List of Swedish inventors

Swedish inventors are Swedish people who invented novel ideas, machines or tools.

In the 18th century Sweden's scientific revolution took off. Previously, technical progress had mainly come from professionals who had immigrated from mainland Europe. In 1739, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences was founded, with people such as Carl Linnaeus and Anders Celsius as early members.

Sweden has a total of 49,974 patents as of 2015 according to the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and only ten other countries have more patents than Sweden.

The traditional engineering industry is still a major source of Swedish inventions, but pharmaceuticals, electronics and other high-tech industries are gaining ground. A large portion of the Swedish economy is to this day based on the export of technical inventions, and many large multinational corporations from Sweden have their origins in the ingenuity of Swedish inventors.

17th century

* Christopher Polhem (1661–1751) was a Swedish scientist, inventor and industrialist. He made significant contributions to the economic and industrial development of Sweden, particularly mining. He reinvented the Cardan joint under the name of "Polhem knot" (Polhemknut) independently of Gerolamo Cardano, an Italian mathematician who invented the knot in 1545. His greatest achievement was an automated factory powered entirely by water; automation was very unusual at the time.
* The Stockholms Banco became the first European bank to print banknotes (credit creation) from 1661 onwards, founded by Johan Palmstruch. It engaged in lending as well as commercial payments which set it aside from the earlier innovations of the Amsterdam-based ''Wisselbank''. This made Sweden one of the innovators of 17th century finance along with the Dutch Empire and the British Empire (once the Bank of England had been founded some years later in 1694).

18th century

* Anders Celsius (1701–44) was an astronomer and mathematician most famous for inventing the 100-point thermometer scale, widely used across the world.
* Sven Åderman is a Swedish inventor who created a musket capable of firing more rapidly than conventional weaponry of the late 18th century. This new musket was first used in the wars of King Karl XII. For his efforts King Frederick I of Sweden bestowed upon him the estate of Halltorps in the year 1723.
* Jonas Lidströmer (1755–1808), was a Swedish inventor and officer in the Royal Swedish navy. He is behind a large number of mechanical devices and innovations, such as steel grinderies, ship docks, compasses etc.
* Johan Patrik Ljungström (1784–1859), jeweler, inventor in gas lighting, and underwater diving pioneer
* Per Georg Scheutz (1785–1873) was a 19th-century Swedish lawyer, translator, and inventor, who is best known for his pioneering work in computer technology. The best known of his inventions is the Scheutzian calculation engine, invented in 1837 and finalized in 1843.
* Gustaf Erik Pasch (1788–1862) invented the safety match.
* Martin von Wahrendorff (1789–1861) was a Swedish diplomat and inventor. In 1837 Wahrendorff applied for patent on a new breech calculating, later known as the Wahrendorff breech. The first breech loaded Wahrendorff gun was manufactured at Åker in 1840.

19th century

From the 1870s, engineering companies were created at an unmatched rate and engineers became considered heroes of the age. Many of the companies founded by early pioneers are still internationally familiar.

* Jonas Offrell (1803–1863) was a Swedish priest who developed a revolver at the same time and independently of Samuel Colt.
* Martin Wiberg (1826–1905) is known as a computer pioneer for his 1875 invention of a machine the size of a sewing machine that could print logarithmic tables. Apart from this invention, Wiberg invented numerous other devices and gadgets, among these a cream separator and a pulse jet engine.
* Alfred Nobel (1833–1896) invented dynamite and instituted the Nobel Prizes.
* Helge Palmcrantz (1842–1880), Swedish inventor and industrialist. In 1873 Palmcrantz patented the multi-barrel, lever-actuated, machine gun that later would be known as the Nordenfelt machine gun.
* Willgodt Theophil Odhner (1845–1905) was a Swedish mechanic and inventor of the Odhner arithmometer, a mechanical calculator.
* Lars Magnus Ericsson (1846–1926) started the company bearing his name, Ericsson, still one of the largest telecom companies in the world.
* Jonas Wenström was an early pioneer in alternating current and is, along with Nikola Tesla