The inventors of the silicon solar cell were inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in Akron, Ohio late last week, along with 13 others, whose creations range from Styrofoam to Bose noise-reducing headphones (which I credit for preventing me from committing capital crimes while doing time in a cubicle as a writer for SuperMegaCorp).

First unveiled in 1954 and boasting 6 percent efficiency, the first modern solar cell was patented in 1957 by AT&T’s Daryl Chapin, Calvin Fuller, and Gerald Pearson. Patent number US2780765 describes their “Solar Energy Converting Apparatus.” In addition to converting solar energy to electricity, the technology developed by Chapin, Fuller, and Pearson is credited for making possible space exploration, fiber optics, and many science fair projects.

The three gentlemen were inducted in the Hall of Fame posthumously.