The Godfather of FDM, Scott Crump of @Stratasys detailing how he invented the technology that we all use now in 1989!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyJ4plgW1BM
(Hence why the patents ran out in 2009 and we could finally start using this invention!)
Exactly Jasper!
He didn’t invent the technology in 1989; he patented it in 1989. Others at the same time had a lot of the same ideas. Others also thought of this idea time and time again, completely unaware of his patent. Just like the first radio transmission: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_radio#Invention – There is no “one true father”, because lots of people were experimenting with it at the time.
The problem is that during the 20th century we got copyrights, patents, etc that merely worked to stifle innovation rather than encourage it. No invention is made in a vacuum, and he didn’t invent his solely out of thin air either.