Its a sad day for me

**godric21ph** · July 14th, 2007 04:49 AM

So i was reading my weekly dose of damninteresting.com and there was an article in there about a huge tower that Tesla built. It was mentioned in the first few paragraph that he invented the flourescent lamp...

wait... WTF?!

Masakit sa pinoy prode ko yung nabasa ko. So i went to wikipedia to read about flourescent lamp and was surprised that the name Agapito Flores is not even mentioned and there were also no article about him in there. After further research, I learned that he didn't exists and was only a myth.

When did this happen? Pinalabas ba sa tv? Pano na yung mga childhood memories kong nanonood ng batibot, nakikinig ng kwento tungkol kay Agapito. San nanggaling ang kwento ni Agapito?

**takkochan** · July 14th, 2007 07:48 AM

Hindi lang yan..eto pa:

Armando Malite...pinoy inventor daw ng M-16 armalite, tinuro ito sa amin sa ROTC. WRONG! Eugene Stoner is the inventor.

Eduardo San Juan...pinoy inventor daw of the Lunar Rover. He supposedly worked for Lockheed Martin. WRONG! The Lunar Rover was built by Boeing, with teams of scientists and engineers.

**Jun aka Pekto** · July 14th, 2007 09:55 AM

Hmmm. I had HS in RP (during Marcos' time) and I do recall Germer, a German, as the inventor of the first true fluorescent bulb while GE bought the patent from him and was the first to produce the product. I never heard of A. Flores til now.

As for the Moon Rover, I'd bet San Juan was one of those in the team (or at least associated with the Moon Rover) although he can't claim to be the inventor. Now that I've heard of from my Mapua days since I think San Juan was a Mapuan. I also recalled stories about Lockheed swiping the brightest graduates as soon as they finished their degree.

Of course, that was back then when Mapua was still considered the heavyweight for engineering.

As for the M-16.... Looking at the way the US Armed Forces developed and procured arms, I think it's highly unlikely Armando Malite was the inventor. My dad was already in the service during the whole development/deployment of the M-16. If it was a Pinoy who invented it, he definitely would've said something to me.

As for that rumor, I first heard it in the late 70's from my young (then 10-yr old) cousin who was playing with a toy plastic "Armalite". The obvious similarity of the names was there. But, that's about it.

**FedEx** · July 14th, 2007 10:07 AM

hmm.. armando malite? hm... ar**** malite? hmmm

morning tsikoteers

**Alpha_One** · July 14th, 2007 10:12 AM

Originally Posted by godric21ph

When did this happen? Pinalabas ba sa tv? Pano na yung mga childhood memories kong nanonood ng batibot, nakikinig ng kwento tungkol kay Agapito. San nanggaling ang kwento ni Agapito?

From what I read, the closest any "Agapito Flores" was to being involved in the technology is introducing it to Manuel Quezon.

I don't see any value in propagating these false stories that instill a sense of false pride among people. It's like telling a child that he was delivered by a stork, with a busload of insecurity in the part of the storyteller.

The media plays upon the insecurity in people, overblowing the achievements of those worthy of attention. Examples: Diosdado Banato (Silicon Valley innovator) being "richer than Zobel, Tan, Sy combined", Eduardo San Juan inventing the Lunar Rover "all by himself" (as opposed to being on the team that invented it), etc.

Media also glorify people who haven't got much to do with famous inventions if anything at all. E.g. Flores, Malite. This is further reinforced by the similar sounding names and the "oppressive imperialist must have stole my work!" mentality. I'm not surprised if their stories were completely fabricated.

Don't be ashamed. Tesla may not be a Filipino, but he is human. Humans are capable of real amazing s***. Remember, all Filipinos are humans. It's your humanity, not your ethnicity (or citizenship) that you should be more proud of.

**orly_andico** · July 14th, 2007 10:14 AM

Yan kasi ang problema... as a country we have so little pride that we resort to "inventing" accomplishments.

I remember that Agapito Flores ( = "fluorescent" ) gag back when I was in elementary. Even back then it sounded stupid.

The Lunar Rover guy, as I recall, he designed the drive system ( transmission ) on the Rover, not the whole thing.

Never heard about Armando before. It's well-known that Eugene Stoner developed the M-16 from his civilian AR-10 rifle.

**BlueBimmer** · July 14th, 2007 10:23 AM

armando malite? :hysterical:

**MAXBUWAYA** · July 14th, 2007 10:24 AM

I just research this three weeks ago, yes agapito G flores wasnt recognize as the inventor.

Some says that he sold his invention kahit hindi kasama pangalan nya.

**Alpha_One** · July 14th, 2007 10:31 AM

The Flores story is unlikely if not impossible. The principle of fluorescene has been around for three quarters of a century prior to the period of his "invention", and the technology in development for almost as long. It's possible that he might have come up with a patent for a specific sort of fluorescent lamp, but he didn't invent the fluorescent lamp himself.

Anyway, see http://www.txtmania.com/trivia/inventions.php. The page lists some Filipino inventors, both real and "imagined". The roster includes Flores, San Juan and Dingel. Decide for yourself.

"In Poland, the Moon Buggy is attributed to a Polish inventor."