Makers

Maker Birthdays: Guglielmo Marconi

Maker Birthdays: Guglielmo Marconi

Born on this date in 1874, Guglielmo Marconi (Wikipedia) was a prominent early inventor in the development of the technology, then called “wireless telegraphy,” that today we know as radio. Even today, Marconi is commonly remembered as “the inventor of radio,” although the priority of other inventors–notably Nikola Tesla–is fairly well established. The debate over who is rightfully credited for the invention of radio has become known as “The Great Radio Controversy” (Wikipedia). Even so, there is no debate that Marconi’s achievements as an engineer, inventor, and businessman are of historic significance. He shared the 1909 Nobel Prize in Physics with Karl Ferdinand Braun, “in recognition of their contributions to the development of wireless telegraphy.” Marconi died in 1937, aged 63.

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Maker Birthdays: Max Planck

Maker Birthdays: Max Planck

Karl Ernst Ludwig Marx Planck, theoretical physicist, was born on this day in 1858. He had a distinguished career as an intellectual, founding the field of quantum theory, supporting Albert Einstein’s work on Theory of Relativity, and winning the Nobel Prize in 1918. He was first recipient of the newly organized Max Planck Medal which […]

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Junkbots par excellence

I seem to find myself saying something like this a lot these days: “We’ve seen this idea before, but, dang, this person is good at it.” Well, here goes again: We’ve seen this idea before, but dang, Andrea Petrachi (aka Himatic) is good at it. Andrea’s junkbot figurines are made from, well, junk, but he seems to have a particular flair for the use of old camera parts.

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The passing of a Lego legend

The passing of a Lego legend

My favorite Lego blog, The Brothers Brick, is running an extended series of posts eulogizing nnenn, and this line jumped out at me: “You know a builder is big-time when he not only gets an entire scale named after him, but an element as well.” Nnenn also pioneered the iconic Vic Viper design (based on the video game Gradius), a classic example of which is shown above. Entire contests have been dedicated to Vic Vipers, and hundreds, probably thousands, of variants on the theme exist. Plans are in place for a “missing man formation” of Vic Vipers to be arranged in memory of nnenn at the Brickworld 2010 fan convention in Chicago. I’ve included just a couple more of my favorite nnenn creations below.

Continue Reading Sean Michael Ragan
Featured Maker: Shannon Conrad

Featured Maker: Shannon Conrad

If you follow CRAFT, as well, you may have seen Rachel’s post back in January about Oregon jeweler Shannon Conrad’s interlocking Lego rings. Shown above is the result of Shannon’s very first experiment with casting from Lego elements, a one-off solid silver Imperial Stormtrooper minifig she made for her 11-year-old son. It weighs 1.5 oz (44g). I know Lego fanboys who happily would trade their own teeth for one of those.

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Maker Birthdays: Leonardo da Vinci

Maker Birthdays: Leonardo da Vinci

Born on this date in 1452 in Tuscany, Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (Wikipedia) is the original “Renaissance Man,” and thus near and dear to all our hearts here at MAKE. By the time he died in 1512, aged 67 years, his achievements had established him, arguably, as the most diversely talented human being who ever lived: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer. Oh, and namesake of a very famous turtle.

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