Facts, Alternative Facts and Patent Literature

The mathematician Kurt Gödel showed in his Incompleteness Theorem in the early 1930s that there are some statements in mathematics that are true but cannot be proven. Whether statements are true is important in the twenty-first century, an age of ‘fake news’ and alternative facts. Patent documents are true and accurate as they are examined and can be challenged for accuracy. This chapter outlines the patenting procedure. It also highlights the role of patents as a source of information alongside other sources. Accurate and true information is important for people with interests in engineering, physical sciences and life sciences. Patent infringement and patent trolls (non-practicing entities) are described. The following technical areas are grouped together to describe how they developed over time and how they may develop in the twenty-first century: communications, computing including quantum computing, life sciences including gene editing (CRISPR), transport and unexpected consequences of technological change.

Inventions That Shaped the Modern World

This entry describes the development of Morse code by Samuel Morse. It gives a background to Samuel Morse’s life. Also it describes the development of the electric telegraph on land and later using undersea cables. The significance of using gutta percha as electrical insulation for the undersea cables is described. The entry highlights that Morse code is, in fact, an early form of binary code. The entry describes the difference between gutta percha and natural rubber.