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Wikijunior:Famous Inventors/Inventors in Transportation/Clive Sinclair

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Link to Clive Sinclair's Wikipedia entry

When, Where, and to whom was he or she born?

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Sinclair C5 with high vis mast

Clive Sinclair was born July 30, 1940.

He was born in Ealing, England.

What was his or her childhood like?

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Did You Know?

  • He was also behind the Sinclair personal computer.
  • He invented the Micro Amplifier.
  • He was knighted in 1983.

Sinclair's father and grandfather were engineers; both had been apprentices at the shipbuilders Vickers.

Why did this person become interested in science?

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He went for holiday jobs at electronic companies.

Where did this person go to school?

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Sinclair attended Boxgrove Preparatory School, excelling in mathematics. Sinclair had little interest in sports and found himself out of place at school.

What problem did he or she uncover that needed solving?

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At Solartron he inquired about the possibility of electrically propelled personal vehicles.

What solutions had already been tried that did not solve the problem? Why wasn't it working?

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Bicycles, mopeds and cars did not offer personal electric transport. Lithium battery technology was not sufficiently developed.

What did this person invent that solved the problem?

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The Sinclair C5.

How did the invention solve the problem?

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It was a fared recumbent tricycle or velomobile with a battery electric motor.

How has this inventor changed people and the world?

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He was ahead of his time. The Sinclair C5 predated escooters by several decades.

What happened to this inventor in the end?

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Whilst Sinclair had anticipated 100,000 C5's would be sold in the first year, only 14,000 units were produced and 4,500 sold before the C5 line was terminated

If you could ask this inventor one question, what would you ask?

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Could the C5 have succeeded with lithium battery and appropriate infrastructure?

If you could bring this inventor to today and tell him or her one thing, what would you tell him or her about the effect of his or her invention?

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Escooters became popular.

References

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w:Clive Sinclair

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