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Spencer
Microwave
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Can you believe that a melted candy bar changed
the way we heat foods forever?
- Dr. Spencer had a very tough childhood. He was born in a
remote rural community in Maine. He was twice orphaned when a
child - by the time he was 7, he had lost his parents and the
aunt and uncle who cared for him.
- When he was 12, he began to work in a spool mill.
- When he was 16, he found out that his local paper mill was
going to get electricity. Even though he didn't know anything
about it, his curiosity and interest in new things drove him to
sign up to install the system.
- This was the pattern of his life. He was self-taught, and
learned what he learned from his boundless curiosity.
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Later in his life, Dr. Spencer was working at
Raytheon testing a new vacuum tube called
a magnetron. He was standing in front of it when he discovered that the candy bar in his pocket
had melted.
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He did what inventors do, he tested some another
object! He placed some popcorn kernels near the tube and watched
as the popcorn sputtered, cracked and popped all over his lab.
Next, he cooked an egg!
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Eventually, he built the first microwave oven,
which later became a fixture in nearly every kitchen.
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