The Portuguese inventions are the inventions created by the people born in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

(continent or overseas), or whose nationality is

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

. These inventions were created mainly during the age of Portuguese discoveries, and during modernity. Relying on trade secret explains, in part, the difficulty often experienced by researchers in documenting Portuguese inventions, as many are not described in

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A ...

documents, or other technical documents. On the other hand, there are cases, like some types of swords, where the inventions themselves or the underlying documents were lost, having been destroyed, for example, during the French invasions. There are as well documentation and objects of Portuguese origin in private collections or museums outside of Portugal.

Discoveries

The creation of new inventions in Portugal was at its peak during the

Age of Discovery The Age of Discovery (or the Age of Exploration), also known as the early modern period, was a period largely overlapping with the Age of Sail, approximately from the 15th century to the 17th century in European history, during which seafarin ...

. These inventions consisted mainly in the improvement of devices and techniques of ocean navigation and

coastal The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in ...

cartography Cartography (; from grc, χάρτης , "papyrus, sheet of paper, map"; and , "write") is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an i ...

, such as the

mariner's astrolabe The mariner's astrolabe, also called sea astrolabe, was an inclinometer used to determine the latitude of a ship at sea by measuring the sun's noon altitude (declination) or the meridian altitude of a star of known declination. Not an astrolabe ...

and the chart of latitudes. On the field of military applications, the construction of

cannon A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...

s and new types of swords, like the Carracks black sword.

Modernity

More recently, the technical domain varies from computers to

medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pr ...

. Such examples might be Via Verde, an automatic system for collecting tolls for vehicles; the

Multibanco Multibanco is a portuguese interbank network. It is the largest interbank network in Portugal owned and operated by SIBS (Sociedade Interbancária de Serviços S.A.), that links the ATMs of 27 banks in Portugal, totaling 12,700 machines as of Dece ...

, an

automatic teller machine An automated teller machine (ATM) or cash machine (in British English) is an electronic telecommunications device that enables customers of financial institutions to perform financial transactions, such as cash withdrawals, deposits, fun ...

network with a multitude of functions ranging from bank transfers to the payment of tickets for shows; or in the field of medicine, a treatment of

epilepsy Epilepsy is a group of non-communicable neurological disorders characterized by recurrent epileptic seizures. Epileptic seizures can vary from brief and nearly undetectable periods to long periods of vigorous shaking due to abnormal electrica ...

, the drug Zebinix by Bial Laboratories.

Gallery of Portuguese inventions

File:Frol de la mar in roteiro de malaca.jpeg, Carrack (Nau) – the Oceanic Carrack (a new and different model, and largest carrack) File:Galleon, Carracks, Galley and Galeota- Routemap of the Red Sea-1540 by D. João de Castro.jpg,

Galleon Galleons were large, multi-decked sailing ships first used as armed cargo carriers by European states from the 16th to 18th centuries during the age of sail and were the principal vessels drafted for use as warships until the Anglo-Dutch W ...

– the Oceanic Galleon File:Ships from da Gama’s 2nd voyage 1502.jpg,

Square-rigged caravel The square-rigged caravel, ( pt, caravela redonda) was a sailing ship created by the Portuguese in the second half of the fifteenth century. A much larger version of the caravel, its use was most notorious beginning in the end of that century. The ...

– Round caravel. The most enduring and replicated model of the ships with this name, and predecessor of other ships of the range. File:Nonio originale.jpg, The nonius File:Astrolábio Náutico - Aveiro.png, The

File:Passarola.png, The '' Passarola'', the first known

airship An airship or dirigible balloon is a type of aerostat or lighter-than-air aircraft that can navigate through the air under its own power. Aerostats gain their lift from a lifting gas that is less dense than the surrounding air. In early ...

File:Padre himalaya.jpeg, The Pyreliophorus File:Tempura 02.jpg,

Tempura is a typical Japanese dish usually consisting of seafood, meat and vegetables that have been battered and deep fried. The dish was introduced by the Portuguese in Nagasaki through fritter-cooking techniques in the 16th century. The word ...

File:Homemade marmalade, England.jpg,

Marmalade Marmalade is a fruit preserve made from the juice and peel of citrus fruits boiled with sugar and water. The well-known version is made from bitter orange. It is also made from lemons, limes, grapefruits, mandarins, sweet oranges, bergamot ...

File:Eslicarbazepine acetate structure.svg, The drug Zebinix File:Carracks black sword.jpg, The Carracks black sword File:Cerebral angiography, arteria vertebralis sinister injection.JPG,

Cerebral angiography Cerebral angiography is a form of angiography which provides images of blood vessels in and around the brain, thereby allowing detection of abnormalities such as arteriovenous malformations and aneurysms. It was pioneered in 1927 by the Portugue ...

File:Via Verde Almada 2007 12 08.jpg, The Via Verde toll collection system File:3D All-on-4 technique.ogv, The

All-on-4 The term All-on-4, also known as All‐on‐Four and All‐in‐Four, refers to 'all' teeth being supported 'on four' dental implants, a prosthodontics procedure for total rehabilitation of the edentulous (toothless) patient, or for patients wi ...

dental method File:Bridgetown top-up.jpg,

Prepaid mobile phone A prepaid mobile device, also known as a, pay-as-you-go (PAYG), pay-as-you-talk, pay and go, go-phone, prepay or burner phone, is a mobile device such as a phone for which credit is purchased in advance of service use. The purchased credit is ...

File:Multibanco.svg,

File:Coloradd.png, Coloradd File:Herrmann wall phone.jpg, Herrmann wall telephone

Notes

{{Portugal topics Lists of inventions or discoveries Articles containing video clips

Discoveries

Modernity

Gallery of Portuguese inventions

See also

Notes