Kitabı oku: «Invention: The Master-key to Progress», sayfa 19

It may be pointed out here that of all the inventions and discoveries ever made, those made in medical and surgical science, especially in preventive measures, have had more direct and immediate influence on history than contemporary inventions in any other field, save possibly religion. For what is history but the life-story of the human race; and what greater influence can be had than influence upon the health of its component members? The discoveries and inventions made in the field of bacteriology especially, by gaining knowledge concerning the unseen and unheard foes that attack us from within, have lifted civilized man up to a condition of cleanliness and purity, in comparison with which the conditions under which our forefathers lived seem almost repulsive.

It is true that many of these conditions were outcomes of civilization itself, and that for some of them medicine has merely found the antidotes. Yet the fact that medicine has found antidotes shows that medicine has been keeping pace with progress and has invented measures for preventing the Machine from poisoning itself by a sort of auto-intoxication. That the Machine is in danger of disruption by outside and inside forces has been suggested frequently in this book; so that what seems to be indicated as desirable is a series of discoveries and inventions that will prevent it. But, in attempting this, we must not forget that each new discovery or invention adds another part, that safety devices are sometimes so intricate as to increase the danger element rather than lessen or prevent it, and that safety appliances themselves are apt to get out of order, and thus lead to a false sense of security. These reflections force on our attention the fallibility of the human, the necessity for continuous study of all situations as they successively develop, and the solemn fact that progress is not beneficial of itself; for it may be in the wrong direction.

One obvious fact that we have always realized, startles each one of us occasionally; the fact that "people do not know what is good for them." The appetites and instincts of undomesticated brutes are said to be much more trustworthy as guides than those of domesticated brutes and human beings. We, by cultivating our imaginations and reasoning powers, and the brutes by being given food and shelter that they themselves do not have to get, seem to have lost a considerable part of the instinctive abilities with which we were originally blessed. With human beings, many objects that most of us aim for are extremely artificial, and some of them are extremely harmful. An illustration is the craving for much food and little physical labor, – a craving that is gratified almost at once by most people suddenly achieving wealth, with consequences that are always deplorable and are frequently distressing.

Of course this comes from excessive yielding to our appetites; but the brutes seem to feel no temptation to excessive yielding; an undomesticated brute seems to know when he has had enough. We not only yield, we go further and force our appetites. Possibly this is only an illustration of the fact that our minds have a sort of inertia, comparable to the inertia of physical objects; so that when we move in any direction, we are apt to go too far. That it is a tendency of human nature to go too far in any line of conduct, when once it is entered on, the facts of daily life continually testify. What reformer in public or private life ever knew when to stop; what money maker ever realized that he had enough money and ceased his efforts to get more? A small percentage have, but only a small percentage.

For this reason and others, the human machine and the Machine of Civilization do not get along together as harmoniously as might be wished. Though many inventions, especially the basic ones, have been actually uncontrollable acts of self-expression, many others have been inspired by motives largely selfish, such as the wish to gain fame, or power or money (or fame and power and money); and the result is a Machine that contributes more to man's material well-being than to his moral, mental or spiritual well-being, and a consequent civilization that is necessarily artificial. The net effect, however (unless all our standards are wrong), has been beneficial; for it cannot truthfully be denied that physically, mentally, morally and spiritually, the civilized man is better than the savage, and to a degree commensurate with the degree to which he is civilized.

Probably most civilized men would agree to this proposition. Probably most of them would also agree that civilization brings its evil influences as well as its good influences, that the Machine has been found vulnerable to destructive influences in the past, that the ultimate effect must be judged from its influences on human beings, and that the most beneficent inventions and discoveries have been those that tend to the safety of the Machine itself and the spiritual, moral, mental and physical health of the individual humans who comprise its principal parts. They will therefore applaud such discoveries as those of Eberth, Koch and Sternberg of 1880, and also another one of Koch and one of Pasteur two years later. Both of these benefactors then isolated deadly microbes of disease: Koch the bacillus of tuberculosis, and Pasteur that of hydrophobia.

In 1881, Reece invented a button-hole machine and Schmid a hand photographic camera. Both of these were useful inventions if not brilliant. It would be interesting to know the amounts of money realized by their inventors, compared with the amounts received by Koch, Pasteur and Sternberg. In 1884, by the way, Koch made another epoch-making and beneficent discovery, and isolated the bacillus of cholera. Loeffler did the same thing, in the same year for diphtheria, and Nicolaier for lockjaw; while Kuno produced antipyrene.

In reflecting on what these great men accomplished, it is interesting to point out to ourselves that the consensus of opinion seems to be that, for most people, "the pursuit of happiness" is the main business of life. Whether this ought to be or not, should not distract our attention from the fact that it really is. To most of us – at least to those of us who are young – happiness seems to lie in the thing pursued, provided the pursuit succeeds. We all seek the crock of gold at the end of the rainbow, and imagine that if we get it, we shall get the summum bonum of everything – happiness. Yet all one has to do is to remember how happy he was one day when he was feeling well physically, morally, mentally and spiritually (as we all have at rare intervals), to realize that happiness is merely a condition, – and that it is a condition that depends more on the condition of his own machine than on all other things put together. When one observes the action of a fine trotting horse, the smooth and noiseless motion of a large steam-engine, or the majestic setting of the sun; or when he hears the harmonies of some great musical composer, or the grander harmonies of the ocean-breakers on the beach; or when he ponders on the inconceivably swift but God-like regularity of the stars and planets, he may get a faint and brief conception of what it means for a machine to be in order. Our human machines are rarely in this condition: but sometimes, without any assignable cause whatever, one takes a deep, full breath, and says, "It is good to live."

The men just spoken of, and the great teachers of truth in all ages, in even a higher degree, admonish us to keep our machines in order, and tell us how to do it.

How not to do it, the world and the flesh and the devil tell us unceasingly; beguiling us, as the serpent beguiled Eve, to eat; to gratify one and all the appetites of the senses, regardless of the effect on the machine inside. For we know those senses ought to guard our intake valves, but do not.

Why cannot some one invent a device that will automatically regulate our intake valves? Such an invention would prevent us from eating too much, drinking too much, and smoking too much, and also from eating, drinking and smoking things detrimental to the machine, and injurious to our happiness; and even from taking in sights and sounds and thoughts of an unhealthful kind. This might be followed by another invention that would regulate our outgo valves, and put a brake on our speech, our ambition, our acquisitiveness, etc. But would not these take from us our God-granted free will? Yes, in great measure. But such is the effect of the Machine of Civilization. The primeval savage lived – (and the primeval savage still lives) in a condition of almost perfect liberty, as do the beasts that perish: but in the vast Machine of Civilization, we are only tiny parts. Each of us, it is true, has a little freedom of motion; but it is like the "lost motion" of a loose part in a crude or ill-constructed engine; and it seems to be growing smaller and smaller, as the Machine grows larger and improves.

CHAPTER XIII
THE CONQUEST OF THE ETHER – MOVING PICTURES – RISE OF JAPAN AND THE UNITED STATES

In 1884, Mergenthaler invented the linotype machine, in which matrixes for casting different type were moved successively into line, by pressing the corresponding alphabetically marked keys on a keyboard, and the whole line then moved to the casting mechanism and cast. This was an invention of the most clean-cut and perfect character; following clearly the processes of conception, development and production, and resulting in an improvement in the art of printing of a most important kind. Few inventions embody such a brilliant and original conception, such excellent constructiveness and such a useful product. So perfect was the result, and so clear was the conception that preceded it, that one marvels that some one had not invented it before. Why make matrixes for type, then cast the type, then space the type individually one after the other in line, and then stereotype them as they stand in line, when it is so much easier simply to place the matrixes in line and then stereotype the matrixes? The influence of this invention is of the same kind as the influence of the invention of the art of printing from movable type, because it is an improvement in that art. All over the world this invention, or inventions suggested by it, are used by the newspaper and book publishers, with the result that the quickness and accuracy of printing are much enhanced, and the work of co-operating the parts of the Machine thereby facilitated.

In the same year Marble increased the safety of the bicycle by his invention of the rear-driven chain, and Schultz invented his chrome process of tanning leather. Both of these were important in their way; but in 1885 Cowles made a more important invention, that of reducing (and thereby producing) the metal aluminum from its oxide, called alumina, the chief constituent of clay. The usefulness of aluminum lies largely in its extreme lightness, and in the fact that when combined with certain metals, notably copper, it forms important alloys.

During the same year, Welsbach invented his gas mantle, a valuable contribution to gas-lighting, and Bowers invented his hydraulic dredge, in which the act of dredging a channel or harbor was accomplished by hydraulic power. In the same year, Van Depoele invented a practical contact appliance for use in taking off the current from the overhead wires of electric railways. In 1886, Bell and Tainter invented the graphophone, an important improvement on the phonograph, and Elihu Thompson invented electric welding. This was an epochal invention, inaugurating as it did an entirely new art, and contributing enormously not only to the quickness of welding, but to its accuracy and strength. Many improvements have been made on this invention during the past few years, that have increased its scope and value. Many articles are now made in one piece that is really solid, though composed of several parts: for those parts are so firmly welded together that the joints cannot be seen and are as strong as any other parts.

In the same year, Matteson invented his combined harvester and thresher. In the following year, Prescott invented his band wood saw, and McArthur and Forrest invented their process of extracting metals (especially gold and silver) from ores by the use of a solution of potassium cyanide, and greatly cheapened the work. In the same year, Tesla invented his system of multi-phase electric currents, which rendered possible the economical transmission of power over long distances, of which the first use was made in transmitting power derived from Niagara Falls. This was another invention of the first order of merit in brilliancy and originality of conception, excellence of constructiveness and usefulness of result. Its value has been only dimly appreciated by most men, because the invention does not stand continually before our eyes, like the telephone and electric light; for it cannot be seen at all. It is not a machine or instrument (in the common use of those words) but a system, actually invisible of itself, that governs the method of design, construction and operation of the visible dynamos, motors and conductors. Like the germ of life, we see not it, but only its manifestations.

In the same year, Welsbach brought out an improvement on his incandescent gas-mantle that was valuable for cases in which a brilliant illumination was desired, that leaped almost immediately into public favor. In the following year of 1888, Sprague made the first installation of street electric railways in the United States, and the first in the world in which the conditions of operating were difficult. The success of Sprague's system was largely due to the excellence of Sprague's electric motor, which had the curious property of being designed on principles which the scientific men of those days declared to be wholly wrong. Sprague's reputation rests mainly on his electric railway; but, from the standpoint of the inventor, Sprague's invention of his electric motor was of a higher order than that of his electric railway.

In 1888, Harvey invented his process of making armor-plate. In the same year, Eastman and Walker invented the kodak camera, in which the novelty consisted mainly of a continuous roll of sensitized film, on which photographs could be successively made; and De Chardonnet invented his process of manufacturing artificial silk from threads that were made by forcing collodion through very small holes. These were important in fact; but in comparison with the discoveries in the realm of the actual ether made in the same year by Hertz, they were quite trifling.

These discoveries resulted from experiments with electric apparatus of the simplest and most inexpensive character, in a space near which sparks were passing between the two terminals of a Rhumkorff coil. It had been known before that each spark accompanied and therefore represented an establishment of equilibrium between the two oppositely charged terminals, and that each discharge was of an oscillatory character – as any readjustment of equilibrium always is. By means of a mere single wire, curved into a circle, except that the two ends were not quite joined, Hertz discovered that the space was filled with electric waves that were propagated in straight lines from the source (as light is) and accompanied with vibrations at right angles to the direction of propagation (also as light is); and also that the electric rays were refracted, reflected and polarized, as light rays are. Subsequent experiments with modified apparatus measured the velocity of the propagation of electric waves, and found that it was virtually the same as that of light.

To some, this may not seem a very important discovery, "from a practical standpoint"; and doubtless it is not, from the "practical standpoint" of some people, because it does not affect the amount of their worldly possessions, or their ease, comfort and pleasure. It was hailed with delight by scientific men, however; because not only did it support the electro-magnetic theory of light, but the course of Hertz's work had demonstrated the suspected fact that the "receiver" of electric waves must harmonize in its electric dimensions with the transmitter, in order that the greatest amount of electric energy may be developed in the receiver; and it had thus given assistance to investigations then in progress on what we now call "wireless telegraphy."

Many investigators were now in the field, among whom was the humble author of these pages. Little real progress was made until, in 1891, when Branly announced his amazing discovery and utilized it in his amazing invention, called the "coherer." His discovery was that, if a tube containing metal filings be placed in the "field" of the spark of an electric machine, Leyden jar, or Rhumkorff coil, it (the filings) will become a conductor of electricity when hit by the electric waves; and that it will revert to its normal state as a non-conductor, if smartly tapped: the effect of the waves being to cause the separate particles to co-here and form a continuous metal conductor; while the effect of the tapping was to jar the particles apart. The first use of this coherer was in place of the ring that Hertz had used; but its value as an instrument of practical usefulness in achieving electric communication without wires was almost immediately perceived – and demonstrated.

The career of the wireless telegraph since Branly's great discovery has been as rapid, widespread and important as any other new agency has ever enjoyed, and possibly more so. That wireless telegraphy was a distinct invention may perhaps be questioned. If it was, who was the inventor? It is true that an invention does not have to be associated with any one inventor in order to have the right to be characterized as an invention; but in the case of the wireless telegraph, it seems safe to say that, although some of the separate steps toward its achievement were inventions, the final step was merely the adding together of these separate steps in a way that was perfectly obvious, and that several men accomplished almost simultaneously. As soon as Branly produced his coherer, the problem was thereby automatically solved. Every experimenter realized that it was merely necessary to use Branly's coherer, in place of any receiver previously used, and to "tune" the transmitting and receiving circuits into harmony.

The first man to make a practical wireless installation seems to have been Marconi, in 1896. As is well known, the distances over which messages can be sent has been increasing rapidly ever since, and so has been the number and the importance of the organizations using it, of which the largest are the various national governments themselves. The vast influence of wireless (or radio) telegraphy on the history of the great World War is too recent to need detailing, but possibly it may be well to call to mind the fact that the ocean cables were virtually all under the control of the Allies, and that "the wireless" was almost the only means that Germany had for receiving information quickly and sending instructions quickly beyond her own coast line. It was used by the Allies, however, almost continually in the controlling of their multitudinous naval units on the sea, and among those units themselves; and it made possible that prompt and harmonious action among numerous widely separated groups, that distinguished this war from all preceding wars. It would be difficult to determine whether the wireless lengthened the war by the assistance it gave to Germany, or shortened it by the assistance it rendered the Allies. In the early part of the war, when Germany was directing ships that were far away, it helped Germany more than it helped the Allies; but in the last years, when the Allies were fighting the submarines in the Mediterranean and North Seas, it helped the Allies more. In the main, it probably shortened the war considerably, by accelerating the operations.

This reminds us of the fact that the general effect of invention has been to make wars more terrible but more brief; and that the abbreviating effect is especially noticeable in inventions that increase the speed and safety of transportation and communication. Another effect of invention has been to make wars more widespread; for the reason that it links some nations together and creates antagonism between other nations, even if they are far apart. Larger and larger organizations are thus brought into being, not only as nations but as allies and confederates. In this way, Japan fought in Asia, in co-operation with her allies in France.

On the supposition that the Machine is going to continue to increase in size and strength and excellence, on the further supposition that the more highly civilized nations will continue to control the less civilized nations increasingly, the time may not be many generations distant when all the nations of the world will be divided into a very few groups, each dominated by one great nation; as the Middle Europe nations were dominated by Germany in the last war. As all the known world was once divided into two groups headed by Assyria and Babylon; at another time by Assyria and Persia; at another time by Greece and Persia; at another by Rome and Carthage, etc., and as at various times Europe also has been divided into two opposing groups of nations, so the whole known world may again be divided into two opposing groups of nations: – possibly the white and the yellow nations.

The clash of the fighting machines of two such vast organizations, perfected in power and speed as they doubtless will be as the years go by and inventions succeed each other, will surpass in grandeur anything yet dreamed of. It may never occur. Never? It may never occur; but something approximating it will occur, if history is to be as much like past history as history usually has been.

In 1889, Schneider invented his process of making nickel steel, and thereby effected an improvement in steel that was first utilized in making armor, and afterward in making other articles of many kinds. Hall invented a process of making aluminum during the same year. In the following year, Stephens invented his electric plough, and Mergenthaler made an improvement on his linotype machine. About the same time, pneumatic tires were attached to bicycles; and an invention of a most important kind, that had lain dormant for many years, was put to work at last. The inventor had long since died. Does he know that his invention is now used all over the civilized world? If so, does the knowledge give him pleasure?

One of the most unsatisfactory parts of an inventor's experience is the difficulty he has in making other men see the value of his inventions, combined with the fact that when the invention is finally adopted, his part in it is often forgotten, and sometimes intentionally ignored. This applies especially to inventions of a high order of originality, that are a little in advance of the requirements and knowledge of most men at the time, and that are looked upon as visionary and do not come into use for a considerable while. Many an inventor has endured a purgatory while trying to get a hearing for his invention, and yet been wholly forgotten when it was finally adopted. To make the matter worse, he has often been branded for life as a visionary, and remained so branded, even after the invention had been adopted because of which he had been branded. In other cases, manufacturers have stolen his invention and denied his claims, knowing that he was too poor to fight against them with all of their resources. In other cases, business men and lawyers have combined to induce him to sign papers of a highly advantageous character to the business men, but contrariwise to the inventor. In all of these cases, the matter has usually been the worse for the inventor in proportion to the high order of the invention: for the real inventor, like the real artist, is usually so absorbed in his thoughts that he cares but little (too little) for material gain. The case of the inventor who makes a business of inventing is somewhat different. He usually confines his efforts to making inventions that will bring in money, becomes an expert on nice points in patent law, discerns chances for circumventing existing patents while utilizing their basic principles, perceives opportunities for making the little improvements in detail that promote practicability, and becomes the kind of inventor who owns a limousine.

In 1890, Krag-Jorgensen invented the famous rifle of that name. In the following year, Branly invented the coherer mentioned on page 305, and Parsons invented his rotary steam turbine. The steam turbine was an improvement over the reciprocating steam engine for many classes of work, great and small. The first steam engine invented by Hero was a rotary engine, but it was of course, most uneconomical of steam. The first steam engine that was really efficient was the reciprocating engine produced by Watt. The greatest single defect of rotary engines has always been the loss of steam in going by the rotating parts without doing any work, a defect existing in only a small degree with the closely fitting pistons of reciprocating engines. In the turbines invented by Parsons and others about the same time, wastage of steam was prevented by various means that need not be detailed here, and smooth motion of the rotary engine at the same time secured. The greatest benefit accrued probably to ocean steamships, in which the absence of vibration, and the saving in weight, space and number of attendants required were features of great practical importance.

About 1890, Edison invented the kinetograph and kinetoscope, after a long series of investigations and experiments. These followed the experiments made by Dr. Muybridge some years before, in which he had taken many successive pictures of horses at very short intervals, by means of as many separate cameras, (twelve pictures in one stride for instance), and afterwards reproduced them in such a way as to show horses in rapid motion. They came also after Eastman's kodak, in which pictures could be taken successively, on a traveling film. In the kinetograph, only one object glass was used; and the film was drawn along behind it in such a way that, at predetermined intervals, the film was stopped and a shutter behind the object glass or lens was moved away, and a picture taken. The moving mechanism (at first the human hand) continuing in motion, the shutter was closed and the film was moved along a short distance, so as to bring another part behind the object glass. Then the same operation was repeated – and so on. In the kinetoscope, the operation was reversed, in the sense that the pictures taken were presented successively to the eye of the observer. In the first form, the observer looked at them through a peep-hole: but in the latter forms, the pictures have been thrown upon a screen – somewhat as from a magic lantern, and become the "movie" of today.

Here, again, we see an invention of the highest order in each of the three essentials – conception, development and production. No invention exists of a higher order. As to their use and usefulness, we are most familiar with them in moving pictures. Whether it is for the public good to produce so many shows for idly disposed men and women to spend their time in looking at, is perhaps a possible subject for enlightening discussion. But the moving picture is used for many purposes, especially for purposes of education and research, besides that of mere amusement, and will unquestionably be so used, more and more as time goes on. One of its most obvious spheres of usefulness is in making photographs of movements that are very rapid, and then analyzing and inspecting those photographs when presented very slowly, and when stopped. Another is in taking photographs of successive situations that have occurred at considerable intervals of time, and then presenting the pictures quickly, and thus showing a connected story. By dealing in this way with historical incidents, we can get a realization of the interdependence of those incidents that we cannot get in any other way, and see how cause has produced effects, and effects have come from causes. Similarly, the work of building any large structure can be shown by presenting rapidly a series of photographs taken at different stages; and so can the growth of a plant or animal, and almost any kind of progress.

Let us impress on our minds the fact that if we read any book, or witness any occurrence, or listen to any argument, or receive any instruction of any kind, the only value comes to us from the pictures made on our mental retinas and the permanence and clearness of the records impressed. Thus, any means that can impress us quickly with the most important pictures must be of the highest practical value, both in prosecuting studies of events, and in gathering conclusions from them. In fact, the kinetograph and the kinetoscope are simply Edison's imitation of the operations carried on inside the skull of each of us; for we are continually taking moving pictures of what we see and hear and read and feel; recording them on our own moving sensitized films, and bringing them before our mental gaze at our own volition and sometimes in spite of it.

In 1890, the author of this book patented "A Method of Pointing Guns at Sea" that has been adopted in all the great navies, under the name "Gun Director System." In 1891 he patented a modification under the name "Telescopic Sight for Ships Guns." These two inventions are used in every navy in the world, have increased the effectiveness of naval gunnery immeasurably, and have, therefore, been important contributions to the self-protectiveness of the Machine.

In 1893, Acheson invented his process for making carborundum, a compound of carbon and silicon, made in the electric furnace, and used for abrasive purposes; and in the same year Willson made carbide of calcium from carbon and quick-lime, also in the electric furnace. In 1895, Linde invented his process of liquefying air, and the first installation of great electric locomotives was effected: this was in the Baltimore and Ohio tunnel. In the same year, Röntgen made the epochal discovery of what he called by the significant name "X-rays," a name that still clings to them.