Egypt-South Africa (Walter Mittelholzer, 1926/27)

Term “Mach number” (Jakob Ackeret, 1927)

Atmospheric able clock: „Atmos“ (Jean-Léon Reutter, 1928)

Spring clutch mechanical pencil: “Fixpencil” (Carl Schmid for “Caran d’Ache”)

1930-1939

International Federation of Business and Professional Women (the American Lena Madesin Phillips in Geneva, 1930)

First flight over Kilimanjaro (Walter Mittelholzer, 1930)

„Prismalo“: first water-soluble crayons for painting watercolors (Caran d’Ache, 1931)

Crimp yarn "Helanca" (Rudolf H. Kaegi, 1931)

First stratosphere flight with balloon (Auguste Piccard, 1931)

Commercially manufactured electric guitar: „Frying Pan Hawaiian Guitar“ (Adolph Rickenbacher in Los Angeles with Georges D. Beauchamp and Paul Barth, 1932)

“dark matter” (Fritz Zwicky at Caltech, 1933)

Theory of Supernovae (Fritz Zwicky and the German Walter Baade at Caltech, 1933)

Continuous ultrasonic wind tunnel (Jakob Ackeret, 1934)

Variable screw propeller for motor vessels (Jakob Ackeret, 1934)

Security cylinder for locks (Fritz Schori for Kaba, 1934)

T-bar Ski-lift (Davos-Bolgen, Ernst Constam 1934; Jack Ettinger 1936)

Travel typewriter "Hermes Baby" (Company Paillard, 1935)

Phone answering machine: Ipsophon (the German Willy Mueller at Buehrle, 1936; tested 1942 in Berne)

"The Origins of Intelligence in Children" (Jean Piaget, 1936)

clusters of galaxies as basic structure of the Universe (Fritz Zwicky at Caltech, 1938)

waterproof tarp: Stamoid (Company Stamm, 1939)

Tractor with direct injection diesel engine (Hans Hürlimann, 1939)

1940-1949

first portable electric sewing machine with free arm: "Elna" (Dr. Ramon Casas Robert; Company Tavaro, 1940)

Lead sharpener: "Gedess" (Georges Dessonnaz, 1940)

Odors in a movie theater: „My Dream“ (Odorated Talking Pictures) (Hans E. Laube, 1940)

Liquid filled matchbox: "Model DP" or "Swiss Army Compass" (RECTA, 1941)

Existential analysis (Ludwig Binswanger, 1942)

Measure "Modulor" (Le Corbusier 1942-48)

"Eidophor" (Fritz Fischer, 1943/ Edgar Gretener, 1953)

Pre-stressed concrete (Antonio Brandestini, Max Birkenmaier, Mirko Robin Ros, 1944)

Smell-O-Vision (Hans E. Laube, 1945; in the movie “Scent of Mystery”, 1960)

Single pan substitution balance (Erhard Mettler, 1946)

Spring valve for pressure cooker (Max Keller, 1946)

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (Felix Bloch, with the americans W. W. Hansen and M. E. Packard in Stanford, 1946)

First one-piece fiberglass shell chair of Europe (Willy Guhl, 1946/47; since 1951 produed by Scott-Bader & Co. AG, Zurich)

"Turmix" mixer (Traugott Oertli, 1947)

"Rex“ economic peeler (Alfred Neweczerzal, 1947)

Sinar camera (Carl Hans Koch, 1947)

electric compass saw (Albert Kaufmann, 1946; company Scintilla, 1947)

Compactus for archives (Hans Ingold 1947)

Bathyscaph (Auguste Piccard, 1947)

Tail less delta airplane: P-20 (Flug- und Fahrzeugwerke Altenrhein, 1947)

Rotary clothesline: Stewi (Walter Steiner, 1947)

aerosol spray valve (Robert H. Abplanalp in New York, 1948)

"Zulliger“ test (Hans Zulliger, 1948)

pressure cooker: Duromatic (Jacques Kuhn, 1948)

automatic screw clamp for für ropeways: „Müller-Klemme“ (Gerhard Müller, 1949)

Communauté de Taizé (Roger-Louis Schutz-Marsauche, 1949)

1950-1959

Garlic press: "Zyliss" (Karl Zysset, after 1950)

first landing on glacier in the alps with airplane (Fredy Wyssel, 1950; Hermann Geiger, 1952)

first portable tape recorder „Nagra (Stefan Kudelski, 1951)

"Velcro" fastening (George de Mestral, 1951)

Car-Freshener: „Little Trees“ (Julius Sämann, in Watertown, N. Y., 1952)

Bathyscaphe: „Trieste“ (Auguste Piccard, 1953)

standardized Miniature Golf: “Minigolf“ (Paul Bongni, 1953)

First TV broadcasting „Eurovision“ (Montreux, 1954)

Fonts "Méridien" (Adrian Frutiger, 1955)

Electronic calculating machine (Eduard Stiefel, Heinz Rutishauser and Ambros Speiser at the Zurich ETH, 1955)

Conveyor system for newspapers without lubricant (Walter Reist, 1955)

First ascent of the Lhotse (Ernst Reiss, Fritz Luchsingen, 1956)

First shot into the space: “Artificial Planet No. Zero” (Fritz Zwicky, 16.10.1957)

Closomat: WC with integrated douche (Hans Maurer, 1957)

Fonts "universe" (Adrian Frutiger, 1957)

Fonts "helvetica" (Max Miedinger, 1957)

planar semiconductors (Jean Hoerni at Fairchild, 1958)

Electronic wristwatch: "Accutron" (Max Hetzel, William Bennett, Egbert Van Haaften, William Mutter, 1959)

Decompression during the deep sea diving (Hannes Keller and Albert Buehlmann, 1959-62)

1960-1969

Electrical toothbrush "Broxodent" (Company Tavaro, 1960)

Instant mashed potatoes: Stocki (Knorr, Thayingen, 1960)

Drier: Stewi „Libelle“ (Walter Steiner, 1961)

Pneumatic cork screw "Corky" (Franz Tschappu, 1963)

Passenger-submarine "Mesoscaph" (Jacques Piccard, 1964)

Fourier transform (FT) NMR (Richard Robert Ernst, 1964)

First couple therapy in Europe (Juerg Willi, 1965)

„Divine Light Zentrum“ (Swami Omkarananda in Winterthur, 1966)

Hydroculture "Luwasa" (Gerhard Baumann, 1967)

"Cymatics" (Hans Jenni, 1967)

first analogous quartz-wristwatches: "Beta 1" and “Beta 2” (Centre Electronique Horologer, Armin Frei et al. 1967)

Programming language "Pascal" (Niklaus Wirth, 1968)

Swiss avalanche beacon: Barryvox transceiver (Company Autophon, 1968)

LCD-display (the two German physicists Wolfgang Helfrich and Martin Schadt at Roche in Basel, 1968/70)

Solar wind sail on the moon (the German Johannes Geiss in Berne with Peter Eberhardt and Peter Signer, 1969)

1970-1979

Can opener and cork extractor: „Party-Jack“ (Walter Steiner 1971)

Role-playing game „Dungeons & Dragons“ (Ernest Gary Gygax with Dave Arneson and Don Kaye, 1974)

Portable Computer System (PCS): „Smaky“ (Jean-Daniel Nicoud an der EPFL, 1975)

„module“ in role-playing games on computer (Ernest Gary Gygax, 1979)

1980-1989

Workstation: "Lilith" (Nikaus Wirth, 1980)

Foundation of the "Word Wildlife Fund" (Zurich, 1981)

Computer mouse "Logitech" (Jean Daniel Nicoud/ Daniel Borel 1981)

Scanning tunnelling microscope (Heinrich Rohrer and the German Gerd Karl Binning, IBM research institute 1981)

simple wristwatch: „Swatch“ (Elmar Mock and Jacques Müller of ASUAG, 1981)

first span-wire lighting system in the world: METRO (Hannes Wettstein, company Belux, 1982)

For Tête de moine: Girolle (Nicolas Crevoisier, 1982)

First diving computer: Decobrain (Juergen Hermann, 1983)

dog dirt collecting system: „Robidog“ (Josef Rosenast, 1983)

High temperature superconduction (Karl Alexander Müller and the German Johann Georg Bednorz, IBM research institute 1986)

Steamiron system: "LauraStar" (Jean Monney, 1986)

Car sharing: „Mobility“ (1987/ 1997)

Flight simulator: „Elite“ (Rudolf Marty, Initiative Computing, 1988)

1990-2000

Solar-Mobile: "Spirit of Biel" (Technical school Biel, 1990)

WWW (the English Tim Berners-Lee and the Belgian Robert Cailliau, at CERN in Geneva, 1991)

Supercomputer: "GigaBooster" (Anton Gunzinger, 1992-95)

First planet detected outside of the solar system: System of 51 Pegasi (Michel G. E. Mayor, Didier Queloz, 1995)

Pastoral Care on the internet (Jakob Vetsch, 1995)

MicroScooter (Wim J. Ouboter, Zurich, 1996)

Prepaid value card: Natel easy (Telecom PTT, 1996)

Maxon motors for the Mars-Rover "Sojourner" (1997)

piezoelectric miniatur friction motor: „Miniswys“ (Bontko Witteveen, Harry Seiffert and Matthias Hell of the Company Creaholic, 1998)

Dow Jones Sustainability Group Index: DJSGI (the Germans Alfred Ritter and Bernd Grohe of Sustainabilty Asset Management, Zurich, in common with Dow Jones, 1999)

First circumnavigation of the earth in balloon (Bertrand Piccard, 1999)

Pastoral Care on the SMS (Jakob Vetsch, 1999)

Swiss Food and Luxury Food

7^th century - 1799

oldest brand of cheese in Europe: Sbrinz (7^th century; brand “Brientzer käss” only 1530)

white Schabziger (Glarus Alps, 8^th century)

Cheese sorts: Gruyère (1115), Emmentaler (12^th century), Tête de Moine (1192), Raclette („Bratchäs“; um 1200), Appenzeller (1282)

Honey biscuits: “Tirggel” (Zurich, 1561)

first brand: Glarner Schabziger (with mark of origin, 1463)

hard cheese (1530, adopted from Italy)

Meringues (Gasparini in Meiringen, 1600 or 1720)

Fondue (1699)

Soda water (the German Jacob Schweppe in Geneva, 1783)

Absinthe (Daniel-Henri Dubied, 1797)

1800-1899

first "cheese factory" (down in the midlands, Hofwil, 1802)

First chocolate factory (Philippe Suchard, 1826)

Hazelnut chocolate (Charles-Amédée Kohler, 1828)

Cube sugar (Jakob Christoph Rad in Datschitz, 1843)

Chocolate-bar (François-Louis Cailler, 1849)

Powdered milk (Henri Nestlé from Frankfurt, 1867)

Milk chocolate (Daniel Peter from Alsace, 1875)

Rusk (Joseph Hug-Meyer, after 1877)

Fondant chocolate (Johann Rudolf Lindt, 1879)

Bag-soups and soup-spice (Julius Maggi, 1886)

Wine sort Riesling x Sylvaner (Hermann Mueller-Thurgau, 1892)

1900-2000

"Birchermuesli" (Maximilian Oskar Bircher-Benner, 1900)

Chocolate “Milka” (Suchard, 1901)

"Ovaltine" (Albert Wander, 1904)

"Toblerone" (Theodor Tobler, 1908)

powder milk (Maurice Guigoz, 1908)

meat consommé cube (company Maggi, 1908)

cheese spread (Walter Gerber and Fritz Stettler, 1911)

mustard in tubes (Hans Thomi, 1930)

chew bonbon: Sugus (Suchard, 1931)

„Ovo Sport“ (Wander, 1937)

"Nescafé" (Max Morgenthaler, 1938)

„Nestea“ (Nestle, 1944)

„Nesquik“ (Nestle, 1948)

1950-2000

potato chips (Hans Meier, 1950; produced by company Zweifel 1955)

soft drink with milk plasma: „Rivella“ (Robert Bart and Hans Süsli, 1952)

universal spice „Fondor“ (Maggi, 1953)

Knorr-Aromat (Walter Obrist at Knorr in Thayngen, 1953)

Coffee-capsules: “Nespresso” (Eric Favre, 1976)

Sport drink: "Isostar" (company Wander; as powder 1977; fluid 1984)

Pre-cooked doug for deep-frozen butter croissant (Alfred Hiestand, 1987)

"Golden rice" (the German Ingo Potrykus at the ETH and Peter Beyer, in 2000)

Swiss medicine and biology

1500-1599

first Caesarean section (Jacob Nufer in Siegershausen near Kreuzlingen, 1500)

“archidoxon”: medical principles of Paracelsus (1525)

First dissected human skeleton (the Belgian Andreas Vesalius in Basel, 1543)

scientific zoology, animal experiments: “Historia animalium” (Conrad Gessner, 1551-1634)

classification of muscles (Kaspar Bauhin, 1590)

1600-1699

Classification of mental diseases (Felix Platter, 1602)

Binary nomenclature for plants (Kaspar Bauhin, 1623)

Surgical means (Wilhelm Fabry of Hilden, around 1630)

Definition of stroke (Johann Jakob Wepfer, 1658)

"Nostalgia" (Johannes Harder, resp. Hofer, 1678)

doudenum glands: Brunner’s glands (Johann Conrad Brunner in Heidelberg, 1687)

1700-1799

Regeneration of an organism: Hydra (Abraham Trembley, 1744)

studying of insects (Charles Bonnet, 1745)

Electromedicine (Jean Jallabert, 1746)

First vivisections (Albrecht von Haller in his Göttingen laboratory, around 1750)

Physiology of the muscle and the nervous system (Albrecht of Haller, 1752)

Animal psychology (Charles Bonnet, 1760)

Theory of evolution (Charles Bonnet, 1769)

Animal magnetism (the German Franz Anton Mesmer in Vienna, 1775)

Research on photosynthesis (Jean Senebier, 1779/88)

1800-1849

Conjugation in botany (Jean-Pierre Vaucher, 1803)

Qualitative description of photosynthesis (Nicholas-Théodore de Saussure, 1804)

Taxonomy (Augustin Pyramus de Candolle, 1813)

Persistence of vision (Peter Mark Roget in London, 1824)

Spermatic animalcules (Rudolf Albert Koelliker, 1841)

All cells arise from the ovum (Rudolf Albert Koelliker, 1844)

1850-1859

Sunbath, mountain hiking (Arnold Rikli, 1855)

Designation of the "dinosaur" (Karl Ludwig Ruetimeyer, 1856)

First graduation of a woman in the German-speaking area (Nadeshda Suslowa at the Zurich University in medicine, 1867)

Antiseptic operation and bandage (Theodor Kocher, 1867)

Theory of parablast in embryology (Wilhelm His, 1868)

DNA Desoxyribonucleic Acid (Friedrich Miescher, 1869)

Controlled parasitism of fungus and algae (Simon Schwendener, 1869)

Jaccoud’s syndrome (Sigismond Jaccoud in Paris, ca. 1870)

Bandage of cotton wool (Heinrich Theophil Baeschlin, 1871)

First practising women doctor of Europe (Marie Heim-Vögtlin, 1874)

Forel’s decussation (August Henri Forel, 1877)

Impregnation of an ovum (Hermann Fol, 1879)

First organ transplantation: thyroid gland (Theodor Kocher, 1883)

Contact lenses (the German Adolph Eugen Fick in Wuerzburg, 1887)

Pest germ: Yersinia Pestis (Alexandre Yersin in Hongkong, 1894)

gastrectomy (Carl B. Schlatter, 1897)

1900-1949

Terms “autecology” and synecology” (Carl Schroeter, 1902)

Terms "Schizophrenia" and "autistic thinking" (Eugen Bleuler, 1911)

Psychobiology (Adolf Meyer in Chicago, 1913)

improved hand prosthesis (Ernst Ferdinand Sauerbruch und Aurel Stodola, 1915/16)

Rational fitting of blown contact glasses (August Siegrist, 1916)

surgery of retinal detachment: "ignipuncture" (Jules Gonin, 1920)

Psyciatric sleep cure (Jakob Klaesi, 1920)

Anthroposophical Medicine (Rudolf Steiner in Dornach, 1920)

Cellular therapy (Paul Niehans, 1931)

1950-2000

"Hill monkey": Oreopithecus bamboli (Johannes Huerzeler, 1958)

first total hip prosthesis (Maurice Edmond Mueller, 1960)

Founding of modern gene technology: Restriction enzymes (Werner Arber, 1960/61, later the Americans Daniel Nathans and Hamilton O. Smith)

Heart transplant (the Swedish Åke Senning with Marko Turina in Zurich, 1969)

Thanatologie (Elisabeth Kuebler-Ross in Chicago, 1969)

Suction assisted Lipectomy (Ulrich K. Kesselring, 1976)

ballon catheter (the German Andreas Gruentzig at the Kantonsspital Zurich, 1974; first angioplaty 1977)

Insulin pump: MRS (Willy and Peter Michel, 1984)

Gene, that codes for the Prion protein (Charles Weissmann and the American Stanley B. Prusiner, 1985)

First Memory Clinic of Europe (Basel, 1986)

Regeneration ability of the central nervous system (Martin Schwab, 1988)

First brain surgery with robot (Lausanne University hospital, 1992)

implantable drug infusion system (Medtronic, Tolchenaz, 2000)

Swiss medicaments and pharmaceutical detections

Well known pharmaceutical detections and medicines from Switzerland are:

1500-1894

Opium tincture: "Laudanum" (Paracelsus, 1520)

"Archaeus", chemotherapy (Paracelsus, around 1530)

experimental toxicology and pharmacology (Johann Jakob Wepfer, 1679)

Psychotropic effects of Opium (Albrecht von Haller, 1776-77)

Cough-tablets (Emanuel Wybert for the Golden Pharmacy, Basel, GABA, 1846)

„Zeller“ balm (Max Zeller, 1863)

1895-2000

Healing ointment: „Dr. Brand-Salbe“ (Josef Brand in Wiedikon, ca. 1910)

„Clinical-therapeutical Institute“ (Ita Wegman, 1921; since 1924 „Weleda“-Products)

Antihistamine (Daniel Bovet and Anne-Marie Staub, 1937)

Toothpaste with vitamine A: “Aronal (GABA, 1944)

Nutritional tonic: “Bio-Strath” (the German Walter Strathmeyer, 1948)

First Tranquilizer (the English Robert Robertson, 1952; company Ciba 1953)

“Echinaforce” (Alfred Vogel, 1955)

Interferon (Jean Lindenmann and the British Alick Isaacs, 1957)

Standardized ginseng: G115 (Pharmaton, 1960)

First toothpaste with amine fluoride: “Elmex” (GABA, 1962)

Cancer remedy „Iscador“ (Weleda, 1964)

Hormone IGF-1: „Züri Hormon“ (Ernst Rudolf Froesch, 1978)

Hey Fever Relief: “Similasan” (Armin Späni et al., 1982)

A selection of commercial medicaments:

see:

http://www.roche.com/DE/home/company/com_hist/com_hist_1896.htm

http://www.novartis.ch/about-novartis/company-history/geigy.shtml

Antipyrine (Sandoz, 1895), cough syrup "Sirolin" (Roche, 1898), saccharin (Sandoz, 1899),

"Vioform" (Ciba, 1900), "Salen" (Ciba, 1900), „Digalen“ (Roche, 1904), „Pantopon“ (Roche, 1909),

Somnifen (La Roche, before 1920),

"Allonal" (Roche, 1921), "Gynergen" (= ergotamine; 1918 detected by Arthur Stoll; Sandoz, 1921), Coramin (Ciba, 1924), Calcium Sandoz (1929),

"Saridon" (Roche, 1933) and "Redoxon" (= vitamin C; chemical synthesis of ascorbic acid 1933 detected by Tadeus Reichstein; Roche, 1934),

Merfen“ (Zyma, 1940), „Irgapyrin“ (synthesized by Hans Stenzl, since 1939 with Geigy), "Medomin" (Geigy, 1944), "Bepanthen" (Roche, 1944), cortisone (detected by Tadeus Reichstein, cocurrently with Edward Calvin Kendall; produced by Ciba, approx. 1946), "Delysid" (= LSD; 1938 detected by Albert Hofmann; produced since 1947 by Sandoz), "Butazolidin" (Phenylbutazone 1946 synthesized by Hans Stenzl; Geigy, 1949),

"Rimifon" (Roche, 1952), „Marcoumar“ (Roche, 1953), "Serpasil" (= reserpine; 1952 isolated from the root of Rauwolfia serpentina, snakeroot, by Emil Schlittler and Hans Schwarz; produced by Ciba since 1953), „Simazin“ (Geigy, 1957), „Marsilid“ (iproniazid; Roche, 1957), "Tofranil" (= imipramine, 1956 detected by Roland Kuhn; Geigy, 1958), "Melleril" (Sandoz, 1958), “Hygroton” (Geigy”, 1959), “Marplan” (isocarboxazid, Roche, 1959),

"Librium" (1957 Leo Sternbach came across the benzodiazepines; Roche, 1960) and "Valium" (Leo Sternbach, Roche, 1963), „Desferal“ (Ciba, 1963), „Mogadon“ (Roche, 1965), Etoposid (Sandoz, 1966; since 1983 under the label „Vepesid“), „Bactrim“ (Roche, 1969),

Cyclosporin A (Sandoz, 1972; since 1982 under the label „Sandimmun“), „Voltaren“ (Ciba-Geigy, 1973), „Madopar“ (Leovdopa; Roche, 1973), „Lexotanil“ (Roche, 1974), „Rohypnol“ (Roche, 1975), „Zaditen“ (Sandoz, 1977),

first transdermal therapeutic system (TTS) with the active substance Scopolamin ("Scopoderm", Ciba-Geigy and Alza Corp., 1981), „Dormicum“ (Roche, 1982), „Roferon-A“ (Sidney Pestka; Roche, 1985),

"Xenical" (Roche, 1999), „Tamiflu“ (Roche, 1999).

Swiss chemistry and chemicals

1778-1894

Production of sulphuric acid, later also hydrochloric acid, soda, chlorine chalk, nitric acid and cupric sulphate (Johann Sebastian Clais, Johann Heinrich Ziegler in Winterthur-Neuwiesen, 1778)

Production of candles and soaps (Friedrich Steinfels, 1832)

Fuel cell (the German Christian Friedrich Schoenbein in Basel, 1838)

Ozone (Christian Friedrich Schoenbein, 1839)

Gun-cotton (Christian Friedrich Schoenbein, 1846; Rudolf Christian Boettger, 1846)

Rayon (Georges Audemars, 1855)

Production of synthetic fuchsine (in Basel: Johann Rudolf Geigy-Merian, Johann Jakob Müller-Pack, 1859; likewise Alexander Clavel, 1859)

Valency of carbon (Johann Ulrich Nef, 1862)

Fluid oxygen (Raoul-Pierre Pictet and simultaneously the Frenchman Louis-Paul Caillet, 1877)

Production of alizarine blue and auramine (in Basel: Alfred Kern, Edouard Sandoz, 1886)

Coordination chemistry (Alfred Werner from Alsace, 1893)

1895-2000

Cellophane (Jacques Edwin Brandenberger, shortly after 1900; 1908)

Gross production of nitric acid (Ignacy Moscicki, 1903)

Industrial production of artificial fertilizer (Company Lonza, 1915)

Heat detonators: coruscatives (Fritz Zwicky, 1957)

Insect spray: „Anti-Brumm“ (Eduard Vogt, 1972)

Lab-on-a-chip (Andreas Manz, 1993)

Vine spray “Kukaka” (Rudolf Maag, 1895), the insecticides „Gesarol" and "Neocide" (both = DDT; insecticidal powers 1939 detected by Paul Hermann Müller; Geigy, 1942), the pesticide „Copper-Sandoz“ (Sandoz, 1943), the herbicides „Simazin“ and „Atrazin“ (Geigy, 1956), „Dual“ (Ciba-Geigy, 1975), the fungicide „Ridomil“ (Ciba-Geigy, 1978).

The adhesives “Cementit” (Walter Merz and Albert Benteli in the 1930s) and epoxy resin “Araldit” (1936 detected by Pierre Castan; produced by CIBA since 1946).

„Plüss-Stauffer“ window putty (Gottfried Stauffer, Emma Plüss, 1884), descaler „Durgol“ (Maria Düring-Keller, 1951) and “Toilet Duck” (Walter Düring, 1980).

Bibliography

Eduard Fueter: Grosse Schweizer Forscher. Zürich: Atlantis-Verlag 1939, 2. erweiterte Aufl. 1941 (more than 120 personalities; no woman)

Schweizer Pioniere der Wirtschaft und Technik, Schriftenreihe des Vereins für Wirtschaftshistorische Studien, Meilen, 1955ff, till today 95 volumes

http://www.pioniere.ch

Patrick Robertson: The Shell Book of Firsts. London: Ebury Press 1974, enlarged 1983; new edition 1998;
german: Wann war das erste Mal? Wien: Ueberreuter 1977.

Alexander Hellemans, Bryan H. Bunch: The Timetables of Science. 1988;
german: Fahrplan der Naturwissenschaften. Ein chronologischer Überblick. München: Droemer Knaur 1990.

Lorenz Häfliger, Charles Inwyler, Adolf Jacob, Wigand Kerle, Albert Kloss, Norbert Lang, Hans Rudolf Ris, Hans G. Wägli, Rudolf Weber: Beiträge der Schweiz zur Technik. Herausgegeben von der Stiftung Eisenbibliothek, Schaffhausen der Georg Fischer AG, Schaffhausen, und der SIG Schweizerische Industrie-Gesellschaft Holding AG, Neuhausen am Rheinfall. Oberbözberg: Olynthus, Verlag für verständliche Wissenschaft und Technik 1991 (extraordinary comprehensive).

Steven Anzovin, Janet Podell: Famous First Facts. International Edition. New York: Wilson 2000 (some funny claims).

Anne Schmidt, Peter Jezler, Elke Jezler-Hüber, Gabriele Keck (Hrsg.): Berner Pioniergeist. Bern: Historisches Museum Bern 2007.

Paul Schneeberger: Helvetische Errungenschaften. Zürich: NZZ LIbro 2008 (a little selection, mostly of the 20^th century).

Klaus Leuschel (Hrsg.): swissness. Die 50 Besten der Designgeschichte. Schweizer Design weltweit. Sulgen: Niggli 2009.

Georg Kreis: Schweizer Erinnerungsorte. Aus dem Speicher der Swissness. Zürich: NZZ Libro 2010.

http://www.invention.ch/inventeurs/index.php

http://www.idees-suisse.ch/inventions.htm

extensive list 1800-2003

http://inventors.about.com/sitesearch.htm?terms=swiss&SUName=inventors

Some Swiss Inventors

http://www.whonamedit.com/biocountry.cfm/1037.html

75 Swiss physicians, whose names mark some discoveries