Evening star., 1927-10-16
"Accide.,tal Inventions"

NOT all invention Is the result of
long study and application. Not
infrequently it is the result of ac-
cident, as is demonstrated in many
cases.
The essential principle of the talking
machine was discovered by Edison
accidentally while he was engaged in
experiments with a telephone. A
needle had been fixed to a vibrating
disk Of thin metal that produced the
sound. and as result of the vibration
the needle pricked the experimenter's
hand. The incident set the great
inventor to thinking along new lines
and new series OF experiments fol.
lowed. A roll Of paper was made to
rotate slowly with the needle pressing
lightly upon it. while the inventor
shouted Hello" into the telephone.
On reversing the paper and starting IT.
again, 1t gave forth very faint and
distinct Hello" Since that day great
improvements have been made, but
the actual principle remains the same.
Everybody knows how Sir Isaac
Newton was led to discover the force
of gravity by considering the fall of
an apple from a tree. History does
not record. however. whether the apple
hit Sir Isaac on the head or fell at
his feet
The incandescent gas mantle that
IS still used in so many thousands of
homes, despite the more efficient elec-
trio light, was also discovered acciden.
tally.
Something more than 40 years ago
DR.. Carl Won Welsbach was conduct.
ing some researches in the color of
names containing the vapors of metals
and chemical substances. Without
any idea of revolutionfzing the light.
ing OF streets and houses, but merely
to get better fame for his purpose,
ne soaked piece of canbric in a
chemical solution and supported It
over a flame of mixed gas and air.
The cambria burned away and a sort
or delicate skeleton of ash was left
which glowed with a brilliant light,
This was the first incandescent man.
tie, and now thousands and thousands
are sold all over the world.
wireless telegraphy is another ex.
ample OF accidental discovery or in.
vent1on. Probably most persons know
tnat wireless messages are sent by
means OF waves or electricity that
travel through space, although they
may not know just how this is ac-
complished. These waves were dis
covered by a scientist through an nm
expected happening in his laboratory.
He possessed two pieces of electrical
apparatus, known as leyden jars,
which were charged with electricity.
one was unintentionally discharged
and Immediately the other one across
the room discharged itself with q
sharp crack and brilliant spark.
hn
unaccuStomed lines, and he concluded
that there must have been some kind
OF wave, similar to that of light or
sound, yet invisible and inaudible,
passing from the one jar to the other.
VI course, 1t was big step from this
simple experiment to a present-da
wireless installation on board a huge
ocean liner, but 1t was the very first
and necessary step in the discovery
Of wireless telegraphy.
Radium, it is pointed out by more
than one authority, was a good many
years being discovered and a lucky
accident paved the way. Prof. Beco.
uerei allowed some crystals of a
substance containing the metal uran-
lum TO remain for some time on a
Photographic plate. The plate was
protected by the the usual black paper
~ANPO anu AO iiHuJ COuLQ nave
reached it. yet on being developed
it was found to have taken an i'm.
preston Of the crystals.
obviously enough, some invisible
agency was at work capable of pene-
trating the black paper, and after
much patient toll il was found that
not only the salts of uranium. which
photographers use, bat several other
substances We're capable of producing
similar effect. Pitchblende was one
OF them, a mineral containing not
only uranium but the immensely val
liable metal radium as well. Prof.
and Nine. Curie, the famous French
scientist, discovered that the waste
material from pitchblende, after ths
uranium had been extracted, had a
still more powerful effect upon the
sensitive plate. They finally succeed.
ed in obtaining a small fraction of a
grain of radium from a ton or more
OF pitchblende waste. But that frac-
tion of a grain was worth infinitely
more than its weight in gold. and led
to certain of the most surprising and
valuable discoveries of modern science.