Think of a famous inventor. Who is the first person to come to mind? Maybe Nikola Tesla, Thomas Edison or Alexander Graham Bell. Most people won't think first of Stanford R. Ovshinsky, and that's too bad — he's one of the most prolific and influential inventors of all time.
In fact, everyone has felt the impact of his inventions and insights.
The son of Lithuanian immigrants, Ovshinsky started his career as a machinist and only completed high school, but he went on to found Energy Conversion Devices, eventually filing more than 400 patents covering a huge range of industries and ideas.
Back in the 1960s, TVs were massive boxes that took up a lot of space in the living room. Ovshinsky already saw the future and dreamed up a concept for a flat TV that people could hang like a painting. Sixty years later, most people do just that.
Ovshinsky was also one of the first people to pursue cheap mass-produced solar panels and his nickel-metal hydride battery is now widely used in electric vehicles.
At first, some scientists and technology experts failed to embrace Ovshinsky simply because he was self-educated and didn't hold an advanced degree. It's easy to wonder, however, if Ovshinsky's lack of formal training was actually one of his keys to success. The inventor had a habit of inventing things that mainstream scientists claimed were impossible. And while scientists often make incremental advances after extensive study, Ovshinsky was known for going with his gut and using his intuition. Time and again, those instincts paid off.
By the time he passed away in 2012, he held at least seven honorary doctorates in science and engineering and had won many awards for his work.