34. The Accident That Revolutionized American Eating Habits
Percy Spencer (1894 – 1970) was not highly educated – he quit school in fifth grade – but that did not stop him from patenting inventions that contributed to America’s victory in WWII. Nor did it stop him from inventing the microwave oven. As an MIT scientist put it: “The educated scientist knows many things won’t work. Percy doesn’t know what can’t be done“.
Spencer dropped out of school in fifth grade to work in a mill. In his teens, he became fascinated by the then-new phenomenon of electricity, and became an electrician. He joined the US Navy at 18, made himself an expert on radio technology, and by 1939, he was one of the world’s leading experts in radar tube design. It was that expertise that got Spencer to (accidentally) invent the microwave oven.