The humble pipette (see Webster entry below) has since spawned many astoundingly advanced offspring. Nevertheless, each and every one of them is as much of a glorified turkey baster as the last, operating on the same general principle of pressure exchange. Walk into any molecular genetic or microbial lab and you'll find them, scattered across the bench-top like cutlery at a picnic or perched on elaborate (and hideously over-priced) plastic racks. Generally, pipettors are hand-operated and a nasty source of repetitive strain injury. Those dispensing small volumes (usually ranging from 0.1 microliters to 1 milliliter) go for around one hundred US dollars each. Pipettors for larger volumes use an exchangable graduated column and range from cheap plastic versions (the mainstay of undergraduate labs across the world) to mega-pricey electric ones.
Holding a pipettor upside down while it contains liquid is extremely bad ju-ju. Although there is really only one way to hold a pipettor, most people steady it with their other hand near the tip when doing delicate operations, like loading a well. Frequently, a tiny miniscus of fluid is left in the tip after dispensing –– if you need to be finicky, you should touch the tip against the container wall and let capillary action do its thing.