The Best Inventions Of The Year

From the phone that has changed phones forever, to futuristic cars, to a building made of water, to a remote-controlled dragonfly—a dazzling display of ingenuity

—By Maryanne Murray Buechner, Kristina Dell, Andrea Dorfman, Lev Grossman, Anita Hamilton, Rebecca Winters Keegan, Jeffrey Kluger, Michael D. Lemonick, Coco Masters, Lisa McLaughlin, Alice Park, Julie Rawe and Deirdre van Dyk

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Archimedes (circa 287-212 B.C.)

Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden
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Famous for Archimedes' screw, a water pump still used in Africa, he is said to have leaped out of his bath, yelling "Eureka!" ("I have found it!"), after discovering an important principle of water displacement.

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