List of Swiss inventions and discoveries

The following list is composed of items, techniques and processes that were invented by or discovered by people from Switzerland.

Biology

DNA structure

• Nucleic acid, DNA by Friedrich Miescher (1868)^[1]
• Restriction endonuclease by Werner Arber
• Research of the Immune system by Rolf M. Zinkernagel

Chemistry

• Laudanum by Paracelsus
• Aluminium foil by Robert Victor Neher^[2]

Cellophane bag

• Cellophane by Jacques E. Brandenberger
• DDT by Paul Hermann Müller
• Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) by Albert Hofmann
• Reichstein process by Tadeus Reichstein
• Glyphosate by Henri Martin

Clothes and Fashion

• Velcro by George de Mestral

Computing

• Computer mouse by René Sommer, co-inventor^[3]
• Smaky by Jean-Daniel Nicoud
• programming language Pascal by Niklaus Wirth

Cuisine

• Absinthe

Dry muesli mix, served with milk

• Muesli by Maximilian Bircher-Benner
• White chocolate by Nestle
• Immersion blender by Roger Perrinjaquet

Economics

• Discovery of economic cycles and propagation of Social policy against the classic liberal economy by Simonde de Sismondi
• Bank secrecy

Medicine

• Laudanum by Paracelsus
• Diclofenac (Voltaren) (1973, company Ciba-Geigy)
• Panthenol (Bepanthen) (1944, company Roche)

Military

Victorinox "Huntsman" Swiss Army knife

• Swiss Army knife

Physics

• Argand lamp by Aimé Argand
• Twisted nematic field effect by Brown, Boveri & Cie
• Scanning tunneling microscope by Heinrich Rohrer (co-inventor with German Gerd Binnig)
• Super-twisted nematic display by Brown, Boveri & Cie
• Swatch Internet Time by Swatch
• Research on Nuclear Magnetic Resonance by Kurt Wüthrich

Sports

The Swiss bobsleigh team from Davos, ca. 1910

• Bobsleigh

Technology

• Constant escapement by Girard-Perregaux
• Cross-beat escapement and remontoire for watches by Jost Bürgi
• Riggenbach rack system by Niklaus Riggenbach
• Solar Impulse by Bertrand Piccard in co-operation with EPFL
• Tourbillon by Abraham-Louis Breguet
• Turbocharger by Alfred Büchi

Transportation

• Bathyscaphe Trieste by Auguste Piccard

Miscellaneous

• The Red Cross by Henry Dunant

See also

List of Swiss inventors and discoverers

References

1. Dahm, R (Jan 2008). "Discovering DNA: Friedrich Miesc research". Human Genetics. 122 (6): 565–81. doi:10.1007/s00439-007-0433-0. ISSN 0340-6717. PMID 17901982.
2. Mary Bellis (2012-04-09). "Charles Martin Hall - The History of Aluminum". Inventors.about.com. Retrieved 2012-12-28.
3. "Computer mouse inventor dies in Vaud". World Radio Switzerland. 2009-10-14. Retrieved 2009-10-28.