Just a heads up, this might be not the best essay, because I was a little rushed when writing it.

Polio Vaccine 

Jonas Salk was born in New York City in 1914. He became a medical researcher. He learned about viruses under other doctors. There were grants that funded polio research. Salk created the polio vaccine in 1955. Polio vaccine prevents you from getting polio. Made using inactivated or weakened (But live) Virus. The oral form is cheaper. Saves people from needless crippling. People cried when the vaccine was announced. Salk became world famous. A million doses were pre-ordered. Mass production was handled by British scientists. It was eliminated in most of the world by 2003. 

Intermodal Containers

Malcolm Mclean was born in North Carolina in 1913. He wanted to ship trucks by boat. Designed a container instead. He used a bank loan to buy WW2 tanks. Launched intermodal container ship in 1956. “Intermodal” is easily transportable. It drastically reduces labor cost. Simpilifles shipping process. They were stackable. Can haul all kinds of materials. The cost of shipping fell. Unions were unhappy. McLean expanded his patent to this International. Organization for standardization. 

Integrated Circuit

Several people were involved in the invention of the integrated circuit. Several large companies wanting to miniaturize transistors Shockly turned Santa Clara into “silicon Valley” Shockley’s “traitors” founded Fairchild semiconductors. Noyce and Kilsy invented the integrated circuit in 1959. Integrated circuits are flat chips packed full of transistors. High performance, low cost. “Photo Masking” is like silicon blueprinting. Placed over silicon wafers and exposed to light. One transistor has about 10 manufacturers. Us Air Force and Wavy used it as tech. NANA’s Apollo guidance computer. Allows astronauts to control the spaceship. Government demand drives down prices. Led to industrial and commercial uses.

Lasers  

Charles Townes was born in South Carolina in 1915. He invented the master in 1953. Could coined the term “LASER” in 1957. Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. Laser light is coherent. Electrons give up energy to move closer to the nucleus. “Lasint” forces them to do this. Beam contains high, focused energy. Other companies built their own lasers. Semiconductor lasers appeared in 1962. Then the barcode scanner appeared in 1974.