Evening star., 1926-11-16

NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
EMILE BERLINER: Maker Of the
Microphone. Frederic Wllham
Vile. The Bobbs-Merrill Co.
I. C.. M.


No wonder that Frederic William
Vile fell to the spell Of the strange
instrument by way OF whlcn Toohtn
upon month he has sent his voice OUT
over long distances in every dlrection'
to numberless listeners-in upon ms
regular weekly story of the pohticaI
situation at Washington. An excltlns
experience, to be sure. for man 10
stand by watching himself multiplied
in effect to a thousand men. And un-
der the easy flow Of political SUM
mary and forecast from the seat OF
Government itself. you may be sure
that many an urgent question was
prodding the speaker as to the source
of the power that so amazingly In
creased his individual reach and con.
tact. Who made the microphone?
How did he do it, and when and
where? Who is the man in whose
mind at one time this woDdrous
mechanism lay, then nothing more
than an idea. elusive. hard to catch.
harder to hold? What are the pr1ncl-
pies underlying it? What the vicissi-
tudes attending Its emergence into the
open, a tangible thing capable OF
bringing far places near by the magic
Of single voice rounding the earth
itself?
More fortunate than many another
curious quester after truth, Mr.. Vile,
happily for himself and the rest Of us.
found the source of authentic knowl-
edge upon this matter close at hand.
Right here in Washington, for Emile
Berliner. maker of the microphone,
has lived at the Capital City many
years.
One then envisages this energetic
fact-getter going through an active
period of preparing himself to tell the
story of Emile Berliner, inventor Of
the mfcrophone. There must have
been first an ardent pursuit of Mr..
Berliner, the flesh and blood and
brains of the invention. There must
have been as well a close study of the
principles underlying the microphone
and of the mechanism supporting It..
There must have been, too, researches
In museum, library, the Patent ONCE,
for records Of veriflcation and amplif1-
cation. And. besides. there must have
been the close scrutiny of diagrams,
charts, Of every illustrative means of
simplifying and clarifying the sub
1ect Then at last the author must
have placed the whole-the inventor
and all his works-into a common
brew for period of ripening and mel
lowing the entire matter to his own
powers of understanding and inter-
probation. Interesting and useful to
see how one does an important piece
Of work. to pick a method out from
the course of development.
Only now is the author ready to tell
I1a or n,1J, L. -
own particular stand and attitude be-
fore the biography Of Emile Berliner,
inventor, scientist, philanthropist. This
attitude Is something between that of
the histormian and the novelist, the
one reaching for accuracy and rela-
tlV1ty OF fact, the other securing the
glamour of romance. the lure of the
story. Happily the blend is a very eff
clent one, and an artful one.
I1ere Is story of the present. It's
hero is set down in the midst of mod
ern circumstance. The general back
ground of the action is the great field
of modern science reVOlutiOniZing daily
life at its every point. The special
line of action projected by the hero
himself Is logical and consistent
emanation of the nature and character
of the German boy, Emile Beriner.
come to this country to make of him.
self an American citizen. The whole
story Is sourced in character and the
peculiar trend that finally urges this
boy toward creative effort in the great
field of electrical transmission and
communication. Oh, no, not all at once,
Life doesn't work that way and this
story is patterned upon life itself. Here
there are set down years spent in feel
no iol1
desired goal, just as there are such
years In every considerab BILE life. There
Is the slow advance. each step seri-
ously taken through the essential ma
ture and character of young Berliner.
acting out through the externals meet,
ing him. soliciting him along the way.
rms is the romance of the storv-the
romance of the human piigrima ee.
Ihere are pages and characters Of the
BOOK, however, that are, outstanding.
~, history, as well as romance Here
IS the record of the telephone up to
the point where 1t needed. where II
must have, a device for continuous
transmission-where, lacking this. It
would stand far short of it's bright
promise of usefulness. This need. with
Its meeting and fulf1llment In tho in.
vention of the microphone, stands as
the climax of this romance. the high
point of the biogra ply of Emile Rer.
liner.
Not bloodleSS adventure is this one
In the sharply contested field of mod
ern science. jealousy and evil intent
are ever watchful and active foes and
none may escape them. Many a battle
IS Waged In this long warfare before
hihlie berllner emerges triumphan mt
as the unchaiienged inventor Of the
microphone, which in turn made him
the inventor of the gramophone set.
tlng the world to music" and of the
radio itself, for without the RerIinar
mlcrophone the radio might still be a
voice screeching through the static
wilderness instead of having become
the oracle of the universe" A kindly
human, neighborly. philanthropic man
100, stands out here in Mr.. Wiles ON,
bodlment of the spirit and life and
activities of Emile Rerliner. One road.
ing, finds love in his heart for +b;s
man as we'll as pride in his fine serv
ice to the world.
- *++
A splendid work carried out with
aruor ana gusto, with thorouahness of
research, with admirat ton and svno
pathy. with deep respect for The
scientific achievements of Mr.. Berlin.
er, for his high public spirit and ser.
vice as well. In manner Mr.. Vile is
happily. the journalist-crisp. nanny
colloquial. analytical, exact, compre.
hensive. In a word he is just what
one expects the live. go-getting journa.
list TO be. Completely interesting
every step OF the way along this dra
matlc development. Out of this good
Somoination OF capability he has pro
duced biography that takes a piace
with the best. He has lived up to his
subject.
BY way Of contrast, let US recall for
the moment that other kind of
biography, the kind that strings
h 4 80 :,