Category: Technology, History of

JF Ptak Science Books  Quick Post

Even Scientific American–the 1896 source of this small article on this big bike–was impressed with the virtuoso nature of bigness in this invention, stating in the open paragraph that “in this age of big things one is always prepared for the construction of a mammoth engines, ships, buildings…” but this practice was “invaded by the bicycle world”. The trike was “colossal–no other word can describer it–” at 17′ long, powered by eight people (four per rear wheel), with a 6′-diameter front wheel and 11′-diameter (!) rear wheels (with 1/2-inch diameter spokes)  and weighed in at 3000 pounds. It was a beast. The function evidently did not follow form, as there was no discernible use for it except to be displayed during parades and other social events. 

JF Ptak Science Books  Post 2838

This device isn’t so much a six-person internet as it is…well, it isn’t that at all. It was however one of the first times where a group of people could share a recorded piece on their own earphones, though.  This was Thomas Edison’s new photograph of 1888:

Thomas Edison–who in a furious few years in the mid 1870’s–invented the light bulb and the phonograph  (the later coming as a direct byproduct on work done on the telephone and telegraph)..He celebrates his phonograph in the North American Review (May 1878)  and then lists what he saw as the readymade faits acomplis of the phonograph, the first of which was weirdly/spectacularly worded:   “1. The captivity of all manner of sound-waves heretofore designated as fugitive, and their permanent retention.”  Do you hear a soundtrack with that description?  I did.  He proceeded with less fanfare: “2. Their reproduction with all their original characteristics at will, without the presence or consent of the original source, and after the lapse of any period of time. 3. The transmission of such captive sounds through the ordinary channels of commercial intercourse and trade in material form, for purposes of communication or as merchantable goods. 4. Indefinite multiplication and preservation of such sounds, without regard to the existence or non-existence of the original source. 5. The captivation of sounds, with or without the knowledge or consent of the source of their origin.

Edison then goes on to list what he saw as distinct “possibilities” for the use of the phonograph in the not-too-distant future. There are ten major prospects, the “bookish” aspect and the first major assault on the way we read is listed fourth (though he wasn’t necessarily weighting his list in any way).  Some of the others in this list (all of which cam to fruition) include: 1.Dictation and letter writing—using the phonograph to record letters and correspondence, which was baldly aimed at the business and corporate trade as the machine was relatively difficult to operate and expensive. 2  Phonographic “books”. I noticed that that Edison did not change the word “book” in any way, even though the book is no longer there with the application of the phonograph, just the read and spoken words.  “Books may be read by the charitably-inclined professional reader, or by such readers especially employed for that purpose, and the record of such book used in the asylums of the blind, hospitals, the sick-chamber, or even with great profit and amusement by the lady or gentleman whose eyes and hands may be otherwise employed; or, again, because of the greater enjoyment to be had from a book when read by an elocutionist than when read by the average reader.” 3. Family records. “For the purpose of preserving the sayings, the voices, and the last words of the dying member of the family [emphasis mine] as of great men the phonograph will unquestionably outrank the photograph.”4. Toys:  “A doll which may speak, sing, cry, or laugh, may be safely promised our children for the Christmas holidays ensuing. Every species of animal or mechanical toy such as locomotives, etc. may be supplied with their natural and characteristic sounds.”

Edison continued, writing on the phonograph’s application for the study of elocution, speaking clocks, language preservation (as in documentation of the proper way of speaking a certain language, something that would’ve come in handy in the spike of disappearing languages at the end of the 19th century), telephone recorders and pedagogical lessons.

There was a lull in activity on the phonograph for Mr. Edison between the machine’s invention and 1888—this was the first major iteration/improvement the man made on his machine in nearly 10 years. The most significant reach was replacing the surface of the recording foil cylinder with wax, which was more reliable. In any event, in this picture (published in Scientific American Supplement in March 1888, we see the new instrument, equipped as it was for six private listeners.

JF Ptak Science Books  Quick Post

I found this fine illustration in an 1873 volume of the Journal of the Franklin Institute, a “road locomotive”, the first one produced by the firm Aveling & Porter, who, we are told, “had previously done no real work”. This certainly looks like real work to me.  The specifications found in the article paint an even larger picture than the picture of the machine does it credit. The boiler, for example, is 8′ long, meaning that the machine overall is about 11′ long; the boiler’s diameter is 30″, which makes the vehicle about 10′ tall. The big wheel is big: 60″ in diameter (supporting a 10′ height) and very heavy, weighing 450 pounds.  The overall weight on this beast is 11,648 lbs.

Source: Thurston, R.H. “Traction Engines or Road Locomotives. The Past, the Present and the Future of Steam on the Common Road”.  Journal of the Franklin Institute, volume 95, 1873, pp 17-43.  

JF Ptak Science Books  
In the “Spirit of Discovery” section of the British weekly magazine The Mirrour of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction for 22 October 1836 is a short notice on the “physiognotype”, “a machine for taking casts, lately invented by a gentleman in Paris” [The patent application for this device seems to be the work of Richard Rettford, UK patent # 6732, 1834.] We’re accustomed to these devices now as they’ve been for sale in toy shops for decades—but in 1836 it was a real breakthrough for making instantaneous three-dimensional models of small things.  In 1836 there really wasn’t any simple way of producing a direct, proportional model like this in 3-D except for encasing it in plaster and then casting from that mold.  Two-dimensional modeling was easier, and there were numerous devices constructed for this purpose as people pursued the still-hot rage of physiognomic forecasting, with simpler means (like shadow portraits) being hundreds of years earlier.  (Photography remember is still three years away from being announced and another few years from being sort of accessible to middle-class folks.) 

This device was simple and cool, and it worked.  It was basically a board with a mesh of tiny holes drilled into it through which were placed knitting needles (it looks as though it was 12” around or so and four inches deep), bound in wood, with the enclosure encased by a bladder of warm water (“to ensure that the needles moved with the greatest facility”)—this last bit was really a good idea.  You were left with a “brush of needles”, very densely packed, and very easily disturbed.  The author writes that the process took about two seconds, didn’t hurt at all, and caused “a sensation that cannot well be described”.  (Though he did state that if the instrument wasn’t warmed by the water the process would’ve felt like putting your face in the snow…does that mean it felt like putting your face in warm snow?) 

I’ve tried, briefly, to see where this invention went, but it seems not to have advanced far beyond the reach of quack medical practioners and magicians.  It seems as though something like this could’ve been useful in the machine shop for modeling (replacement) parts without having to take the machine itself apart to do it.  I guess that it could’ve been used by haberdashers, cobblers, and all sorts of other craftspeople and small manufacturers, but it seems as though it actually wasn’t.  It looks like a dandy piece of thinking, to me.