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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4fb05e4 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #66951 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/66951) diff --git a/old/66951-0.txt b/old/66951-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index c9a93f4..0000000 --- a/old/66951-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1331 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Wireless Possibilities, by Archibald -Montgomery Low - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Wireless Possibilities - -Author: Archibald Montgomery Low - -Release Date: December 16, 2021 [eBook #66951] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -Produced by: Tim Lindell, Martin Pettit and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was - produced from images generously made available by The Internet - Archive/American Libraries.) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WIRELESS POSSIBILITIES *** - -WIRELESS POSSIBILITIES - - - - -TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW SERIES - - -+DAEDALUS+, or Science and the Future - - By J. B. S. Haldane - -+ICARUS+, or The Future of Science - - By Bertrand Russell, F.R.S. - -+THE MONGOL IN OUR MIDST+, or Man and His Three Faces - - By F. G. Crookshank, M.C.F.R.C.P. - -+WIRELESS POSSIBILITIES+ - - By Prof. A. M. Low - - -In Preparation - - +TANTALUS+, or The Future of Man - - By F. C. S. Schiller - - -E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY - - - - -WIRELESS POSSIBILITIES - -BY - -A. M. LOW - -_Late Hon. Asst. Professor of Physics -at the Royal Artillery College -Author of “The Two-Stroke Engine,” etc._ - -[Illustration: Logo] - -_With four diagrams_ - -NEW YORK -E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY -681 Fifth Avenue - - - - -Copyright 1924 -By -E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY - -_All Rights Reserved_ - - -Printed in the United States of America - - - - -TO -JOHN LOW - - - - -PREFACE - - -The effects of history upon the advance of science are often noted, but -the result of the march of progress is more often entirely neglected. - -It would seem desirable that the future should be studied with -reasonable accuracy if we are to protect ourselves from the ill-effects -and obtain the benefit from the good fortunes of invention. - -A.M.L. - - - - -WIRELESS POSSIBILITIES - - - - -INVENTION - - -Considering the very evident fact that we owe every detail of our -lives, every little comfort which separates us from the cave-man, to -the science of invention, it seems strange that so long should have -elapsed before this remarkable faculty received proper recognition. - -Invention, in many ways, is the science and art of continuity of -thought. The inventor is often referred to as a strange person; very -true, very necessarily true when we realise that his doings must be -strange or new, to be of value. To train oneself to forget the smell -of the beefsteak when hungry and to continue the natural sequence of -ideas which may be passing through the mind, is to train the brain to -improve. If we can but sweep a crossing a very little cleaner than -that next to our own, perhaps we have surely accomplished one of the -greatest duties of all. - -If not one day is spent without something learnt, surely we have -achieved the greatest object of work and enabled ourselves to realise -that there are no such things as basic facts. - -Invention is not labour, for the latter is doing something we do not -wish to do in some one else’s time, and invention like all good things -is a work of love. Possibly that is why it is never paid! - -We are too apt, I think, all of us, to rejoice in our greatness as -her devotees rejoiced in the greatness of Diana of the Ephesians: we -should realise every time we undress that we are little removed from -the animal, and that before many centuries have passed we shall be held -in almost universal contempt. - -If that does not stir us to do our best, we are indeed a nation of -shopkeepers. But even the proprietor of the meanest store relies on his -powers of prophecy for his profits. - -The science of wireless is but a few years old. We know about it little -more than our schoolboy sons, and in many cases not so much; let us -therefore be open-minded if we are still ignorant. - -Commercial invention trusts too far to mass thinking: an original -mistake is very closely related to an accomplishment. - - - - -THE IMPORTANCE OF SOUND IN WIRELESS - - -A few lines of history are desirable here. I do not mean the history -controlled by the fact that William the Conqueror made many important -appointments in A.D. 1066 or that Stephen was particularly busy in -A.D. 1100. I mean the history of wireless, for, although Radio Science -is new, it has a history; all time is relative, and we ourselves are -functions of that phenomenon. - -Only a few years ago the efforts of wireless experimenters were -entirely directed to the converting of the extremely delicate wireless -oscillation, still but little understood, into a mechanical movement, -in order that the motion of electrons in a problematical aether (which -may be nothing but a thought projection and which may exist in many -different forms) might be altered into something readable by a man with -a check waistcoat and a stock and share list in his hand. - -That particular use, and the information that one army is about to kill -another could be transmitted to headquarters, naturally occurred to -everyone as the first valuable applications of Radio. - -The many devices, the electro-magnetic receivers, tape machines, -coherers, syphon recorders and the thousand and one electrical machines -produced at the time for these purposes, have practically all gone. - -Even when to-day we want to send messages quickly, we record them upon -a Dictaphone and rely almost entirely upon the sense of hearing. - -Sound, the regular oscillation, and noise, the irregular oscillation, -of the air, are really the beginning and end of wireless as it is known -to the public to-day. - -I would go further when thinking of the public. They do not want to sit -with a telephone upon their heads, even if their ears may be improved -thereby. They require to walk into a drawing-room, and having stood -for a moment upon the mat, they must be able to cross the room, touch -a button in a fretwork cabinet, and by the movement of a lever be -able to place themselves in touch with any part of the world. Paris, -Hong-Kong, London, all must be one to them if we are to get their money -for our art. - -In other words, we are compelled to use what we now designate the “loud -speaker.” We have got to project a sound into the room before we can -sell our instruments, and therein lies one great difficulty. - -In the first place we dare not exaggerate the movements of a delicate -telephone very much or we shall spoil it--therefore we construct -something which looks very much like a magnified telephone with a -trumpet upon it. The mechanism is naturally rather heavy as regards the -moving parts. In order to vibrate these heavy parts with the aid of -our aetherial oscillations we have to amplify the available current, -and during this process we naturally spoil the detail, or, in other -words, we magnify it so much that electrical distortions occur through -the whole range of various transformers and other items sold by every -shop in the world--at double their value. - -Most people are not content with a gentle sound: they find it necessary -to express their joy at having reached their home by dancing; -consequently they want plenty of sound, and they do not mind if it -turns into noise. - -They will tell you boldly that their wireless set with a couple of -dozen foreign-made valves can be heard right across a large street, -a street by the way in which we still permit as much nerve-shattering -noise to occur as is thought necessary. This means that we must -have quite a big movement on a diaphragm of large size, and a large -diaphragm is made to move by the electrical oscillation, itself not -very accurate; naturally, if it is heavy, like a poker or anything -else, it has a will of its own, and therefore it continues to move when -the wireless oscillation has told it to stop. It does not even commence -to move when it is told to do so, as it would were it a thin delicate -telephone diaphragm from which accurate music can be obtained. - -This means further distortion, and so bad is it that a great many -people say plainly that they will only listen to wireless concerts -through a telephone and that they will only use crystals to obtain -rectification because of the inaccuracies otherwise unavoidable to-day. - -But this is not business, because do not forget we must have our -cabinet with a fern upon it and beautiful music, if we are to be -successful. Business always leads science, as we know. - -Now think why it is that we need this big diaphragm moving so hard to -get a big noise; let us neglect electrical details and consider what -produces the noise; or sound, if we are lucky. - -Sound is unfortunately purely a mechanical phenomenon as we chiefly -understand it, and is produced by oscillations, alternate compression -and rarefaction of the atmosphere. Unlike the aether, which sometimes -oscillates only too readily, air is a heavy material and has great mass. - -You will soon find this out if you put your head out of a railway -carriage window, because the air is so heavy that we have got to really -kick it and hit it hard before we can obtain a reasonable degree of -noise. - -When a speaker is standing at one end of a room, irrespective of what -he says, the actual temperature-rise of the air can be measured, a fact -which was used during the war for the inspection of sound. - -Sound is a very complicated thing. It can be reflected in much the same -way as light, and I suppose most school-boys know that if a concave -mirror is at one end of a room and a similar mirror at the other with -a watch hanging at its focus, the watch cannot be heard by an observer -walking across the room, yet as soon as he places his ear at the focus -of the other mirror he will hear the tick clearly, showing that sound -is easily reflected. Everybody who has heard an echo should know this. - -Sound travels also very slowly, and there is plenty of time for wind -and different mechanical scraping effects to spoil the purity and -partially absorb its delicacies. - -[Illustration: Fig. 1. Sound can be focussed by a concave reflector and -by this means the tick of a watch can be heard at a distance. The watch -and the end of the wooden rod are placed at the focus of the reflector.] - -Remember that if I am addressing a man by wireless who is one hundred -miles away, someone who is listening on a telephone will hear my voice -before I am heard at the end of the big hall where I am speaking, -because the velocity of sound is only 1100 feet per second, and -wireless, like light, travels much faster. Sound can also be actually -refracted. Just as the old-fashioned jeweller used a globe of water to -concentrate the light upon his work, so will a collodion balloon filled -with carbon dioxide, the ordinary gas product of average combustion, -act as a lens for sound, which can be actually focussed by these means. - -This exemplifies the complication of our subject, and indicates that -the heavy diaphragm and other details of the loud speaker must produce -serious distortion. - -Let us be honest at once. We can only hear such distant places as -America by the grace of heaven. Even Sunlight can tune sweet song into -vague cracklings. Until true tuning can be obtained we are largely at -the mercy of the reproducing instrument, which too often exaggerates -every fault and gives the impression that wireless and music are in no -way related. No loud speaker of to-day really produces voice and song -which sound exactly like voice and song. It all too much resembles a -bad gramophone, but without the advantage of the user having the choice -of the music. - -If user and manufacturer would concentrate upon obtaining purity, if -they would try the effects of damping upon loud speakers, which are -easily obtained; if they would realise that the horn of the loud -speaker should be without resonance, that it should be also damped -and pocketed, that its goose-necked shape is not adopted without an -object, and if they would aim at the delivery of true music instead -of noise--then, we should make a great advance. The average loud -speaker can often be greatly improved by padding the horn with some -kind of tape, and as an example of the great difficulties of proper -transmission let it be made quite clear that with most cases of -wireless communication the sending is nearly perfect. Reception is -greatly at fault: it is the reception that mangles the sound and makes -it too often almost unbearable to anybody of reasonably sensitive -hearing. - -At some large transmission stations it was at one time quite common to -use three separate microphones for the modulation. One received notes -of high pitch, one of low, and a third attempted to obtain the “S” -sound with the result that, when this “S” microphone was adjusted for a -man who did not say his “S” very loudly and someone appeared who did, -it sounded exactly as if the speaker had dropped his false teeth. - -All this is now avoided. The ordinary diaphragm is no longer in use, -but a very small coil of aluminium wire is suspended between the poles -of an electro magnet, allowed to rest against an ordinary pad of -cotton wool, and that is all! - -The infinitesimal movements of this aluminium coil will reproduce -speech up to about 40,000 periods per second in oscillatory speed, yet -speech is well recognisable if all frequencies over 4,000 per second -are gridded out. - -How difficult it is going to be to make a large, heavy, and rapidly -moving diaphragm reproduce accurately when we have had to take all -these precautions to obtain accuracy of transmission! It is not -impossible; it will come one day. - -Now let us see what is the result of our sound troubles. - -We are told that before long it will be quite easy to hear birds -singing in trees and the waves beating against the seashore. Quite -right, quite easy to do it now, but if a bird singing in a tree sounds -like a man moving his condenser or walking about with a pair of squeaky -boots, is it progress? - -[Illustration: Fig. 2. If light falls on a very thin diaphragm carrying -a mirror, the sound waves being directed into it by a trumpet can be -photographed upon a revolving sensitised film.] - -Perhaps it is. The whole point of wireless is that it brings a man into -your room, but it must sound like the man himself if it is to be really -effective; it is this pitiful quality of reproduced sound that has -wrecked the talking cinema. - -It is very easy to photograph sounds and to reproduce them -simultaneously with the projection of a picture, but to reproduce -all the sounds of a cowboy scene accurately is, at present, almost -impossible. If a hero says “Good-bye” to a heroine with a kiss like -a creaking board, in the middle of a twenty-reel drama, instead of -improving upon the effect of your imagination, which tells you that it -is real, and which acts the scene for you better than it can be shown -in life or sound, it would be like putting up a blackboard across the -screen with the words written upon it, “this is not real--it is only -a fake.” That is what is wrecking the talking cinema. As a scientific -proposition it is easy, but the results are not good enough at present, -and, if we can improve, let us first consider the loud speaker. - -The talking cinema will come as a matter of course. It is so easy to -record sounds upon the film by photography with reproduction by the -selenium cell or the neon tube; it is easy to photograph the wave; -it is easy actually to impress the sound wave upon the film with the -picture, or to use a gramophone; but reproduction is not like a human -voice. Neither as yet is any reproduction ever like the voice itself. -Let that painful fact be remembered. - -Unfortunately, from the business point of view, the long distance -reproduction effect is usually satisfactory even when re-broadcasted -upon telephones, and for business purposes it is immaterial whether the -voice that records the profit or loss is harsh or pleasant. - -So the greatest effects we shall soon see from wireless and sound -are these: we shall be able to speak to people all over the world by -relaying and a combination of land-line and radio; we shall easily be -able to connect our office with a wireless station on the coast, radio -across the Continent, and then connect by land-line to another office -on the other side of the Atlantic. - -All this is so easy that no one can doubt that we shall soon listen in -to native jamborees; no one can doubt that we shall hear the strange -cries of partisans at a baseball match taking place a few miles from -New York; no one can question these things, and when reproduction -becomes so accurate that the very nature of the people is revealed to -us through their speech, surely we might be a little more neighbourly -even with those whom we now pretend to love? Relations are notoriously -quarrelsome. - -If you are in a concert hall and the number of people is varied, -it will alter the effect of the sound. You have only to look at a -sound-wave photograph produced from a violin to realise from its dainty -intricacies that the least variation of any of its harmonics or the -very exact shape of its wave beats will reveal all the difference -between a beginner and the finest musician in the world. But these -things are seldom noticed in wireless. - -It is quite easy to photograph a sound, by means of a diaphragm beside -which a soap bubble is thick, and to compare wireless sound with the -original; even then we have the great difficulties of resonance, and a -diaphragm cannot reproduce properly. How, therefore, dare we neglect -the dreadful sounds we hear in the name of radio music? - -If a piece of silvering, one thirty-secondth of an inch, be scraped -from the back of a mirror and fastened to the outer part of a celluloid -diaphragm (made by water-floating a drop of amyl acetate in which -celluloid has been dissolved), it only requires a horn and a beam of -light to render visible the waves of sound. A diaphragm movement of a -millionth of a millionth of an inch is sometimes audible. - -It is the science of wireless that is beautiful; it is the -possibilities that are wonderful; but to talk of pure sound and to -judge of it by the human ear which varies after every meal, is like -measuring the amount of current passing through an electric-light bulb -by feeling its heat with the hand. - -It is not generally known that, during the War, experiments were made -with a sound-reflector for listening to different types of aeroplane -and submarine, by means of a microphone placed at the centre of a -concave mirror. The difficulty was that of distortion, which is the -whole source of trouble with sound producers to-day. Distance is -no difficulty and when we can obtain purity and realism as well as -distance, the latter is no difficulty at all; then only will be the -time when we shall have that spontaneous mental realism of vision that -will help radio to alter the world. - -In a few years time we shall be able to chat to our friends in an -aeroplane and in the streets with the help of a pocket wireless set, -and be able to do practically everything by the aid of radio that we -now do with our voice. - -The only thing that will seem intensely strange will be that these -comforts never existed before! - - - - -WIRELESS INACCURACIES - - -I have often wondered whether people realise that broadcasting, at -present, is only possible or, shall I say is only popular, because of -its extreme impracticability for most forms of secret communication. - -Supposing two people had been able to converse privately and with -absolute secrecy from other “listeners in,” then we should not mind -trusting all our messages to Radio. At present, what can be coded can -be decoded, and we are not entranced by the idea of entrusting our -pennies to the winds of Heaven and the vagaries of a thunderstorm. - -If wireless had really been selective in the first instance, -broadcasting would not have been its initial phase. - -Wireless at present is excessively inefficient; a few yards from a -large broadcasting station the power is measured in millionths of a -horse-power, is disseminated in all directions, and is almost without -definite selectivity. - -When the day comes when we can tune with absolute accuracy; when we -can combine waves with accuracy and obtain a directional beam with the -shortest waves for re-broadcasting purposes, then we shall obtain real -happiness from the results. - -Parliament must have its special wave length, the divorce courts of -the future will be broadcasted to prevent people from catching cold by -waiting outside. It will be quite easy for the Judge, at a doubtful -passage, to press a switch and to say, “I think we will cut that out.” - -One can imagine broadcasting of the future linking up every city from -China to London; one can see special wave lengths for men, and equally -special wave lengths for women. And we shall forget the time when ships -at sea with ancient sets interfere with the murdering of music by the -local amateur. - -It has been said that, at present, those in authority find it necessary -to choose special voices for the wireless broadcast-delivering. What -an idea! The public want to hear everybody. They want to have local -events broadcast, irrespective of the operator. They do not want a -perfect voice, they want a perfect personality, and it is rather the -wireless that must be altered to take any reception than the human -voice whose very characteristics delight us. - -We are too accustomed to relying upon our senses. We are apt to think -that the ear is most delicate. It is nothing of the kind; it cannot -even hear notes that delight the heart of a dog, and if one pictures -life with the brain of a man, the ear of an antelope, and microscopic -eyes, together with the nose of a dog, some little idea of the -inefficiency of those few senses which we slightly understand can be -obtained. - -To live in any town would be impossible: the smells of Bond Street -instead of pleasing the dog would tell us of rotting animal matter and -alarm us to distraction. We could never sit down upon a beautiful piece -of grass without listening to the worms and imagining ourselves with -them. We could not bear to drink water for the peculiar bodies we would -see in it. The wind in the trees, the people walking down our street or -into our rabbit-warrens of flats, would sound like a battle from afar. - -It is only a question of relative senses, easily tested by anyone -who has the patience to fit an effective microphone to the amplifier -purchased in mahogany case at the local “store.” - -Wireless inaccuracies abound; anyone who hears its music will agree, -but what of their effect upon our bodies! - -The air, popularly speaking, must now be full of radio oscillations, -and if you tell me that they are negligible in effect I may believe -you, but if I hear there is no effect at all, I know that it cannot be -true. - -It is more than likely that, in the far future, the proper study -of oscillatory theories, the proper investigation of the spectrum -only very partially explored by a few, will lead us to a better -understanding of the nature of life, and will help us to appreciate -the theories of electrical sonics. Theories of preventing local -thunderstorms, of growing babies and wheat effectively, by electrical -or other similar oscillatory means, of helping ourselves to see by -wireless and of affecting our health at the end of many generations for -the better, may all be developed in the time to come. - -If some health effect is produced, why should we not try to render it -beneficial? A small effect can be very cumulative in nature. One has -only to inspect a human nail to agree with that statement. - - - - -RADIO TELEVISION - - -It has been said of sound that a bell never ceases to echo and that the -human voice never ceases when once words are spoken; truly, it is an -alarming thought when the nature of most of our sayings is realised. - -Not long ago it was claimed that by means of a delicate microphone -the sayings of Henry VIII had been investigated--though nature of the -subject was, with not less delicacy, omitted. - -Much the same basic ideas apply to light except that we are dealing -with a very much more interesting phenomenon, one indeed which is -not apparently too material and a sense which gives us nearly all our -nonphysical sensations. - -We actually transmit very few senses: we merely convert their nature -by utilising different portions of the spectrum. Light has undoubtedly -its tone values, as in the case of sound, and it has not yet been -definitely established with what portion of the body vision is actually -obtained. It is likely that light is projected along the electro lines -of force by the movement of electrons but whether the ether consists -of electrons themselves, whether it exists in many forms, or is merely -a result of the mass effect of thought, we do not yet know. Light -very possibly proceeds from the eye as well as from the luminous body -concerned. - -The science of Radio has taught us something of light, but only to -a modest extent, for light yet remains one of the most inefficient -factors of a civilisation which almost entirely depends upon it for -existence. - -There is a strange factor which we may call the “Law of Supply and -Demand.” This strongly implies the faculty of invention, a facility of -“wishfulness to improve”; something far better than the necessity for -invention. Let us remember that our clothes are not necessities; they -are merely comfortable, and it is comfort that distinguishes us to-day -just as it is convenience that will in the future give us a life which -will be better by far than that experienced by the kings and princes of -to-day. - -Civilisation has depended almost entirely upon the speeding up -of communication. We can travel fast; we can convey our thoughts -at great speed, but, unfortunately, although all these means of -intercommunication are devised with the one idea of preventing -physical work and of obviating the movements of our gross bodies, our -senses are very closely combined. It is consequently not possible to -ring up somebody on the wireless telephone, a fact itself easy of -accomplishment, and to impress our personality upon the listener. This -is simply because we require a combination of senses for hearing, -seeing, smelling, and other reactions, in order to convey our whole -personality. - -Vision at a distance is, therefore, very necessary as our inclination -for travel decreases and its comfort increases. - -It is also important from the point of view of “speeding up,” which -we have no reason to suppose will cease. All operations have steadily -increased in speed for many generations. - -There was a time when we made appointments to meet our friends at the -full of the moon, but now we say at “10 o’clock, and I can only give -you two minutes.” In the future we shall probably say, “Meet me at -10.2.1-5 secs., and do not keep me waiting.” To do this we must have -radio sight. - -Many years ago, when experiments were made on the subject, the usual -cry appeared from what I always mentally typify as the “Flat Earth -Brigade”; they said, “Impossible.” What would our forebears have said -of talking to a man in an aeroplane? “Impossible!” It is a foolish -word. Now all over the world experiments are being conducted, many of -them with success and some with the guarantee of reasonable success in -twenty years or less. - -Now wireless, if I may apply the word here, is very like light in many -ways; it is capable of refraction and shadow effects; it travels at the -same speed, and if the wave-lengths of wireless could be sufficiently -shortened to become visible we should probably find ourselves with a -new, and possibly effective, method of transmitting wireless light and -even power. - -Radio is a phenomenon of the spectrum like ordinary photographic light, -X-rays, and so on. It is effects which determine the difference to our -eyes of things invisible, solid, and transparent. - -It may well be that, when we succeed in inter-planetary communication, -we shall discover that the inhabitants see by the X-ray, by wireless, -or by heat. - -It is not difficult to obtain a proportionate interchange of radio -and light oscillations. Even sunlight affects wireless telegraphy, -and experiments which have been conducted upon the carrying and -directional power of certain other rays and oscillations have not -been entirely without results. We may, one day, obtain far greater -sensitivity of direction, greater carrying power, from small initial -output with a degree of selectivity almost infinite, in comparison with -modern working. - -To use a light beam along which we can talk, to use a light beam -initially and to turn it into light when required, is by no means -difficult; it suggests the direct method of wireless vision, but from -the mechanical aspect the problem is still less complicated. The -difficulties of Radio Television to-day are constructional; in the far -future it may be a question of pure physics. - -There is, at least, one simple method of sending photographs -by wireless with a reasonable degree of accuracy. Distance, -re-broadcasting, relaying are, none of them, of any great technical -importance. Interference is certainly a difficulty, for in the case of -a picture the eye cannot distinguish between faults so easily as the -ear can automatically separate unpleasant noises from music. - -If an ordinary photograph is transferred to a copper plate, either -flat or round, and a contact finger is allowed to pass over it, -clearly the resistance between the plate and the finger will vary with -the thickness of the photographic film. If this resistance is used -to modulate the transmission in place of an ordinary microphone for -speech, the current at the receiving end can be picked up, amplified, -and used to mark darkly, lightly, or not at all, upon a prepared piece -of paper which is affected by the passage of an electric current. - -By these means good photographs can be reproduced, and doubtless in the -future we shall be able to sign our cheques by the rapid transmission -of motion; we shall be able to trace criminals, send out their -finger-prints, and carry on very many classes of business which, at -present, require our bodily attention. - -[Illustration: Fig. 3. If light passes through the negative to be -transmitted on to a selenium cell which modulates in place of a -microphone, the wave can be picked up, amplified, and made to open or -close a shutter. This permits another light to record, spot by spot, -the reproduction of the original photograph.] - -What a help to the man who objects to a large city. Why could he not -conduct his business from his house in comfort instead of having his -spats washed every week in order to maintain his financial reputation? - -There is a still more rapid method of transmitting a photograph: it is -to allow the light from an ordinary lamp to pass through a spot upon -the negative and then to a selenium cell. Selenium is so constituted -that its resistance to the passage of electricity varies with the -amount of light to which it is exposed. This property has been used to -light up and to extinguish ordinary street lamps, for demonstration -purposes. - -If a selenium cell is used in place of the ordinary broadcasting -microphone, the transmission can be modulated in accordance with the -passage of the light through a black spot on the negative, such as part -of a top hat, or a white spot, such as a white face or part of it. - -The received current is picked up and amplified in the ordinary manner, -but instead of operating a diaphragm to produce speech, it is taken -to a kind of electrically operated venetian blind, which allows light -to pass through it or not to pass through it, in accordance with the -transmitting current. - -It requires little imagination to see that, if a beam of light is -allowed to pass through each point of the original negative in turn, -the final picture can be built up from “spots” somewhat in the manner -of a half-tone block. - -It takes a long time, is rather patched, and is liable to interference; -but the whole process is perfectly simple. Consider the great -importance of this experiment to Radio Television. - -The human eye sees only one point at a time but in the fact that -instantaneous vision of a complete picture is not necessary lie our -hopes of television to-day. - -The eye is a very defective piece of mechanism considered from an -optical standpoint. The pointed rays which appear to come from stars -show one example of faulty optical construction, however wonderful -may be the whole structure. Another property, and a feature of great -importance from the aspect of television, is that of retentivity. - -We all know that when a lighted cigarette is whirled round in the hand -the result appears to be a ring of fire. Our brain assures us that -the eye is telling lies and that it is really a moving point. This is -because the image is impressed and actually lasts upon the eye or its -retina. - -This phenomenon is used in every cinematograph; without it the ordinary -film would not be practicable. Each picture of an arm about to light a -cigarette shows the arm constantly closer and closer, and before one -picture has had time to die out the other is thrown upon the screen. -The result is an illusion of motion. - -To return to the transmission of a photograph, let us imagine that it -is sent in a series of spots beginning in the top left-hand corner at -12 o’clock: the bottom spot will probably be completed, at modern -sending speeds, by about 12.15, in the case of a picture two inches -square. - -Clearly all we have to do is to reduce this time to 4/5 of a second -altogether, and we shall be again sending the first spot before it has -had time to die away from the apparent vision of the observer. In other -words, we will see by wireless. - -The obvious method of assisting in this speeding up of sending the -thousands of spots, would be to graduate them by some means of rotary -conversion or to decrease the number of spots. The latter is one method -by which practical television can be accomplished to-day. - -[Illustration: Fig. 4. If a photograph is divided into spots and the -last be sent only 4/5 sec. after the first, television can be obtained; -but if the spots must be large to do this, only such items as the -difference between a cross and a circle can be observed.] - -It would be quite easy to fix up an apparatus by means of which -we could show whether an office in New York was lit up or not, -the observer being situated in London. This is a form of energy or -combination of phenomena which amounts to wireless sight, but it does -not help us to see shapes or forms or to say if the light is from a -candle, the sun, or an arc lamp. - -By increasing the number of cells from one to, let us say, twenty, we -could possibly indicate the difference between the moving shadow of a -cross or a circle, but to radiate detail is a very difficult problem, -which doubtless will be partially solved within the next few years. The -electro-magnetic theory of light and the phenomena exhibited by the -neon tube, present many opportunities. - -What an excellent invention this will be! It means that a telescopic -camera could be attached to an aeroplane and the views seen by -thousands in a cinematograph theatre who may have the pleasure of -witnessing the finish of a horse-race and knowing without loss of time -how much money they have lost. - -It would mean that the crew of a ship, a submarine in difficulties, or -the passengers in an aeroplane, might be visible to people many miles -away. It could not yet occur without their wish, for the transmitting -apparatus must first be put into operation. - -The senses of seeing and hearing are possibly amongst the most -important of all, and, if we can convey both of them to a distance, it -means that we can call friends, nations, music, and personalities to -our fireside, by the touching of a button. - -Such possibilities need no enlargement. Wireless may prove a far more -rapid link than the ordinary increase of travelling speed and may help -nations to intermingle to the common good. - -The question of seeing in colours has hardly yet been considered, but -that also will come to us, however great the difficulties may appear -to-day. - -Certainly Leagues of Peace will have more arguments, and Generals will -have more weapons. - -The laziest millionaire to-day, in a physical sense, will be -hard-worked in comparison with the fortunate individual of the -scientific future. We will travel in the best possible manner and in -such comfort that the mind will be free to receive impressions. Our -main objective will be to train it for that purpose. - -After all, what more can we do now? - - - - -WIRELESS AND WAR - - -The subjects of War and Wireless cover a multitude of closely allied -ills. - -It is only natural that wireless should first have been applied to Love -and War. I remember well one of the most remarkable applications of -wireless mentioned in the press in the early days was that of a cable -sent to an unfortunate man in mid-ocean, informing him that an all too -successful arrival of twins had taken place. - -War is, of course, a natural process a little less educated, and more -unkind, in consequence, than birth control. - -Most inventions are first applied to the science and art of warfare. -Perhaps we should not regard this as all to the bad, for War has a -remarkable capacity for acceleration. - -Development of the wireless valve was greatly assisted by the War: the -aeroplane, the art of plastic surgery, and many other human benefits -have arrived more rapidly from the same cause. - -Let us see, therefore, what wireless can do now, and what it may -accomplish for the future of organised destruction. - -Mentally, the fittest should survive, in both the realms of invention -and physiology. It is only a few years since wireless was of no -intrinsic value for ordinary land warfare, by virtue of the fact that -interference was extremely easy, and that any coded message could be so -easily decoded. - -At present wireless messages are chiefly of service where secrecy is -not of such importance as speed; but an enormous number of experiments -are being conducted upon beam wireless, directional wireless, and in -the combination of the Radio oscillation with some other oscillations -such as those of visible or invisible light. By these means secrecy -will be obtained when we discover how to use small powers for long -distance, but at present Radio is chiefly of value as a time-saver. - -The pilot in an aeroplane can talk to his base: he will soon be able -to write and transmit vision from a plane which could be controlled -by wireless. The time will come when low-flying wireless planes will -explore, and render visible at many miles distant, places where no -human pilot could remain for any length of time in safety. - -It is not long ago that we rejoiced because a damaged ship was able to -call for help by wireless, but we have only to look back to a recent -war to remember an occasion when one ship was totally unable to call -assistance because its wireless was jammed. In other words, enemy -interference was possible. - -This should show us how far we have yet to go in an utterly new and -very little understood science. - -We began with sparks, we progressed to coherers, and now we have -valves; but let it not be thought for a moment that the valve -represents finality to any thinking being. - -Broadcasting at present has really become so universal only on account -of the exceedingly public nature of wireless, for, when we are able -to obtain accuracy of tuning and direction, we shall not only use the -latter to guide ships at sea, but we shall have correspondence which -can be conducted with a reasonable degree of secrecy. We shall have -special wave-lengths for the Government, special wave-lengths for -Parliamentary debates, and the Divorce Courts. We shall not conduct -our conversations in such a manner that any schoolboy with a piece of -wire, a needle, and some sugar, can promptly listen in. - -The very idea suggests a new “Peeping Tom.” - -As far as communication is concerned, we shall have whole armies in -instantaneous touch with each other: it may indeed make real secrecy -more difficult. It should always be recollected that when we refer -to wireless speech, wireless control, and Radio Vision, we do not -necessarily mean the same form of electrical wave by which we now -broadcast a comic opera. - -It is with oscillation that we are really concerned, and we may -discover many forms of electronic vibration at present occupying -portions of the so-called spectrum which are as yet very little -understood. - -It may be impossible for the Commander-in-Chief of the future to -conceal a document from the eyes of wireless; and who knows but that -the electrical operation of thought may be reduced to a science so that -our very ideas are not secret without protection? - -How many of us to-day could risk all our thoughts being known? It would -probably improve moral standards if they were published: science tends -to effect an average improvement. - -We have never yet really seen the extraordinary value of wireless in -war. If we had solved the problem of selection, the transference of -speech by phonograph records dropped from aeroplanes would never have -arisen. - -Undoubtedly, we shall see wireless controlled tanks, submarines, -and torpedoes on both land, air, and water. All will be accurately -controlled, and they will possibly be able to find their way home and -to operate from a distance while out of sight. - -Even to-day it is possible for an aeroplane to operate a torpedo, to -steer it properly, to slow it down; and for a pilot of an aeroplane -many miles away to work his will upon it with a reasonable degree of -accuracy and with the help of a gyro control. - -The day will undoubtedly come when the problem of defending an island -is not that of the mainland itself but of all its dependencies. - -No large town could live for long if it were bombed from a distance by -wireless, if gassed and poisoned from a distance, were it not for the -balance of protection and defence which is usually maintained by nature. - -We shall in the future, see forms of electric death and heat-rays which -may materialise not as a direct projection of heat but as some form of -oscillation which produces heat only when striking a metallic object. - -We have been so often told that power can be transmitted by Radio that -we are apt to look upon this statement with contempt. This is quite -wrong: power will one day be transmitted by wireless; power can at -present be inductively sent over quite a large air gap, though the -energy available quite close to any wireless station is practically -negligible to-day. - -When motor-cars and ships are controlled or stopped by wireless, it is -not the wireless which does the work; the therial oscillation merely -sends signals to the ordinary operative mechanism. - -Much excitement has been caused by the alleged injury of aeroplanes and -motor-cars by wireless, but how is it that they can afterwards proceed? -Do we forget that the petrol engine has to be restarted, and that, if -allowed to fire when a car was in gear, it might be damaged and would -probably not operate the moving parts? - -If wireless power could be directed in such a form that it could be -conveyed along a wave of “atomic” oscillation, many more valuable ends -might be served than the enforced landing of aeroplanes. - -Our clocks could be corrected by wireless, experiments could be -conducted upon the nature of light and ether in various forms. We might -decide the mode of propagation of light and thought, and investigate -the apparent motion of the electron along the electro lines of force. - -What an opportunity for study to the man of medicine! What a chance -to find out how the oscillations of life are connected with those we -partially understand. - -What a chance for the burglar to discover the presence of hidden -spoons as a mass of metal by means of wireless; what a chance for the -surveyor and the seeker after oil to use this all-prevailing sense of -oscillation and even to discover the meaning of radiation. - -Oscillation--that is all we mean by Radio; and oscillation is at the -base of life itself. It will not be long before travellers by air, -land, and water, will be no longer alone. - -That they will be able to converse with their homes may seem no -advantage, but that they can remain in touch with the rest of mankind -is most obviously desirable. - -If this were understood to-day, I should not need to make noises -with my lips or require the simulacra of these noises to be -produced upon paper to convey my thoughts. If thought is a process -of energy-conversion--and who will deny it?--what form of screening -prevents its use, and why should its reception be confined eventually -to life upon this particular and very troublesome planet? - -It is remarkable how little is known of wireless: the very simplicity -of its painfully standardised features is a trap for the unwary. It -is a universal science, but we do not yet know the correct diaphragm -size for a loud speaker, nor how damping should be employed. The finest -apparatus is available to all, and yet we do not understand the fullest -range of wave-lengths. The study of radio-active materials and short -wave radiation may in one day produce the cold-emitter valve, abolish -the outside aerial, and bring to our closer understanding some of the -many senses now so atrophied in mankind, that we can only speculate as -to their existence. I doubt much if the schoolboy of the future will -greatly esteem the radio expert of this century. - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WIRELESS POSSIBILITIES *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online -at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Wireless Possibilities</p> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Archibald Montgomery Low</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: December 16, 2021 [eBook #66951]</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: Tim Lindell, Martin Pettit and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)</div> - -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WIRELESS POSSIBILITIES ***</div> - -<div class="center"><img src="images/front.jpg" alt="front" /></div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> - -<h1>WIRELESS POSSIBILITIES</h1> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span></p> - -<div class="center"><img src="images/i002.jpg" alt="TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW SERIES" /></div> - -<hr /> - -<div class="center"><img src="images/title.jpg" alt="title page" /></div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span></p> - -<p class="bold2">WIRELESS POSSIBILITIES</p> - -<p class="bold space-above">BY</p> - -<p class="bold2">A. M. LOW</p> - -<p class="bold"><i>Late Hon. Asst. Professor of Physics<br />at the Royal Artillery College<br /> -Author of “The Two-Stroke Engine,” etc.</i></p> - -<div class="center space-above"><img src="images/logo.jpg" alt="logo" /></div> - -<p class="bold space-above"><i>With four diagrams</i></p> - -<p class="bold space-above"><span class="smcap">New York</span><br /> -E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY<br />681 Fifth Avenue</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span></p> - -<p class="center">Copyright 1924<br />By<br />E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY</p> - -<p class="center"><i>All Rights Reserved</i></p> - -<p class="center space-above">Printed in the United States of America</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span></p> - -<p class="center">TO<br />JOHN LOW</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span></p> - -<h2>PREFACE</h2> - -<p>The effects of history upon the advance of science are often noted, but -the result of the march of progress is more often entirely neglected.</p> - -<p>It would seem desirable that the future should be studied with -reasonable accuracy if we are to protect ourselves from the ill-effects -and obtain the benefit from the good fortunes of invention.</p> - -<p class="right">A.M.L.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span></p> - -<p class="bold2">WIRELESS POSSIBILITIES</p> - -<h2>INVENTION</h2> - -<p>Considering the very evident fact that we owe every detail of our -lives, every little comfort which separates us from the cave-man, to -the science of invention, it seems strange that so long should have -elapsed before this remarkable faculty received proper recognition.</p> - -<p>Invention, in many ways, is the science and art of continuity of -thought. The inventor is often referred to as a strange person; very -true, very necessarily true when we realise that his doings must be -strange or new, to be of value. To train oneself to forget the smell -of the beefsteak when hungry<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> and to continue the natural sequence of -ideas which may be passing through the mind, is to train the brain to -improve. If we can but sweep a crossing a very little cleaner than -that next to our own, perhaps we have surely accomplished one of the -greatest duties of all.</p> - -<p>If not one day is spent without something learnt, surely we have -achieved the greatest object of work and enabled ourselves to realise -that there are no such things as basic facts.</p> - -<p>Invention is not labour, for the latter is doing something we do not -wish to do in some one else’s time, and invention like all good things -is a work of love. Possibly that is why it is never paid!</p> - -<p>We are too apt, I think, all of us, to rejoice in our greatness as -her devotees<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> rejoiced in the greatness of Diana of the Ephesians: we -should realise every time we undress that we are little removed from -the animal, and that before many centuries have passed we shall be held -in almost universal contempt.</p> - -<p>If that does not stir us to do our best, we are indeed a nation of -shopkeepers. But even the proprietor of the meanest store relies on his -powers of prophecy for his profits.</p> - -<p>The science of wireless is but a few years old. We know about it little -more than our schoolboy sons, and in many cases not so much; let us -therefore be open-minded if we are still ignorant.</p> - -<p>Commercial invention trusts too far to mass thinking: an original -mistake is very closely related to an accomplishment.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span></p> - -<h2>THE IMPORTANCE OF SOUND IN WIRELESS</h2> - -<p>A few lines of history are desirable here. I do not mean the history -controlled by the fact that William the Conqueror made many important -appointments in A.D. 1066 or that Stephen was particularly busy in -A.D. 1100. I mean the history of wireless, for, although Radio Science -is new, it has a history; all time is relative, and we ourselves are -functions of that phenomenon.</p> - -<p>Only a few years ago the efforts of wireless experimenters were -entirely directed to the converting of the extremely delicate wireless -oscillation,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> still but little understood, into a mechanical movement, -in order that the motion of electrons in a problematical aether (which -may be nothing but a thought projection and which may exist in many -different forms) might be altered into something readable by a man with -a check waistcoat and a stock and share list in his hand.</p> - -<p>That particular use, and the information that one army is about to kill -another could be transmitted to headquarters, naturally occurred to -everyone as the first valuable applications of Radio.</p> - -<p>The many devices, the electro-magnetic receivers, tape machines, -coherers, syphon recorders and the thousand and one electrical machines -produced at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> the time for these purposes, have practically all gone.</p> - -<p>Even when to-day we want to send messages quickly, we record them upon -a Dictaphone and rely almost entirely upon the sense of hearing.</p> - -<p>Sound, the regular oscillation, and noise, the irregular oscillation, -of the air, are really the beginning and end of wireless as it is known -to the public to-day.</p> - -<p>I would go further when thinking of the public. They do not want to sit -with a telephone upon their heads, even if their ears may be improved -thereby. They require to walk into a drawing-room, and having stood -for a moment upon the mat, they must be able to cross the room, touch -a button in a fretwork cabinet, and by the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span>movement of a lever be -able to place themselves in touch with any part of the world. Paris, -Hong-Kong, London, all must be one to them if we are to get their money -for our art.</p> - -<p>In other words, we are compelled to use what we now designate the “loud -speaker.” We have got to project a sound into the room before we can -sell our instruments, and therein lies one great difficulty.</p> - -<p>In the first place we dare not exaggerate the movements of a delicate -telephone very much or we shall spoil it—therefore we construct -something which looks very much like a magnified telephone with a -trumpet upon it. The mechanism is naturally rather heavy as regards the -moving parts.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> In order to vibrate these heavy parts with the aid of -our aetherial oscillations we have to amplify the available current, -and during this process we naturally spoil the detail, or, in other -words, we magnify it so much that electrical distortions occur through -the whole range of various transformers and other items sold by every -shop in the world—at double their value.</p> - -<p>Most people are not content with a gentle sound: they find it necessary -to express their joy at having reached their home by dancing; -consequently they want plenty of sound, and they do not mind if it -turns into noise.</p> - -<p>They will tell you boldly that their wireless set with a couple of -dozen foreign-made valves can be heard right<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> across a large street, -a street by the way in which we still permit as much nerve-shattering -noise to occur as is thought necessary. This means that we must -have quite a big movement on a diaphragm of large size, and a large -diaphragm is made to move by the electrical oscillation, itself not -very accurate; naturally, if it is heavy, like a poker or anything -else, it has a will of its own, and therefore it continues to move when -the wireless oscillation has told it to stop. It does not even commence -to move when it is told to do so, as it would were it a thin delicate -telephone diaphragm from which accurate music can be obtained.</p> - -<p>This means further distortion, and so bad is it that a great many -people say<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> plainly that they will only listen to wireless concerts -through a telephone and that they will only use crystals to obtain -rectification because of the inaccuracies otherwise unavoidable to-day.</p> - -<p>But this is not business, because do not forget we must have our -cabinet with a fern upon it and beautiful music, if we are to be -successful. Business always leads science, as we know.</p> - -<p>Now think why it is that we need this big diaphragm moving so hard to -get a big noise; let us neglect electrical details and consider what -produces the noise; or sound, if we are lucky.</p> - -<p>Sound is unfortunately purely a mechanical phenomenon as we chiefly -understand it, and is produced by oscillations, alternate compression -and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> rarefaction of the atmosphere. Unlike the aether, which sometimes -oscillates only too readily, air is a heavy material and has great mass.</p> - -<p>You will soon find this out if you put your head out of a railway -carriage window, because the air is so heavy that we have got to really -kick it and hit it hard before we can obtain a reasonable degree of -noise.</p> - -<p>When a speaker is standing at one end of a room, irrespective of what -he says, the actual temperature-rise of the air can be measured, a fact -which was used during the war for the inspection of sound.</p> - -<p>Sound is a very complicated thing. It can be reflected in much the same -way as light, and I suppose most school-boys<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> know that if a concave -mirror is at one end of a room and a similar mirror at the other with -a watch hanging at its focus, the watch cannot be heard by an observer -walking across the room, yet as soon as he places his ear at the focus -of the other mirror he will hear the tick clearly, showing that sound -is easily reflected. Everybody who has heard an echo should know this.</p> - -<p>Sound travels also very slowly, and there is plenty of time for wind -and different mechanical scraping effects to spoil the purity and -partially absorb its delicacies. </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span></p> - -<div class="center"><img src="images/i021.jpg" alt="Sound can be focussed" /></div> - -<p>Remember that if I am addressing a man by wireless who is one hundred -miles away, someone who is listening on a telephone will hear my voice<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> -before I am heard at the end of the big hall where I am speaking, -because the velocity of sound is only 1100 feet per second, and -wireless, like light, travels much faster. Sound can also be actually -refracted. Just as the old-fashioned jeweller used a globe of water to -concentrate the light upon his work, so will a collodion balloon filled -with carbon dioxide, the ordinary gas product of average combustion, -act as a lens for sound, which can be actually focussed by these means.</p> - -<p>This exemplifies the complication of our subject, and indicates that -the heavy diaphragm and other details of the loud speaker must produce -serious distortion.</p> - -<p>Let us be honest at once. We can only<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> hear such distant places as -America by the grace of heaven. Even Sunlight can tune sweet song into -vague cracklings. Until true tuning can be obtained we are largely at -the mercy of the reproducing instrument, which too often exaggerates -every fault and gives the impression that wireless and music are in no -way related. No loud speaker of to-day really produces voice and song -which sound exactly like voice and song. It all too much resembles a -bad gramophone, but without the advantage of the user having the choice -of the music.</p> - -<p>If user and manufacturer would concentrate upon obtaining purity, if -they would try the effects of damping upon loud speakers, which are -easily<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> obtained; if they would realise that the horn of the loud -speaker should be without resonance, that it should be also damped -and pocketed, that its goose-necked shape is not adopted without an -object, and if they would aim at the delivery of true music instead -of noise—then, we should make a great advance. The average loud -speaker can often be greatly improved by padding the horn with some -kind of tape, and as an example of the great difficulties of proper -transmission let it be made quite clear that with most cases of -wireless communication the sending is nearly perfect. Reception is -greatly at fault: it is the reception that mangles the sound and makes -it too often<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> almost unbearable to anybody of reasonably sensitive -hearing.</p> - -<p>At some large transmission stations it was at one time quite common to -use three separate microphones for the modulation. One received notes -of high pitch, one of low, and a third attempted to obtain the “S” -sound with the result that, when this “S” microphone was adjusted for a -man who did not say his “S” very loudly and someone appeared who did, -it sounded exactly as if the speaker had dropped his false teeth.</p> - -<p>All this is now avoided. The ordinary diaphragm is no longer in use, -but a very small coil of aluminium wire is suspended between the poles -of an electro magnet, allowed to rest against<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> an ordinary pad of -cotton wool, and that is all!</p> - -<p>The infinitesimal movements of this aluminium coil will reproduce -speech up to about 40,000 periods per second in oscillatory speed, yet -speech is well recognisable if all frequencies over 4,000 per second -are gridded out.</p> - -<p>How difficult it is going to be to make a large, heavy, and rapidly -moving diaphragm reproduce accurately when we have had to take all -these precautions to obtain accuracy of transmission! It is not -impossible; it will come one day.</p> - -<p>Now let us see what is the result of our sound troubles.</p> - -<p>We are told that before long it will be quite easy to hear birds -singing in trees and the waves beating against the seashore. Quite -right, quite easy to do it now, but if a bird singing in a tree sounds -like a man moving his condenser or walking about with a pair of squeaky -boots, is it progress? </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span></p> - -<div class="center"><img src="images/i027.jpg" alt="light falls on a very thin diaphragm" /></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span></p> - -<p>Perhaps it is. The whole point of wireless is that it brings a man into -your room, but it must sound like the man himself if it is to be really -effective; it is this pitiful quality of reproduced sound that has -wrecked the talking cinema.</p> - -<p>It is very easy to photograph sounds and to reproduce them -simultaneously with the projection of a picture, but to reproduce -all the sounds of a cowboy scene accurately is, at present, almost -impossible. If a hero says “Good-bye”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> to a heroine with a kiss like -a creaking board, in the middle of a twenty-reel drama, instead of -improving upon the effect of your imagination, which tells you that it -is real, and which acts the scene for you better than it can be shown -in life or sound, it would be like putting up a blackboard across the -screen with the words written upon it, “this is not real—it is only -a fake.” That is what is wrecking the talking cinema. As a scientific -proposition it is easy, but the results are not good enough at present, -and, if we can improve, let us first consider the loud speaker.</p> - -<p>The talking cinema will come as a matter of course. It is so easy to -record sounds upon the film by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> photography with reproduction by the -selenium cell or the neon tube; it is easy to photograph the wave; -it is easy actually to impress the sound wave upon the film with the -picture, or to use a gramophone; but reproduction is not like a human -voice. Neither as yet is any reproduction ever like the voice itself. -Let that painful fact be remembered.</p> - -<p>Unfortunately, from the business point of view, the long distance -reproduction effect is usually satisfactory even when re-broadcasted -upon telephones, and for business purposes it is immaterial whether the -voice that records the profit or loss is harsh or pleasant.</p> - -<p>So the greatest effects we shall soon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> see from wireless and sound -are these: we shall be able to speak to people all over the world by -relaying and a combination of land-line and radio; we shall easily be -able to connect our office with a wireless station on the coast, radio -across the Continent, and then connect by land-line to another office -on the other side of the Atlantic.</p> - -<p>All this is so easy that no one can doubt that we shall soon listen in -to native jamborees; no one can doubt that we shall hear the strange -cries of partisans at a baseball match taking place a few miles from -New York; no one can question these things, and when reproduction -becomes so accurate that the very nature of the people is revealed to -us through their speech, surely we<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> might be a little more neighbourly -even with those whom we now pretend to love? Relations are notoriously -quarrelsome.</p> - -<p>If you are in a concert hall and the number of people is varied, -it will alter the effect of the sound. You have only to look at a -sound-wave photograph produced from a violin to realise from its dainty -intricacies that the least variation of any of its harmonics or the -very exact shape of its wave beats will reveal all the difference -between a beginner and the finest musician in the world. But these -things are seldom noticed in wireless.</p> - -<p>It is quite easy to photograph a sound, by means of a diaphragm beside -which a soap bubble is thick, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> to compare wireless sound with the -original; even then we have the great difficulties of resonance, and a -diaphragm cannot reproduce properly. How, therefore, dare we neglect -the dreadful sounds we hear in the name of radio music?</p> - -<p>If a piece of silvering, one thirty-secondth of an inch, be scraped -from the back of a mirror and fastened to the outer part of a celluloid -diaphragm (made by water-floating a drop of amyl acetate in which -celluloid has been dissolved), it only requires a horn and a beam of -light to render visible the waves of sound. A diaphragm movement of a -millionth of a millionth of an inch is sometimes audible.</p> - -<p>It is the science of wireless that is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> beautiful; it is the -possibilities that are wonderful; but to talk of pure sound and to -judge of it by the human ear which varies after every meal, is like -measuring the amount of current passing through an electric-light bulb -by feeling its heat with the hand.</p> - -<p>It is not generally known that, during the War, experiments were made -with a sound-reflector for listening to different types of aeroplane -and submarine, by means of a microphone placed at the centre of a -concave mirror. The difficulty was that of distortion, which is the -whole source of trouble with sound producers to-day. Distance is -no difficulty and when we can obtain purity and realism as well as -distance, the latter is no difficulty at all; then<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> only will be the -time when we shall have that spontaneous mental realism of vision that -will help radio to alter the world.</p> - -<p>In a few years time we shall be able to chat to our friends in an -aeroplane and in the streets with the help of a pocket wireless set, -and be able to do practically everything by the aid of radio that we -now do with our voice.</p> - -<p>The only thing that will seem intensely strange will be that these -comforts never existed before!</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span></p> - -<h2>WIRELESS INACCURACIES</h2> - -<p>I have often wondered whether people realise that broadcasting, at -present, is only possible or, shall I say is only popular, because of -its extreme impracticability for most forms of secret communication.</p> - -<p>Supposing two people had been able to converse privately and with -absolute secrecy from other “listeners in,” then we should not mind -trusting all our messages to Radio. At present, what can be coded can -be decoded, and we are not entranced by the idea of entrusting our -pennies to the winds of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> Heaven and the vagaries of a thunderstorm.</p> - -<p>If wireless had really been selective in the first instance, -broadcasting would not have been its initial phase.</p> - -<p>Wireless at present is excessively inefficient; a few yards from a -large broadcasting station the power is measured in millionths of a -horse-power, is disseminated in all directions, and is almost without -definite selectivity.</p> - -<p>When the day comes when we can tune with absolute accuracy; when we -can combine waves with accuracy and obtain a directional beam with the -shortest waves for re-broadcasting purposes, then we shall obtain real -happiness from the results.</p> - -<p>Parliament must have its special<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> wave length, the divorce courts of -the future will be broadcasted to prevent people from catching cold by -waiting outside. It will be quite easy for the Judge, at a doubtful -passage, to press a switch and to say, “I think we will cut that out.”</p> - -<p>One can imagine broadcasting of the future linking up every city from -China to London; one can see special wave lengths for men, and equally -special wave lengths for women. And we shall forget the time when ships -at sea with ancient sets interfere with the murdering of music by the -local amateur.</p> - -<p>It has been said that, at present, those in authority find it necessary -to choose special voices for the wireless<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> broadcast-delivering. What -an idea! The public want to hear everybody. They want to have local -events broadcast, irrespective of the operator. They do not want a -perfect voice, they want a perfect personality, and it is rather the -wireless that must be altered to take any reception than the human -voice whose very characteristics delight us.</p> - -<p>We are too accustomed to relying upon our senses. We are apt to think -that the ear is most delicate. It is nothing of the kind; it cannot -even hear notes that delight the heart of a dog, and if one pictures -life with the brain of a man, the ear of an antelope, and microscopic -eyes, together with the nose of a dog, some little idea of the -inefficiency of those few senses which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> we slightly understand can be -obtained.</p> - -<p>To live in any town would be impossible: the smells of Bond Street -instead of pleasing the dog would tell us of rotting animal matter and -alarm us to distraction. We could never sit down upon a beautiful piece -of grass without listening to the worms and imagining ourselves with -them. We could not bear to drink water for the peculiar bodies we would -see in it. The wind in the trees, the people walking down our street or -into our rabbit-warrens of flats, would sound like a battle from afar.</p> - -<p>It is only a question of relative senses, easily tested by anyone -who has the patience to fit an effective microphone to the amplifier -purchased in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> mahogany case at the local “store.”</p> - -<p>Wireless inaccuracies abound; anyone who hears its music will agree, -but what of their effect upon our bodies!</p> - -<p>The air, popularly speaking, must now be full of radio oscillations, -and if you tell me that they are negligible in effect I may believe -you, but if I hear there is no effect at all, I know that it cannot be -true.</p> - -<p>It is more than likely that, in the far future, the proper study -of oscillatory theories, the proper investigation of the spectrum -only very partially explored by a few, will lead us to a better -understanding of the nature of life, and will help us to appreciate -the theories of electrical sonics. Theories of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span>preventing local -thunderstorms, of growing babies and wheat effectively, by electrical -or other similar oscillatory means, of helping ourselves to see by -wireless and of affecting our health at the end of many generations for -the better, may all be developed in the time to come.</p> - -<p>If some health effect is produced, why should we not try to render it -beneficial? A small effect can be very cumulative in nature. One has -only to inspect a human nail to agree with that statement.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span></p> - -<h2>RADIO TELEVISION</h2> - -<p>It has been said of sound that a bell never ceases to echo and that the -human voice never ceases when once words are spoken; truly, it is an -alarming thought when the nature of most of our sayings is realised.</p> - -<p>Not long ago it was claimed that by means of a delicate microphone -the sayings of Henry VIII had been investigated—though nature of the -subject was, with not less delicacy, omitted.</p> - -<p>Much the same basic ideas apply to light except that we are dealing -with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> a very much more interesting phenomenon, one indeed which is -not apparently too material and a sense which gives us nearly all our -nonphysical sensations.</p> - -<p>We actually transmit very few senses: we merely convert their nature -by utilising different portions of the spectrum. Light has undoubtedly -its tone values, as in the case of sound, and it has not yet been -definitely established with what portion of the body vision is actually -obtained. It is likely that light is projected along the electro lines -of force by the movement of electrons but whether the ether consists -of electrons themselves, whether it exists in many forms, or is merely -a result of the mass effect of thought,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> we do not yet know. Light -very possibly proceeds from the eye as well as from the luminous body -concerned.</p> - -<p>The science of Radio has taught us something of light, but only to -a modest extent, for light yet remains one of the most inefficient -factors of a civilisation which almost entirely depends upon it for -existence.</p> - -<p>There is a strange factor which we may call the “Law of Supply and -Demand.” This strongly implies the faculty of invention, a facility of -“wishfulness to improve”; something far better than the necessity for -invention. Let us remember that our clothes are not necessities; they -are merely comfortable, and it is comfort that distinguishes us to-day -just as it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> is convenience that will in the future give us a life which -will be better by far than that experienced by the kings and princes of -to-day.</p> - -<p>Civilisation has depended almost entirely upon the speeding up -of communication. We can travel fast; we can convey our thoughts -at great speed, but, unfortunately, although all these means of -intercommunication are devised with the one idea of preventing -physical work and of obviating the movements of our gross bodies, our -senses are very closely combined. It is consequently not possible to -ring up somebody on the wireless telephone, a fact itself easy of -accomplishment, and to impress our personality upon the listener. This -is simply because we<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> require a combination of senses for hearing, -seeing, smelling, and other reactions, in order to convey our whole -personality.</p> - -<p>Vision at a distance is, therefore, very necessary as our inclination -for travel decreases and its comfort increases.</p> - -<p>It is also important from the point of view of “speeding up,” which -we have no reason to suppose will cease. All operations have steadily -increased in speed for many generations.</p> - -<p>There was a time when we made appointments to meet our friends at the -full of the moon, but now we say at “10 o’clock, and I can only give -you two minutes.” In the future we shall probably say, “Meet me at -10.2.1-5 secs., and do not keep me waiting.” To<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> do this we must have -radio sight.</p> - -<p>Many years ago, when experiments were made on the subject, the usual -cry appeared from what I always mentally typify as the “Flat Earth -Brigade”; they said, “Impossible.” What would our forebears have said -of talking to a man in an aeroplane? “Impossible!” It is a foolish -word. Now all over the world experiments are being conducted, many of -them with success and some with the guarantee of reasonable success in -twenty years or less.</p> - -<p>Now wireless, if I may apply the word here, is very like light in many -ways; it is capable of refraction and shadow effects; it travels at the -same speed, and if the wave-lengths of wireless could be sufficiently -shortened to become visible<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> we should probably find ourselves with a -new, and possibly effective, method of transmitting wireless light and -even power.</p> - -<p>Radio is a phenomenon of the spectrum like ordinary photographic light, -X-rays, and so on. It is effects which determine the difference to our -eyes of things invisible, solid, and transparent.</p> - -<p>It may well be that, when we succeed in inter-planetary communication, -we shall discover that the inhabitants see by the X-ray, by wireless, -or by heat.</p> - -<p>It is not difficult to obtain a proportionate interchange of radio -and light oscillations. Even sunlight affects wireless telegraphy, -and experiments which have been conducted upon the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> carrying and -directional power of certain other rays and oscillations have not -been entirely without results. We may, one day, obtain far greater -sensitivity of direction, greater carrying power, from small initial -output with a degree of selectivity almost infinite, in comparison with -modern working.</p> - -<p>To use a light beam along which we can talk, to use a light beam -initially and to turn it into light when required, is by no means -difficult; it suggests the direct method of wireless vision, but from -the mechanical aspect the problem is still less complicated. The -difficulties of Radio Television to-day are constructional; in the far -future it may be a question of pure physics.</p> - -<p>There is, at least, one simple method<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> of sending photographs -by wireless with a reasonable degree of accuracy. Distance, -re-broadcasting, relaying are, none of them, of any great technical -importance. Interference is certainly a difficulty, for in the case of -a picture the eye cannot distinguish between faults so easily as the -ear can automatically separate unpleasant noises from music.</p> - -<p>If an ordinary photograph is transferred to a copper plate, either -flat or round, and a contact finger is allowed to pass over it, -clearly the resistance between the plate and the finger will vary with -the thickness of the photographic film. If this resistance is used -to modulate the transmission in place of an ordinary microphone for -speech,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> the current at the receiving end can be picked up, amplified, -and used to mark darkly, lightly, or not at all, upon a prepared piece -of paper which is affected by the passage of an electric current.</p> - -<p>By these means good photographs can be reproduced, and doubtless in the -future we shall be able to sign our cheques by the rapid transmission -of motion; we shall be able to trace criminals, send out their -finger-prints, and carry on very many classes of business which, at -present, require our bodily attention. </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span></p> - -<div class="center"><img src="images/i053.jpg" alt="If light passes through the negative" /></div> - -<p>What a help to the man who objects to a large city. Why could he not -conduct his business from his house in comfort instead of having his -spats<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> washed every week in order to maintain his financial reputation?</p> - -<p>There is a still more rapid method of transmitting a photograph: it is -to allow the light from an ordinary lamp to pass through a spot upon -the negative and then to a selenium cell. Selenium is so constituted -that its resistance to the passage of electricity varies with the -amount of light to which it is exposed. This property has been used to -light up and to extinguish ordinary street lamps, for demonstration -purposes.</p> - -<p>If a selenium cell is used in place of the ordinary broadcasting -microphone, the transmission can be modulated in accordance with the -passage of the light through a black spot on the negative, such as part -of a top hat, or a white<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> spot, such as a white face or part of it.</p> - -<p>The received current is picked up and amplified in the ordinary manner, -but instead of operating a diaphragm to produce speech, it is taken -to a kind of electrically operated venetian blind, which allows light -to pass through it or not to pass through it, in accordance with the -transmitting current.</p> - -<p>It requires little imagination to see that, if a beam of light is -allowed to pass through each point of the original negative in turn, -the final picture can be built up from “spots” somewhat in the manner -of a half-tone block.</p> - -<p>It takes a long time, is rather patched, and is liable to interference; -but the whole process is perfectly simple. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span>Consider the great -importance of this experiment to Radio Television.</p> - -<p>The human eye sees only one point at a time but in the fact that -instantaneous vision of a complete picture is not necessary lie our -hopes of television to-day.</p> - -<p>The eye is a very defective piece of mechanism considered from an -optical standpoint. The pointed rays which appear to come from stars -show one example of faulty optical construction, however wonderful -may be the whole structure. Another property, and a feature of great -importance from the aspect of television, is that of retentivity.</p> - -<p>We all know that when a lighted cigarette is whirled round in the hand -the result appears to be a ring of fire.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> Our brain assures us that -the eye is telling lies and that it is really a moving point. This is -because the image is impressed and actually lasts upon the eye or its -retina.</p> - -<p>This phenomenon is used in every cinematograph; without it the ordinary -film would not be practicable. Each picture of an arm about to light a -cigarette shows the arm constantly closer and closer, and before one -picture has had time to die out the other is thrown upon the screen. -The result is an illusion of motion.</p> - -<p>To return to the transmission of a photograph, let us imagine that it -is sent in a series of spots beginning in the top left-hand corner at -12 o’clock: the bottom spot will probably be <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span>completed, at modern -sending speeds, by about 12.15, in the case of a picture two inches -square.</p> - -<p>Clearly all we have to do is to reduce this time to 4/5 of a second -altogether, and we shall be again sending the first spot before it has -had time to die away from the apparent vision of the observer. In other -words, we will see by wireless.</p> - -<p>The obvious method of assisting in this speeding up of sending the -thousands of spots, would be to graduate them by some means of rotary -conversion or to decrease the number of spots. The latter is one method -by which practical television can be accomplished to-day. </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span></p> - -<div class="center"><img src="images/i059.jpg" alt="If a photograph is divided into spots" /></div> - -<p>It would be quite easy to fix up an apparatus by means of which -we could<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> show whether an office in New York was lit up or not, -the observer being situated in London. This is a form of energy or -combination of phenomena which amounts to wireless sight, but it does -not help us to see shapes or forms or to say if the light is from a -candle, the sun, or an arc lamp.</p> - -<p>By increasing the number of cells from one to, let us say, twenty, we -could possibly indicate the difference between the moving shadow of a -cross or a circle, but to radiate detail is a very difficult problem, -which doubtless will be partially solved within the next few years. The -electro-magnetic theory of light and the phenomena exhibited by the -neon tube, present many opportunities. </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span></p> - -<p>What an excellent invention this will be! It means that a telescopic -camera could be attached to an aeroplane and the views seen by -thousands in a cinematograph theatre who may have the pleasure of -witnessing the finish of a horse-race and knowing without loss of time -how much money they have lost.</p> - -<p>It would mean that the crew of a ship, a submarine in difficulties, or -the passengers in an aeroplane, might be visible to people many miles -away. It could not yet occur without their wish, for the transmitting -apparatus must first be put into operation.</p> - -<p>The senses of seeing and hearing are possibly amongst the most -important of all, and, if we can convey both of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> them to a distance, it -means that we can call friends, nations, music, and personalities to -our fireside, by the touching of a button.</p> - -<p>Such possibilities need no enlargement. Wireless may prove a far more -rapid link than the ordinary increase of travelling speed and may help -nations to intermingle to the common good.</p> - -<p>The question of seeing in colours has hardly yet been considered, but -that also will come to us, however great the difficulties may appear -to-day.</p> - -<p>Certainly Leagues of Peace will have more arguments, and Generals will -have more weapons.</p> - -<p>The laziest millionaire to-day, in a physical sense, will be -hard-worked in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> comparison with the fortunate individual of the -scientific future. We will travel in the best possible manner and in -such comfort that the mind will be free to receive impressions. Our -main objective will be to train it for that purpose.</p> - -<p>After all, what more can we do now?</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span></p> - -<h2>WIRELESS AND WAR</h2> - -<p>The subjects of War and Wireless cover a multitude of closely allied -ills.</p> - -<p>It is only natural that wireless should first have been applied to Love -and War. I remember well one of the most remarkable applications of -wireless mentioned in the press in the early days was that of a cable -sent to an unfortunate man in mid-ocean, informing him that an all too -successful arrival of twins had taken place.</p> - -<p>War is, of course, a natural process a little less educated, and more -unkind, in consequence, than birth control. </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span></p> - -<p>Most inventions are first applied to the science and art of warfare. -Perhaps we should not regard this as all to the bad, for War has a -remarkable capacity for acceleration.</p> - -<p>Development of the wireless valve was greatly assisted by the War: the -aeroplane, the art of plastic surgery, and many other human benefits -have arrived more rapidly from the same cause.</p> - -<p>Let us see, therefore, what wireless can do now, and what it may -accomplish for the future of organised destruction.</p> - -<p>Mentally, the fittest should survive, in both the realms of invention -and physiology. It is only a few years since wireless was of no -intrinsic value<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> for ordinary land warfare, by virtue of the fact that -interference was extremely easy, and that any coded message could be so -easily decoded.</p> - -<p>At present wireless messages are chiefly of service where secrecy is -not of such importance as speed; but an enormous number of experiments -are being conducted upon beam wireless, directional wireless, and in -the combination of the Radio oscillation with some other oscillations -such as those of visible or invisible light. By these means secrecy -will be obtained when we discover how to use small powers for long -distance, but at present Radio is chiefly of value as a time-saver.</p> - -<p>The pilot in an aeroplane can talk to his base: he will soon be able -to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> write and transmit vision from a plane which could be controlled -by wireless. The time will come when low-flying wireless planes will -explore, and render visible at many miles distant, places where no -human pilot could remain for any length of time in safety.</p> - -<p>It is not long ago that we rejoiced because a damaged ship was able to -call for help by wireless, but we have only to look back to a recent -war to remember an occasion when one ship was totally unable to call -assistance because its wireless was jammed. In other words, enemy -interference was possible.</p> - -<p>This should show us how far we have yet to go in an utterly new and -very little understood science. </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span></p> - -<p>We began with sparks, we progressed to coherers, and now we have -valves; but let it not be thought for a moment that the valve -represents finality to any thinking being.</p> - -<p>Broadcasting at present has really become so universal only on account -of the exceedingly public nature of wireless, for, when we are able -to obtain accuracy of tuning and direction, we shall not only use the -latter to guide ships at sea, but we shall have correspondence which -can be conducted with a reasonable degree of secrecy. We shall have -special wave-lengths for the Government, special wave-lengths for -Parliamentary debates, and the Divorce Courts. We shall not conduct -our conversations in such a manner that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> any schoolboy with a piece of -wire, a needle, and some sugar, can promptly listen in.</p> - -<p>The very idea suggests a new “Peeping Tom.”</p> - -<p>As far as communication is concerned, we shall have whole armies in -instantaneous touch with each other: it may indeed make real secrecy -more difficult. It should always be recollected that when we refer -to wireless speech, wireless control, and Radio Vision, we do not -necessarily mean the same form of electrical wave by which we now -broadcast a comic opera.</p> - -<p>It is with oscillation that we are really concerned, and we may -discover many forms of electronic vibration at present occupying -portions of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> so-called spectrum which are as yet very little -understood.</p> - -<p>It may be impossible for the Commander-in-Chief of the future to -conceal a document from the eyes of wireless; and who knows but that -the electrical operation of thought may be reduced to a science so that -our very ideas are not secret without protection?</p> - -<p>How many of us to-day could risk all our thoughts being known? It would -probably improve moral standards if they were published: science tends -to effect an average improvement.</p> - -<p>We have never yet really seen the extraordinary value of wireless in -war. If we had solved the problem of selection, the transference of -speech by phonograph records dropped from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> aeroplanes would never have -arisen.</p> - -<p>Undoubtedly, we shall see wireless controlled tanks, submarines, -and torpedoes on both land, air, and water. All will be accurately -controlled, and they will possibly be able to find their way home and -to operate from a distance while out of sight.</p> - -<p>Even to-day it is possible for an aeroplane to operate a torpedo, to -steer it properly, to slow it down; and for a pilot of an aeroplane -many miles away to work his will upon it with a reasonable degree of -accuracy and with the help of a gyro control.</p> - -<p>The day will undoubtedly come when the problem of defending an island -is not that of the mainland itself but of all its dependencies. </p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span></p> - -<p>No large town could live for long if it were bombed from a distance by -wireless, if gassed and poisoned from a distance, were it not for the -balance of protection and defence which is usually maintained by nature.</p> - -<p>We shall in the future, see forms of electric death and heat-rays which -may materialise not as a direct projection of heat but as some form of -oscillation which produces heat only when striking a metallic object.</p> - -<p>We have been so often told that power can be transmitted by Radio that -we are apt to look upon this statement with contempt. This is quite -wrong: power will one day be transmitted by wireless; power can at -present be inductively sent over quite<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> a large air gap, though the -energy available quite close to any wireless station is practically -negligible to-day.</p> - -<p>When motor-cars and ships are controlled or stopped by wireless, it is -not the wireless which does the work; the therial oscillation merely -sends signals to the ordinary operative mechanism.</p> - -<p>Much excitement has been caused by the alleged injury of aeroplanes and -motor-cars by wireless, but how is it that they can afterwards proceed? -Do we forget that the petrol engine has to be restarted, and that, if -allowed to fire when a car was in gear, it might be damaged and would -probably not operate the moving parts?</p> - -<p>If wireless power could be directed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> in such a form that it could be -conveyed along a wave of “atomic” oscillation, many more valuable ends -might be served than the enforced landing of aeroplanes.</p> - -<p>Our clocks could be corrected by wireless, experiments could be -conducted upon the nature of light and ether in various forms. We might -decide the mode of propagation of light and thought, and investigate -the apparent motion of the electron along the electro lines of force.</p> - -<p>What an opportunity for study to the man of medicine! What a chance -to find out how the oscillations of life are connected with those we -partially understand.</p> - -<p>What a chance for the burglar to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> discover the presence of hidden -spoons as a mass of metal by means of wireless; what a chance for the -surveyor and the seeker after oil to use this all-prevailing sense of -oscillation and even to discover the meaning of radiation.</p> - -<p>Oscillation—that is all we mean by Radio; and oscillation is at the -base of life itself. It will not be long before travellers by air, -land, and water, will be no longer alone.</p> - -<p>That they will be able to converse with their homes may seem no -advantage, but that they can remain in touch with the rest of mankind -is most obviously desirable.</p> - -<p>If this were understood to-day, I should not need to make noises -with my lips or require the simulacra of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> these noises to be -produced upon paper to convey my thoughts. If thought is a process -of energy-conversion—and who will deny it?—what form of screening -prevents its use, and why should its reception be confined eventually -to life upon this particular and very troublesome planet?</p> - -<p>It is remarkable how little is known of wireless: the very simplicity -of its painfully standardised features is a trap for the unwary. It -is a universal science, but we do not yet know the correct diaphragm -size for a loud speaker, nor how damping should be employed. The finest -apparatus is available to all, and yet we do not understand the fullest -range of wave-lengths. The study of radio-active materials<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> and short -wave radiation may in one day produce the cold-emitter valve, abolish -the outside aerial, and bring to our closer understanding some of the -many senses now so atrophied in mankind, that we can only speculate as -to their existence. 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