Medical Inventors - do you ever wonder about them?

Not long ago, I was watching a piece on the television show 60 Minutes and it was about the inventor of the medical respirator, Dr. Forrest Bird. Many years ago, I worked in an intensive care unit and the respirators were often called "birds." I never stopped to wonder why, but now it makes sense.

Today, I was reading the news and I noticed that the inventor of ultrasound to detect cancerous tumors has died (Medical Inventor, Dr. John J. Wild Dies).

When I was watching the piece on Dr. Bird, I began to realize that we have so much around us that affects our life every day, yet most of us likely don't know how they came to be. I realize that some people don't really care, but I think many are like me and like to learn how certain inventions came about.

I've had many ultrasounds, for pregnancies and for illnesses that needed ruling out or diagnosing. When I think back to how the technology was invented, I can't imagine having such a vision of how something could work and then working for years on getting it to function the way you think it should. I mean, I think we all dream of something that we think would be the next greatest invention, but how many of us follow up on it?

If you get a chance to watch the Dr. Bird segment, I recommend it. It's eye opening (to me) to actually see someone who has made such an impact on human life around the world.