Project Outline

Outline

1. Homepage

-Basic Overview of the Other Pages

-Iconic Photo:

-Final Video Documentary

2. Inventing the Microwave

-Percy Spencer

-Story of Creation at Raytheon Company à working in a room with a radar system and noticed the chocolate in his pocket has melted; intrigued and started testing other foods, such as popcorn

-Applied for Patent in 1945

-Original Form:  Commercial Microwave – 6ft tall and 750 pounds – not for use in homes

-1970s:  Microwave becomes more compact and becomes widely used in homes across the country

-The style and size of microwaves continue to change today

3. Antecedents and Possible Alternatives

-The Oven – ancient times: Jews and Romans used a form of a stone or brick oven heated by wood; colonial times: brick ovens heated by both wood and ash à will be portrayed in a timeline using Timeline JS

-Toaster Oven – Still an alternative to the microwave today, didn’t disappear

4. Basic Science of the Microwave

-Will examine the principles behind – and link to a brief video brief and simply describing how the microwave functions

-Explain what new technology made the microwave so revolutionary

5. Impact on American Society

-Helped to shape and develop the popcorn industry – popcorn was first sold the year before the microwave was invented; popcorn was featured in the original patent for the microwave

-Ease of Cooking in American Households – Before: cooking meals could be laborious and time consuming; Microwave: meals could be cooked and served quickly – saved time and also helped to establish the trend of cooking enough food for leftovers

-Interview with Lisa Salita about the impact she saw with the microwave while growing up during the 1970s