Inventors at Work

About this eBook

Author

Iles, George, 1852-1942

Title

Inventors at Work, with Chapters on Discovery

Credits

Produced by Chris Curnow, Harry Lamé and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)

Language

English

LoC Class

T: Technology

Subject

Inventors

Category

Text

eBook-No.

48454

Project Gutenberg

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/48454

Release Date

March 10, 2015

Copyright

Public domain in the USA.

Contents

1. 1.INVENTORS AT WORK
2. 2.CONTENTS
3. 3.LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
4. 4.ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
5. 5.CHAPTER I INTRODUCTORY
6. 6.CHAPTER II FORM — Strength and Rigidity. — Plank and Joist. — Girders. — The Rail. — Dudley’s Track Indicator.
7. 7.CHAPTER III FORM— Continued . BRIDGES — Roofs and Bridges Much Alike. — Palladio’s Long Neglected Truss. — The Burr Bridge Simplified by Howe and Pratt. — Advantages of the Cantilever, Arch, and Bowstring Designs. — Suspension Bridges and Continuous Girders. — Best Proportions for Spans: A Slight Upward Curve is Gainful. Pins or Rivets in Fastening.
8. 8.CHAPTER IV FORM— Continued . WEIGHT AND FRICTION DIMINISHED. — Hollow Columns and Tubes. — Arches. — Circles and Other Curves. — Wheels. — Angles Replaced by Curves.
9. 9.CHAPTER V FORM— Continued . SHIPS — Forms of Ships Adapted to Special Resistances. — Experimental Basins. — A Viking Ship a Thousand Years Old. — Clipper Ships and Modern Steamers. — Judgment in Ship Design.
10. 10.CHAPTER VI FORM— Continued . SHAPES TO LESSEN RESISTANCE TO MOTION — Projectiles and Vehicles of Like Pattern. — Gearing: Conveyors. — Propellers. — Turbines.
11. 11.CHAPTER VII FORM— Continued . LIGHT ECONOMIZED BY RIGHTLY SHAPED GLASS. HEAT SAVED BY WELL DESIGNED CONVEYORS AND RADIATORS — A Shrewd Observer Improves Windows. — Delight and Gain as We Watch a Fish in Water. — Total Reflection in Artificial Lighting: Holophane Globes. — Total Reflection in Binocular Glasses. — Lenses Still Much Used. — The Production of Optical Surfaces. — Bi-focal Spectacles. — Economy of Heat.
12. 12.CHAPTER VIII FORM— Continued . TOOLS AND IMPLEMENTS SHAPED FOR EFFICIENCY — Tools and Implements. — Annular Drills. — Twist Drills. — Lathe and Planer Tools. — Machine Tools: Lathes. — Emery and Carborundum Wheels. — Form in Plastic Arts. — Pressing and Stamping. — Old and New Means of Conferring Form. — Use Creates Beauty. — Convenience in the Use of Machines. — Resources Rich or Meagre as Affecting Invention.
13. 13.CHAPTER IX FORM— Continued . FORM IN ABORIGINAL ART, AS AFFECTED BY MATERIALS. OLD FORMS PERSIST IN NEW MATERIALS — Aboriginal Art. — Idiom of Material. — Old Forms Repeated in New Materials.
14. 14.CHAPTER X SIZE — Cinders Big and Little. — Earth Sculpture. — Breaking Earth for Removal or Tilth. — Work of the Winds. — Dimensions in Ignition. — Dust Common and Uncommon. — Inflammable Dust. — Dimensions in Woven Fabrics. — The Dimensions of Models. — Why Big Ships are Best. — Bigness Needs Strong Materials. — A Store Continues the Lesson. — Summer Holiday Notes. — Dimensions Molecular. — Reservoirs of Energy. — Repulsion by Sound and Light. — A Law as a Binding Thread.
15. 15.CHAPTER XI PROPERTIES — Food. — Weapons and Tools. — Properties Modified. — Properties in Clothing. — Cotton Strengthened and Beautified. — Properties in Building Materials. — Flame and Electricity as Modifiers. — The Bamboo Rich in Utilities. — Materials for Basketry. — Aluminium and Its Uses. — Properties at First Unwelcome are Turned to Account. — Evil, Be Thou My Good. — Compensating Devices. — Properties Long Deemed Useless are Now Gainful. — Separation Turns on Diversity of Properties. — Properties Newly Discovered and Produced. — Edison’s Warehouse as an Aid.
16. 16.CHAPTER XII PROPERTIES— Continued — Light Giving Properties. — How the Gas Mantle was Invented. — Improvements in Electric Lighting: Incandescent Lamps. — New Arc Lamps. — Hewitt Mercury-Vapor Lamp.
17. 17.CHAPTER XIII PROPERTIES— Continued . STEEL — Steels for Strength. — The Open Hearth Process. — The Gayley Dry-Blast Process. — Steels to Order. — Heat Treatment. — Tempering and Annealing. — Steel for Railroad Rails. — Invar: A Steel Invariable in Dimensions Whether Warmed or Cooled. — Manganese Steel. — High-Speed Tool Steels. — Alloys for Electro-Magnets. — Magnetic Alloys of Non-Magnetic Ingredients. — Anti-Friction Alloys. — Influence of Minute Admixtures. — BOOKS ON IRON AND STEEL
18. 18.CHAPTER XIV PROPERTIES— Continued — Jena Glass. — Power Presses in Metal Working. — Non-Conductors of Heat. — Norwegian Cooking Box. — Aladdin oven. — Matter Impressed by Its History. — Magnetization. — The Crystal Foreshadows the Plant. — During Long Periods Minute Influences Become Telling.
19. 19.CHAPTER XV PROPERTIES— Continued. RADIO-ACTIVITY — Solids are not as Solid as They Seem. — Every Property May be Universal. — Radium Reveals Properties Unknown Till Now. — History of the Universe Rewritten in the Light of Radio-Activity. — Faraday’s Prophetic Views.
20. 20.CHAPTER XVI MEASUREMENT — Foot and Cubit. — The Metric System. — Uses of Refined Measurement. — Further Refinements Needed. — Precise Measurement as a Means of Discovery. — Measurements Refined: the Interferometer. — Application to Weighing. — A Light-Wave as an Unvarying Unit of Length.
21. 21.CHAPTER XVII MEASUREMENT— Continued — The Balance in Measurement. — Measurement of Time. — Time-Pieces Improved. — The Best Clocks in the World. — Ascertaining the Force of Gravity. — Heat Measured. — The Measurement of Light. — The Sky as a Field for Measurement. — Electricity Measured. — Weston Instruments. — The Bureau of Standards at Washington. — Refined Measurement Improves Machinery. — Interchangeability Old and New. — A Test Shows How Concrete May be Cheaply Strengthened. — Industrial Uses of Measurement. — Expert Planning and Reform.
22. 22.CHAPTER XVIII NATURE AS TEACHER — Forces Take the Easiest Paths. — Cities and Roads. — Engineering Principles in Vegetation. — The Gain of Responsiveness. — Scope for Imitation. — Strength of the Cylinder. — The Heart and the Built-up Gun. — The Eye and the Dollond Lenses. — Limbs and Lungs as Prototypes. — Postal and Telephonic Service. — Fibrils of the Ear and Eye. — The Electric Eel. — A Beaver Tooth and the Self-Sharpening Plow. — Shaping a Tube. — Lessons from Lower Animals: A Tool-Using Wasp. — The Separating Task of the Lungs. — Flight. — Light. — Converting Heat Into Work. — Foresight Instead of Hindsight.
23. 23.CHAPTER XIX ORIGINAL RESEARCH — Knowledge Necessary. — Much is Still to be Discovered. — Planning an Inquiry. — The Debt to Research in Medicine. — Research in Physics and Chemistry. — The Example of Germany. — Mr. Carnegie’s Aid to Original Research.
24. 24.CHAPTER XX OBSERVATION — Think Birds and You Shall See Birds. — The Mississippi Jetties of James B. Eads. — Observation Suggests an Experiment. — Instrumental Aids to Observation. — Two Observers of the Skies. — The Eye of a Naturalist. — The Value of Collections. — Accidental Observation. — Perforated Sails for Ships. — Observations Must be Remembered and Compared: The Value of a New Eye. — Any Observation May Have Value. — Folk Observation Foreruns Science. — A Lesson from a Bank-Swallow.
25. 25.CHAPTER XXI EXPERIMENT — Early Talent in Construction. — Newton as a Boy—A Tireless Constructor. — Watt as an Inquiring Boy. — Astonishing Precocity of Ericsson. — Rowland’s Early Experiments. — The Passion for Experiment. — The Chief Impulse in Discovery. — Aid from Picturing Power. — Eyes and Hands Inform the Brain. — Manual Training. — How the Phonograph was Born. — The Latest Phonograph. — Telephone Messages Recorded for Repetition at Will: The Telegraphone. — The Gray Telautograph. — Machines Cannot Directly Imitate Hands: A Task Must be “Coded.” — Sewing Coded in a Machine. — Obed Hussey and His Mower. — New Modes of Attack. — Linotype and Its Use of Wedges. — Ingenuity in Copying and Decorating. — Frost as a Servant. — Polarized Light and X-Rays.
26. 26.CHAPTER XXII AUTOMATICITY AND INITIATION — Steam Engines. — Self-winding Clocks. — Looms and Presses. — The Dexter Feeding Mechanism. — Self-Acting Appliances in Metallurgy. — Directive Paths. — The Pianola. — Automatic Telephones. — Chemical Triggers. — Why Weather is Uncertain.
27. 27.CHAPTER XXIII SIMPLIFICATION — Simplicity of Build Desirable. — Simplification Has Limits. — Directness. — Contrivances Which Pay a Double Debt. — Ascertaining Solid Contents. — Measuring Refraction. — Omission of Needless Elements. — Printers Abandon Useless Work. — Electricity Used as Produced. — Short Cuts in Engineering. — Painting by Immersion. — Churning the Air in a Telescopic Tube. — Loose Cards Replace Books. — Unit Systems. — Numbering as a Fine Art. — Classifying Books. — An Advance in Scientific Signaling.
28. 28.CHAPTER XXIV THEORIES HOW REACHED AND USED — Theories as Finder Thoughts. — Modern Views of Matter. — Elasticity Explained. — Guesses and Proof. — The Knitting Faculty. — The Detection of Likeness Beneath Diversity. — The Part Played by Imagination. — Theories Must be Verified. — A Word for Discursiveness.
29. 29.CHAPTER XXV THEORIZING— Continued — Analogy as a Guide. — Rules that Work Both Ways. — Turbines Reversed. — Hydraulic Pressure as a Counterbalance. — Engine and Pump. — Fans. — Electrical Reciprocity. — Ovens and Safes. — Cube Root Easily Found. — From Effect to Cause. — Profit in Contraries. — Judgment in Theorizing: Rules Have Limits. — Do Not Pay More than 100 Cents for a Dollar. — Judgment Moves to New Fields.
30. 30.CHAPTER XXVI NEWTON, FARADAY AND BELL AT WORK — How Newton Discovered the Law of Gravitation. — Michael Faraday’s Method of Working. — Faraday’s Orderliness and Imagination. — How Light Becomes a Bearer of Speech. — The Cardinal Discovery. — The Telephone Brought in. — Variations of Light Necessary. — Special Treatment of the Selenium. — A Perfected Transmitter. — Experiments Without a Telephone.
31. 31.CHAPTER XXVII BESSEMER, CREATOR OF CHEAP STEEL. NOBEL, INVENTOR OF NEW EXPLOSIVES — Bessemer’s Early Achievements. — Bessemer’s Steel Process. — Bessemer’s Versatility. — Improves the Drying of Oils. — Alfred Nobel and His Explosives. — Nobel Profits by an Accident. — Nobel Invents Smokeless Powder. — Nobel, Bodily Weak, was Strong in Mind and Will. — Invention Organized. — Great Combinations Create New Opportunities. — Team-Work in Research and Invention. — Group Attack.
32. 32.CHAPTER XXVIII COMPRESSED AIR — Compressed Air. In Effect Cold Steam for Driving Hammers, Drills, and Picks. — Air-Lifts. — Liquids Lifted by Expanding Air. — A Jack-of-All-Trades. — Removing Dust and Dirt. — Sand-blast. — Air Compressors. — A Centralized Air Plant. — Westinghouse Air Brakes and Signals.
33. 33.CHAPTER XXIX CONCRETE AND ITS REINFORCEMENT — Concrete Reinforced by a Backbone of Steel. Joseph Monier, the Pioneer. — Disposal of Steel in Reinforced Concrete. — Molds for Reinforced Concrete. — Buildings of Reinforced Concrete. — Resistance to Fire and Rust. — Tanks, Standpipes, Reservoirs. — New York Subway. — Bridges.
34. 34.CHAPTER XXX MOTIVE POWERS PRODUCED WITH NEW ECONOMY — Steam Engines. — Mechanical Draft. — Automatic Stoking. — Boilers. — Superheaters. — Improved Condensers. — Steam Turbines. — The Parsons Steam Turbine. — Marine Steam Turbines.
35. 35.CHAPTER XXXI MOTIVE POWERS PRODUCED WITH NEW ECONOMY— Continued . HEATING SERVICES — Gas-Power. — Producer Gas. — A Gas Producer. — Mond Gas. — Blast Furnace Gases. — Gas Engines. — Steam and Gas Engines Compared. — Oil Engines. — Gasoline Engines. — Alcohol Engines. — Steam and Gas Motors United. — Heating and Power Production United. — Heating and Ventilating by Fans. — District Steam Heating. — Isolated Plants. — Gas for Heat, Light and Power. — Electric Traction.
36. 36.CHAPTER XXXII A FEW SOCIAL ASPECTS OF INVENTION — The Drift to Cities. — The Factory System and Checks Thereto. — Handicrafts Revived. — Tendencies Against Centralization. — New Domestic Architecture. — Electricity at Home. — Suggested Exhibits. — NOTE ON THE LITERATURE OF INVENTION AND DISCOVERY
37. 37.INDEX
38. 38.TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES

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